Our Founder

Hope Woolston-Phillips

Sparkle Studios was founded in 2025 by Hope Woolston-Phillips, a lifelong dancer with a dream to create a space where every woman could feel confident, capable and celebrated through movement.

Hope has been dancing for as long as she can remember, but her path to opening a studio wasn’t a traditional one.

Despite her passion for dance, she once believed she didn’t have the “right” body for the industry and instead pursued a career in journalism after university. While working as a lifestyle writer, she discovered burlesque—a dance style that celebrated all bodies and embraced individuality. It was love at first sight.

That discovery reignited her lifelong passion for dance. Alongside her journalism career, Hope began teaching burlesque and later expanded into other styles such as ballet, tap and modern.

Then, in 2023, faced with potential redundancy and feeling ready for change, she took a leap of faith. With the support of her husband and family, she left journalism behind to follow her heart—and Maison Magenta was born.

What started as a single weekly burlesque class in a small nightclub soon blossomed into a thriving school with multiple weekly sessions, workshops and performances.

Hope also dedicated herself to professional burlesque training and launched her solo performing career in 2024.

Since then, she has become an award-winning performer, produced her own professional show, The Sparkle Saloon, and appeared in numerous productions—including her own at the Colchester Fringe Festival in 2025.

Now, Sparkle Studios marks the next exciting chapter.

Expanding from three burlesque classes into a full timetable of dance styles for women and girls, Hope’s vision is simple but powerful: to prove that dance is for everyone. You don’t have to look a certain way, have a particular skill level, or fit a specific mould to embrace the joy of movement.

Through Sparkle Studios, Hope continues her mission to build a community of women who feel amazing in their own skin, lift one another up, and show the world the power of confidence, connection and dance.