Biography
Helen (Blake) was born in North West England on the 11th August. Her Parents were the World and British Ballroom Champions and at the age of three Helen was already following in her parents footsteps. Even at this young age Helen had already decided that she wanted to become a ballerina so her parents enrolled her in Keating School of Dance.
Helen made her debut appearance at the age of five as the bride in the 'Wedding of the Painted Doll' (composed by Nacio Herb Brown & Aether Freed). From the age of seven, Helen wanted to follow her dream of becoming professional ballet dancer and went on to train at the North Cheshire Theatre School in drama, voice & of course dance. During her time at the theatre school Helen performed at many leading theatres up and down the country, such as Sadler’s Wells, London Palladium, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Granada Studios, and Disney Land, Paris.
At twelve years of age, Helen was introduced to Voice Coach and Professional Opera Singer Jayne Carpenter and has never looked back. Within the first year of having vocal coaching, Helen had found a new career path forming in Musical Theatre and Opera.
As a teenager Helen appeared in a number of amateur productions with S.C.A.M.P.S (South Cheshire Amateur Music Society) now known as TEMPO, and was nominated for 'Best Musical Actress' in the North West by NODA (National Operatic & Dramatic Association). Helen studied with Carpenter for nine years developing her voice, languages & technique before taking the next step towards her career in gaining a place at a conservatoire.
At the age of twenty one, Helen won a scholarship to study at the prestigious conservatoire the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff.
Helen has studied with many prominent professionals across both Classical and Musical Theatre. Including Suzanne Murphy (principal soprano with Welsh National Opera 1976–85) Jane Samuel (principal accompanist for Katherine Jenkins). She has performed in master classes with Jeremy Huw Williams, Helen Field, Dame Margaret Price, Beatrice Unsworth and Jeffrey Howard (arranger in residence for Only Men Aloud!).
After four years training at the RWCMD Helen graduated in 2008 from the Vocal and Opera Course with a Bachelor of Music (Honours) degree.
During her time at the conservatoire Helen also travelled frequently to London to expand her training with Ian Adam (Scottish Opera & West End leading voice coach) who trained the likes of Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, Jude Law, Jeremy Irons and Anton Du-Beke to name just a few.
In 2009 Helen became a qualified dance teacher and a member of the leading dance associations IDTA (International Dance Teachers Association) & UKA (United Kingdom Alliance) where she went onto teach styles of dance in Theatre, Freestyle, Ballroom and Disco to all age groups at the Bridor Dance Academy , Cheshire.
Having performed at numerous well known locations across the United Kingdom and Europe, Helen has experience of Musical Theatre, Television, Choral, Recital, and Open Air Concerts & Weddings and in 2013 Helen decided to establish and concentrate on her own voice studio offering 1-2-1 private singing lessons and performance coaching in Wilmslow, Cheshire. This has become a growing success!