Meet the Team
Amy Dowden
Amy is our fab-u-lous Principal Director and founder at Art in Motion Dance Academy. When not in rehearsals for her shows/ tours and tv appearances you will find Amy at the studio teaching her competitive dancers, formation teams, social events, practice nights, attending competitions with her students, you name it. She loves developing the next generation of dancers and her AIM family and we welcome each and everybody to become part of our family developing not only dance but friendships and memories that last a life time.
Amy is one of the amazing Strictly Come Dancing Professional dancers. The only British female professional on the show for the past three years. Amy has so far enjoyed four seasons with brilliant partners- Brian Conley, Danny John-Jules, Karim Zeroual (runners up) , and JJ Chalmers. Achieving some memorable, high scored performances, these lovely partners have definitely become part of the Art in Motion family!
Amy has also appeared and co-hosted on many tv shows such as CBBC, Blue Peter, This Morning, BBC Morning Live, Lorraine, The One Show, Sin Bin Six Nations and The Great Indoors.
In 2019, Amy very bravely announced that she has suffered from Crohn's disease since a childhood. She did this in conjunction with the launch of the It Takes Guts campaign run by Crohn's & Colitis UK which promotes awareness of the disease and encourages sufferers to be open about their illness. For this work Amy won the Raising Awareness Award at the Hello! Magazine Star Women Awards 2019. In 2020 the BBC broadcasted a documentary, Strictly Amy: Crohn's & Me which also featured Art In Motion students.
Amy's dancing journey started at the age of 8 and during her childhood taking her ballroom and latin dance exams and was part of winning formation teams before then taking to the open competitive circuit. Which since gone on to win many titles both Nationally and Internationally. Amy and her partner Ben Jones are British National Latin Champions, 4 x British National Finalist, Ultimate World Cup challenge Finalist, BDF Star Championship winners and 10 x Welsh Open Champions. While Amy's passion is for Ballroom and Latin dance, she has also been trained and has experience in Ballet, Contemporary, Freestyle and Zumba.
Amy looks forward to seeing you at the studio and bringing some Welsh love and happiness to you all!
​
​
Ben Jones
Ben is our Principal Director of Art in Motion Dance Academy. Ben brings lots of fun and laughter at the Studio as well as helping make dancers the best they can be through private lessons and his awesome technique classes. Ben trains some of the UK's top dance couples creating exciting new choreography.
Ben has had a wide range of performance experience from shows and tours including ‘Here Come the Girls’ and a headliner in ‘Lost in the Rhythm’. He has also featured in Strictly Come Dancing UK group numbers, whilst also assisting in some of the amazing choreography for the show. Ben loves to share these innovative ideas and experiences with his students at Art in Motion to help progress and develop their dancing abilities.
Ben started his dancing career at the age of 14 after accompanying his sister to their local dance classes. Ben was immediately spotted with having huge potential and talent. Since then Ben has gone on to become one of the top Latin dancers in the world with his partner Amy Dowden. Ben is known for his cheeky and creative personality on and off the dance floor.
Ben has been 4 x British National Closed Finalist, World Open Semi-Finalist, Crowned the British National Champion in 2016, Vice Professional Latin UK Champion along with many other tittles and successes within the competitive industry.
As well as Ballroom and Latin, Ben has trained dance at college full time and has experience in Ballet, Contemporary, Zumba and Street dance.
Ben looks forward to you joining us at Art in Motion Dance Academy
Katie Wallis
Katie is one of our lovely teachers here at Art in Motion. You’ll see her at the studio in most of our children and adult’s classes. She is also one of our formation teachers, training the teams for national competitions. Katie also loves teaching private lessons from beginners and social dancers to competitive couples and soloists.
Katie started her dance career when she was very young and has progressed her dancing throughout the years to become an active competitor achieving many titles including winning at Champions of Tomorrow, Stars of the Future and the UK Closed Championships.
Katie also furthered her dance training by graduating university with a BA (Hons) degree in dance. This was an amazing achievement for Katie to receive such an impressive qualification that she will treasure and use for the rest of her life and throughout her dance career. The Degree helped further develop her skills and knowledge which can now be applied through her own dancing and teaching.
Whilst specialising in Ballroom and Latin, Katie has a vast experience in many other dance styles such as ballet, contemporary, jazz and street.
Katie very much looks forward to welcoming you at the Art in Motion Studio.
All About Our Dance Studio
At Art In Motion Dance Academy, we have been helping the West Midlands stay stylish on the dance floor since opening our doors.
​
Founded in 2016 by Strictly Come Dancing's professional dancer Amy Dowden and British National Champion Ben Jones.
​
When you decide to join us at AIM, you too will be able to take advantage of our professional staff at our fully-equipped and recently renovated studio. We provide classes and lessons for all ages and a range of different styles such as Ballroom and Latin.
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced dancer looking to improve your technique, we guarantee you’ll find it here.