The Team
Who We Are
Belinda Williams
Principal
Belinda started dancing before she was three, her first teacher being her mother, Julie Morton. Training at the Arts Educational School in Tring, as a child she performed with the Zurich Ballet as part of the (Rudolph) Nureyev Festival at the London Coliseum and appeared in The Nutcracker with the London Festival Ballet at the Royal Festival Hall on BBC TV’s Nationwide programme. She also made appearances in commercials for McDonalds and Walkers Crisps.
After graduating Amersham College, Belinda successfully auditioned for top choreographer Ray Cornell and so set sail on the Cruise Ships, where she travelled 18 months across the oceans from Europe to South America, and then on to Miami to join Carnival Cruise Lines sailing the Caribbean. She spent the next six years as Dance Captain, Assistant Choreographer and Entertainments Manager at a holiday company, where she met her future husband, the entertainer Russ Williams, and they married in 1998.
She finally had to hang up her performing shoes due to a knee injury and after lengthy surgery and recuperation, began teaching full time with her mother. Belinda is now Principal of The Julie Morton School of Dancing and brings her expertise and enthusiasm to every class, ensuring that our students receive the highest quality training possible.
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Katie Williams
Musical Theatre Teacher
Growing up in an entertainment family, performing has always been a part of Katie's life. Her passion for performing led her to train as a triple threat at the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts on the Musical Theatre course. Here she had the opportunity to sing at prestigious venues such as the London Hilton Park Lane for major music labels like Sony and Sky and had the privilege to perform as roles Sister Mary Patrick in 'Sister Act' at The Markova Theatre and The Narrator in 'Joseph' at St Albans Cathedral. At 18 Katie went on to do further Acting training at ArtsEd London, playing the role of Jan in DNA at The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London. She is now a working actress, most recently shooting a TV Advert for dry-shampoo hair brand Batiste.
Katie teaches Musical Theatre at The Julie Morton School of Dancing and private singing lessons on request. She designs her class as a Musical Theatre Workshop, creating an all-singing-all-dancing medley from a musical every few months. Katie's classes are enthusiastic, known to be lots of fun and are guaranteed to provide you with all the skills and confidence you need to be a dazzling triple threat.
Leanna Purkis
Organiser
Leanna is one of our longest standing alumni, starting her dance journey with our founder Julie in 1988, and staying with the school until the age of 21. Both of Leanna’s children now attend the school, learning dance in the same studio she did. Leanna works behind the scenes organising our school’s shows and events, and she even made a cameo appearance in the 40th Anniversary Show in 2017. She also teaches various dance classes in the local area and attributes all her teaching skills to the wonderful training she received over the years from Julie, Belinda and Jennie.
“I consider Belinda, Bill and Katie my Dancing Family, and I am so happy to be able to help and be involved with the behind the scenes workings of the school. The Julie Morton School of Dancing is the epitome of a family run dance school, and they make their students an extension of the Julie Morton family. Here’s to another 45 years of JMSD!" - Leanna
Bill Morton
Administrator
Bill was an actor and stage manager in the theatre when he met dancer Julie Mellon, as she was then, and they married in 1964. Bill left the theatre in 1966 to join BBC Television, behind the camera, and during the next twenty-five years he worked on a huge variety of major productions, including shows that are still popular today. These include Monty Python, The Good Life, The Two Ronnies and Fawlty Towers, to name but a few.
As a television director in the entertainment field, Bill left the BBC in 1989 to go freelance, directing events like the BAFTA Awards and working on series with, among others, Noel Edmonds and Denis Norden. He spent ten years with Bruce Forsyth as his television director, on the Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right and Bruce’s Price is Right.
Alongside this career, Bill helped with the management of the Dancing School, particularly on the various Displays. Following Julie Morton’s untimely death in 2000, he took over as full-time administrator and is immensely proud of the way Belinda has kept the school going, maintaining the high standards her mother had established. After directing Denis Norden’s final show in May 2006, Bill decided to retire from his television work and, now past 80, is still closely involved with the administration of the school.
Jennie Morton
Daughter of Julie Morton
Jennie, like her sister Belinda, trained at the Arts Educational School in Tring, performing in 'The Nutcracker' with the London Festival Ballet and also with the Peter Schaufus production of 'La Syphide', both in London and on tour for four years. After a career as a classical Ballet dancer, musical theatre performer, theatre and TV actor, lead singer of a band and teaching at The Julie Morton School of Dancing, Jennie spent 10 years working as a clinician at the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine in London (UK) before relocating to New York City, and then to Los Angeles.
In addition to her general practice, she is a specialist in treating instrumental musicians, singers, dancers, and actors, focusing on injury prevention, rehabilitation, and return to performance. Jennie also works as a performance coach for actors, singers, dancers, and musicians, focusing on character development, role/tour preparation, and performance fitness. She has recently started a YouTube Channel called "The Embodied Dancer Health Hub", building a library of videos on all aspects of dancer health, empowering you with the knowledge of how to make the dance industry happier and healthier for all. Her mother, Julie Morton, would have been so proud of her achievements. To see more of what Jennie does, visit her website here: www.jenniemorton.com