Ally Robson is a Strategy Manager at global consulting company Accenture. His career has primarily focussed on supporting public sector organisations through service transformation and workforce utilisation initiatives. As a passionate supporter of the arts, Ally has joined the board at Dance City to help achieve it's vision for a thriving dance ecology in the region. Originally from Kent, Ally has lived in the North East since attending Newcastle University in 2000, where he studied for both an MA in Creative Writing and an Executive MBA.  As well as being a board member of Dance City, Ally is Vice-Chair of Convocation at Newcastle University. After moving around the region, Ally now lives in Northumberland with his wife Lucy and their young son Harry.

Kiz Crosbie is a passionate advocate for using the arts to build personal connections and improve the lives and aspirations of individuals and communities. She was inspired by Dance City’s vision and ambition to lead the development of a dynamic dance ecology in the region and proud to join the Board to help the company achieve this. Kiz is the founder and Artistic Director of Mortal Fools, an award winning North-East theatre and creative learning company. She trained at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has worked as a Director and Producer across the UK for companies including Royal Shakespeare Company, Live Theatre, Maverick Television and Shakespeare Schools Festival, specialising in work by and for children and young people. Her family roots are in the North East and having lived away for most of her life, Kiz returned to live in Northumberland in 2011 with her husband and daughter.

Geoff trained at the Laban Centre gaining a degree in Dance Theatre, and has since worked as a dancer, choreographer and educator. Performance credits include: Transitions Dance Company, David Massingham Dance, Second Nature, balletLORENT and TDI performance and Repertoire Company. Through a dance commission programme with both Transitions and TDI he has worked with choreographers Liv Lorent, Richard Alston, Aletta Collin, Rui Horta, Mark Murphy, Della Davidson, Charlotte Vincent, Colin Poole, Ben Wright and Vertigo Dance Company. He has also co-run his own project based dance company Jointworks, developing an interest in film and media work. Geoff has a MA in Dance Professional Practice from Teesside University.  

Cora is a recent graduate of Newcastle University with a BA History and Politics. She is originally from North Yorkshire but moved to Newcastle to study and has decided to stay in this wonderful city. Cora has enjoyed dance as a hobby from a young age and has practiced and competed with the Newcastle University Dance Club. Cora has a passion for writing and content creation and is looking forward to starting her professional career at Dance City.

Hope is a Senior Creative Learning Manager for the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) based at the Sunderland Empire. Hope has over 8 years’ experience working in theatre-based learning participation, specialising in inclusivity and audience development. Hope has a great passion and investment in the local communities within the North East that is fuelled by an ethos that everyone deserves, and has the right, to access culture. This informs his commitment in supporting the development of Creative Learning and participation across the wider North East region. In addition, working on behalf of ATG to drive group-wide strategic initiatives including development; working closely with local and national funding bodies, as well as taking a leading role in ATG’s commitment to schools and audience development through its 38 UK theatres in partnership with producers such as National Theatre, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Hope studied Theatre Studies, specialising in Contemporary Dance at Lancaster University before moving back to Sunderland to develop his practice as a community dance and drama practitioner. During his time at ATG he has developed a passion for inclusivity gaining national interest as well as winning a number of local and national awards including the National Autism Professional Award in the alternative education category and more recently the Action for Children’s Arts Award for the impact their inclusive offer has on the lives of children & young people. Hope is a passionate advocate for young people and their entitlement to culture and performing arts, and serves as a Governor at Beacon of Light school.

Charlotte is a specialist property litigation lawyer, heading the team at Muckle LLP: the proudly north east based commercial law firm. She has over 25 years of experience in her field and has been working with many of her clients for over 20 as a trusted advisor.  Her practice spans commercial, landlord and tenant lease renewals, rent reviews, dilapidations; residential ASB problems, access injunctions and possessions; long leasehold cladding remediation work, service charge disputes and management strategy for right to manage companies and enfranchisement; together with general land issues such as rights of way disputes, trespass and nuisance.

In addition to the technical legal work, Charlotte is part of the management team at Muckle LLP. She is jointly responsible with the managing partner for employee engagement and strategy at Muckle LLP. The wellbeing of Muckle’s people is very important to Charlotte and she is closely involved in trying to  make the Muckle employee experience a good one.

Much of Charlotte’s career to date has been working with the social housing sector and she has a keen interest in this area. Charlotte is Chair of Tyne Housing Association (https://www.tynehousing.org.uk/) , a Board member for Prosper (https://prosper.uk.com/)

and a founding Board member of WISH (northeast) https://www.wishgb.co.uk/our-regions/north-east all of which are organisations in and around the housing sector.

Outside of this world, Charlotte has always loved dance. She danced as a child and discovered Dance City as an adult, taking adult beginners lessons to see if any of those movements learned in childhood had been retained in muscle memory. Sadly, the answer was no but great fun was had in trying to capture them again!

Through that experience Charlotte believes that access to the arts is an enriching experience and one that should be available to all. The ambition of Dance City to ensure that this becomes possible was part of the attraction to the role of Trustee.

Sarah Dewar is passionate about our amazing charity sector here in the North East and all of the brilliant people that work within it. As a Board Member of Dance City, Sarah wants bring her experience of employee engagement, culture and wellbeing to help people to thrive in the work that they do.

Sarah is a HR professional with over 15 years experience of working in the North East working currently at a national not for profit mental health organisation.

Sophie Douglas is a dance artist, practitioner and projects manager with interests in community dance, site-adaptive performance and somatic practices. Before joining Dance City, Sophie has taught extensively in educational and community settings across the SW, including leading the artistic direction of Coast Youth Dance Company between 2018-2021. Sophie’s passion for outreach and engagement has led her to work with a broad range of dance companies and organisations including Pavilion Dance South West, Arts University Bournemouth, Trinity Laban Conservatoire, Made By Katie Green, ZoieLogic Dance Theatre and Dorset Mind. Sophie’s research interests are centred around working in natural environments and investigating her movement practice through a lens of somatic enquiry.

Sarah is Chief People Officer at the national charity Mental Health Concern where she leads on people and cultural transformation and sits on the Executive team.  Prior to this Sarah has worked in both private healthcare and the not for profit sector in a number of HR leadership roles. Sarah is a qualified Coach and has a keen interest in colleague engagement and workforce culture having led on projects such as organisational values implementation, colleague wellbeing programmes, reward and recognition together with organisation design and large scale change programmes.  Sarah was born in Newcastle and having studied in Manchester now lives here with her two young children.  She enjoys going to the gym and long walks in the countryside and on the beach.

David had an extensive corporate career within large scale organisations delivering contracts and transformation to private and public sector clients. David now combines professional consultancy services with an expanding non exec portfolio. Throughout his life he has always maintained a strong interest in culture and in particular live theatre music. His other roles include Chair of music development organisation Generator. David himself was a musician growing up. David Haley commented: “Music and Dance are big passions in my life. We are very lucky to have a development organisation like Dance City in the region. It is an interesting organisation as it works in the background to support artists as well as directly deliver services directly to the public like performances or through learning and engagement programmes. I’m very much looking forward to supporting the team to develop the organisation.”

Catherine was CEO of Kielder Observatory for 4 years, successfully guiding the organisation through the pandemic and through a business planning process, creating a happy, vibrant, high-profile, and high-performing organisation poised for sustainable growth. Prior to that, Catherine was Director of the North East Centre of Excellence for Satellite Applications, building the fastest-growing space cluster in the UK.

Catherine was instrumental in turning the North East Technology Park from "two buildings in a field" to a £100M pioneering science park, was Vice-Chair of the United Kingdom Science Park Association, a Board Director of the International Association of Science Parks (IASP), founded Women in IASP, and sat on the Women's Advisory Board for the North East Chamber of Commerce.

Catherine is a highly experienced trustee and director, currently is director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, for iGiant, a Washington DC-based innovation accelerator, an evaluator for Strength in Places, Innovate UK's £300M innovation fund, and will be joining the Council of the British School at Rome in 2024. Catherine has long been associated with Dance City, from taking classes to supporting several of the North East's dance companies.

Alex joined Dance City in 2023 after 15 years working in the world of property marketing - with roles both in-house and within marketing agencies, her last role as an Account Director within a full service marketing agency saw her look after one of the UK's largest house builders with outlets across the country.

Having danced as a child and an Arts degree behind her, she decided it was time for a change in direction and headed to Dance City. Alex's role here is to oversee the marketing team and activity, and learn about dance along the way. Outside of work Alex likes to spend time with friends and family, and sew bandanas for her rescue dog Ronnie!

Rachel is a fundraiser specialising in the cultural sector. At Dance City she is responsible for securing funding from a wide range of sources to support the organisation’s artistic and education programmes and strategic goals. Rachel’s experience prior to joining Dance City includes raising funds to create new exhibition building as part of the development of Locomotion, County Durham; successful bids for capital development and music for social impact programmes while working for The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, including a project to establish three community music hubs in Gateshead in partnership with Age UK and Gateshead Older People’s Assembly. She also secured funding for Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art including support for Heather Graham’s immersive installation The Age of Love; a Korean artists residency exchange; and a youth-led project working with Gateshead secondary schools to create social action projects in response to social issues.

Rachel graduated from the University of Surrey with a degree in Dance in Society. She has a post-graduate qualification in Foresight and Futures Studies and took the MA in Creative & Cultural Industries Management at Northumbria University, where her research interests included ceramics and making, in community and health contexts. In her spare time Rachel practises yoga and attends as many classes at Dance City as she can.

Annie began working at Dance City in 2023, having been on the BA (Hons) Professional Dance degree at Dance City and graduating with a First Class Honours in 2022. Throughout her time at Dance City, Annie had the chance to work with a wide range of artists and companies such as Vanhulle Theatre, and Roberta Jean. Whilst on placement with Moving Art Management and during specific modules, Annie began to develop a passion for producing and marketing in the arts. Since graduating, Annie has been involved with freelance teaching work and gaining experience working with children with additional needs.

Annie has participated in the arts from a young age, having danced in a number of different venues with her local dance schools and completed music and drama qualifications.

Annie’s role at Dance City involves supporting the Marketing of different activity in the building and establishing connections with industry professionals and external organisations.

When not at Dance City, Annie enjoys going to the gym, visiting her family in the Lake District and listening to Harry Styles!

Shirley is from Hexham, Northumberland and her love for dance and music began at the age of four, attending ballet and tap classes and playing classical piano and violin. Shirley went on to study at Middlesex University and was selected for a place at a New York School of Performing Arts, gaining a BA Hons degree in Performing Arts. Shirley became a dancer, choreographer, Head Dancer and progressed to Dance Captain leading high performing show teams for 10 years on cruise ships all over the world. Having met her husband on a Millenium cruise, he proposed in Greenland, they returned to the North East and married at Hexham Abbey.

    From ships to trains…Shirley started a career in the corporate world working for the East Coast Mainline, responsible for Uniform strategy and delivery for 10 years, Customer Experience Standards & Quality Management, Customer Insights, Digital Engagement and Change Management. Shirley launched the LNER Azuma Pioneers programme formed of engaged colleagues across the business to support the implementation of Azuma trains in 2019 and is now LNER’s Lead for Operational Readiness & Engagement for Strategic Projects, putting people at the heart of the business, assessing impact and planning for successful transformational change.

    During her corporate career, Shirley’s love for the arts, performing and public speaking has continued, including choreographing Flash mobs and arranging Charter train entertainment to support railway charities, Host for Business Awards, a voiceover artiste and even working as a Wedding photographer! The privilege to sing in choirs at amazing venues such as the Royal Albert Hall has been particularly memorable for Shirley and most recently singing with the Royal Northern Sinfonia Chorus for the BBC Proms at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music.

    A huge passion of Shirley’s is to motivate, help and inspire others to be at their best, so Shirley is delighted to become a Board member as she cares passionately about playing a part to help shape and make a difference to the future of dance in the North East and Dance City.

Charlotte is a real estates disputes lawyer with commercial law firm Muckle LLP in Newcastle. She assist clients in all matters involving property where there is, or there could be, some element of fiction between the parties. The essence of Charlotte’s job is to problem solve either where the problem is already in evidence or by pre-empting issues to avoid problems arising in the future. The law as it relates to property is substantial and a great part of Charlotte’s time is spent making the myriad of legislation make sense to her clients. Charlotte enjoys a number of trustee roles outside of the day job, one of which is with Dance City. Her interest in Dance City began many years ago when attending adult ballet classes. This continued with her attendance with her children and now in her trustee role. Charlotte is delighted to be part of the Dance City family.

Dr Ellen Jeffrey is a neurodivergent dance artist and researcher working with time-specific choreographic practices. She studied at Trinity Laban Conservatoire and University of the Arts Helsinki before completing her PhD at Lancaster University. Working collaboratively with local artists and communities to generate performances, films, workshops and writings, Ellen’s work explores the capacity of dance and movement to attune to more-than-human timescales. Her work has been funded by the AHRC and Heritage Lottery Fund, amongst others, and supported by Cumbria, Lancashire, and Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts, and Morecambe Bay Partnership. Prior to joining Dance City, Ellen has worked internationally as a performer and choreographer, and taught at various HE institutions within the UK, including Trinity Laban Conservatoire, Lancaster University, and Manchester School of Architecture.

Dr Vanessa Montesi is an interdisciplinary researcher based in Newcastle. After starting as a professional dancer for the company Pescara Dance Festival at the age of 16, she turned her attention to the relations between Western concert dance and translation studies, looking at how texts, narratives, and images travel across media and cultures and how contemporary choreographic practice is imbued with questions of translation. She has experience in research, teaching, and community engagement in Portugal, Canada, Italy, Russia, and the UK. She is a trustee at Company of Others and the author of Dance as a Form of Intermedial Translation.

Anand Bhatt is a dance enthusiast and producer from Leicester . With an interest in all things Michael Jackson and Bollywood, he stumbled upon contemporary dance in 2007 when he was dancing in a Kathak show along with dancer Aakash Odedra. As Aakash and Anand found their creative talks and dreams aligned, the clearer it also became the Anand was not in fact a dancer. He started to help out Aakash with his shows, and ended up as his producer.

Instantly falling in love with contemporary dance but not having seen much of it, Anand has remained focussed on gathering experience and skills by intensively supporting Aakash. Their first project ‘Rising’ featured commissions by Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Russell Maliphant. Aakash went on to be one of the most globally toured cotemporary dancers living in Britain in the 2010s. Anand toured into the UK the works of artist’s including Lali Ayguade, Marcos Morau and Aditi Mangaldas; and worked with Aakash on projects collaborating with Damien Jalet (Inked), Ars Electronica Futurelab & Lewis Major (Murmur) and Shubha Mudgal (Echoes). Anand’s vision is to work with dance as a language without words to build better understanding amongst communities and share culture across the world. Commercially Anand ran a studio space in Leicester, and his resident Bollywood dance school Desi Masti was a force for South Asian dance in the Midlands. In 2014, Anand closed Desi Masti (as Aakash’s work was getting too busy) and partnered with– ‘Shiamak’ the world leader in Bollywood Dance. Anand was artistic director of MJ Timeless, a summer residency show at Blackpool ‘s Globe Theatre which featured an international award winning cast and the show was ravely reviewed.

At Dance City Anand became Artistic Director and Chief Executive in 2020. Anand hopes to be a servant of dance to the communities in the region.

Outside of dance Anand is trying to learn Spanish (all help is appreciated), and is the most basic amateur gardener.

Sofie has worked in arts administration for the past 7 years - you might recognise their face from their previous role on the Dance City ticket office. They are responsible for supporting the day to day running of the CAT programme. They enjoy dancing in their kitchen and sometimes in non-professional dance projects. They care about inclusive, equitable art spaces and workplaces. When not at Dance City, they are community organising, gardening and rollerblading.

Ellie is a professional dance artist based in the North East. She is co-director of Pelican Theatre as well as being a freelance performer and dance teacher. Ellie started her dance career on the Lowry CAT scheme in Manchester before training at Trinity Laban and then moving to Newcastle to join The Collective company. She is passionate about working with children and young people and is keen to assist those interested in dance to find their own passion. Ellie enjoys meeting new people, being in the countryside and spending time with dogs!

Lissie Connor is a Producer, Coordinator and Dance facilitator based in the North east. With over 10 years experience, Lissie began her career as a performer after completing her training at Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Following a natural development into dance management, Lissie returned to her northern roots working with many exciting emerging artist in the North East. Specialising in Dance Theatre, and outdoor production Lissie has worked on major cultural events including Lumiere Durham, Freedom City & Juice Festival. Lissie also delivers Dance & Pilates, specialising in young people and 55+ age groups.

Jess Avery graduated with a BA (hons) in Fine Art at Sunderland University in 2019. Her time at university really helped to develop her creativity and be able to harness it and apply it to different areas of her life.

Joining the Dance City team as a Technical Apprentice is her first step into the creative industries and she is excited to be surrounded by the creative atmosphere of Dance City. When not at Dance City, Jess can be found painting, playing rugby, or playing videogames.

Cheryl Baty is Dance City’s Dance Engagement Coordinator, responsible for connecting Schools, Children and Young People to artists, performances and opportunities. Cheryl works alongside partners to create bespoke projects and educational outreach programs allowing exciting and enriching experiences. With over 12 years’ experience in dance in education Cheryl started her career as a Secondary School teacher at Whickham School and Sports College and as the Dance Link Teacher for the Gateshead Schools Sports Partnership. As well as her role at Dance City, Cheryl is the Managing Director of her dance company Creative Dance North East.

When Nick joined Dance City as Technical Manager in 2021, he brought nearly 30 years of knowledge and experience of working in the live arts as a technician, production manager, and lighting designer. In addition, as a lecturer in stage management and technical theatre, he helped many technicians successfully start their careers within the entertainment industry. Nick's main role at Dance City is to work with regional, national, and international artists to plan and facilitate the technical elements required for Dance City's performance programme.