Staff

Principal Director Tracy Hawkes leads an inspirational faculty of highly experienced and qualified dance tutors, including many of the most respected and renowned dance professionals in the business today. Each member of staff is dedicated to imparting their extensive knowledge, skill and artistry to nurture our students and pupils.

  • Principal & Artistic Director

    Ballet, Spanish Dance

    Tracy RTS ARAD SDS IdB(1), MEd founded Dance For All in 1985 after performing and teaching extensively in schools and companies in the UK and abroad, including Basic Space Dance Theatre, Napac Ballet and Durban City Ballet.

    Tracy is a Registered Teacher and an Life member and Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance (ARAD) and is one of the few Spanish Dance Society (SDS) qualified teachers in Scotland. She recently gained a Masters Degree in Education from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland 

    Directing an inspirational faculty of dance tutors, Tracy promotes excellence, individual achievement and enjoyment in all forms of dance training within the intimate, supportive and welcoming atmosphere of Dance For All.

  • Studio Manager & Administrator

    Contemporary Dance, Choreography

    Vassia completed her professional training (BA in Dance and Dance Instruction) at “Rallou Manou” Professional Dance School in Athens, Greece. Vassia has 17 years of teaching and choreographing experience in various styles. She has worked closely with Corfu’s Municipal Theatre, delivering dance and kinesiology workshops.

    Vassia has collaborated with Edinburgh International Festival, Akram Khan Company and Danns-ed Company as a dance artist and choreographer.

    Vassia has worked within the public education sector as a GTCS registered teacher, delivering curriculum dance in various primary and secondary schools across Edinburgh, as well as with Active Schools Scotland.

    Graduating with distinction from the MSc Dance Science and Education with Teaching Qualification pathway program, she has recently taken up the role of Associate Tutor in the MSc Dance Science and Education course. Vassia is fully registered with the General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS) for Further Education.

  • Jazz Dance, Musical Theatre, Contextual Studies, Audition Portfolio

    Originally from North Wales, Beth Manderson trained at the Arts Educational School London where she graduated with a BA (Hons) Degree in Musical Theatre.

    Beth’s theatre credits include: the role of Amber in Hairspray at Aberystwyth Arts Centre; Gertie Cummings and Ado Annie (role and understudy) in the UK tour of Oklahoma!; Swing and performing the role of Alice in the UK tour of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; the role of Lisa in the European tour of Fame; Children Will Listen at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London; the role of Satine in the Scottish tour of Moulin Rouge; and international tours on board the Aurora for P&O Cruises, performing with The Theatre Company.

    Beth’s pantomimes include Princess Jasmine, Aladdin at the New Brighton and Theatre Royal Bath; the role of Cinderella in Lowestoft; Cinderella, Swansea; Jack and the Beanstalk, Llandudno; Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood, Malvern; Aladdin, Rhyl.

    Alongside teaching and choreographing, Beth is a qualified SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority) Assessor and a Manager at Stagecoach Edinburgh.

  • Commercial Dance, Jazz Dance, Body Conditioning, Acro Dance

    Beverley Maule started dancing at the age of 3 at her local dance school in York, where she studied both in International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA) and Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) in all genres of dance.

    Beverley has always been passionate about dance and at the age of 16, she attended Phil Winstons Theatreworks in Blackpool, where she spent the next 3 years training professionally before graduating with a Diploma in Dance and Musical Theatre. She got her first job straight after graduating from college and spent the next 9 years travelling the world and performing in different shows and venues.

    Some of the companies she worked for included Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Costa Cruises and Princess Cruises, this gave Beverley the opportunity to work alongside very well known choreographers and directors in the industry and to experience dancing on green screen in Los Angeles. After spending lots of time at sea and travelling Beverley moved to London where she performed in the opening of the Olympics in 2012 and various different film extra roles. She was also part of a TV documentary for ITV about life at sea as a dancer.

    Beverley is now very happy to be living and teaching in Edinburgh and passing on her talent and skills to others, she hopes to deliver the passion and love for dance that she has had since such a young age.

  • ISTD National Dance

    Claire Quinn is a highly experienced and well respected ISTD National Dance teacher. Training under Heather Rees, Robina Smith and Margaret Dixon Philip and specialists at the Society for International Folk Dance, Claire has extensive performance and choreography experience, including festival dances, performing the Irish Stepping solo at Congress and as a member of the Northern Lights Performing Group, touring France, Italy, Switzerland and Spain and competing in the World Folk Dance Festival.

    Claire is an ISTD Licentiate and she also taught at the Knightswood Dance School of Scotland for 9 years. In 2016, Claire was awarded the ISTD Isobel Haxell Cup at the Grandison Clark Awards for long and loyal service to the ISTD National Dance Faculty.

  • Jazz Dance, Musical Theatre, Contextual Studies, Audition Portfolio

    Jonathan Burnett trained at the Royal Ballet School, the Hammond School and then Heriot-Watt University. He has won numerous awards, including the LAMDA Gold Medal Drama and RAD Solo Seal Award. Performing internationally for a variety of dance companies, Jonathan has built up an extensive career, holding many soloist roles, including ballets by Domy Reiter Soffer, Auguste Bournonville, Royston Maldoom, Nils Christe & Charles Czarny.

    His diverse experience also ranges to choreography and directing creative workshops, while his work with Vestris New-Mime & Dance Theatre won Best New Work and he was nominated for Best Actor at the 1992/3 Springfield Theatre Club Awards in London.

    Jonathan has held over 50 diverse roles for the Irish National Ballet, including soloist and choreographer, and he has also worked with the Royal Carré Theatre, Citizens Theatre and Lindsay Kemp Company, returning to America each summer as guest choreographer at the Sonoma Ballet Conservatory’s Summer School.

  • ISTD Modern Dance, ISTD Tap Dance, Musical Theatre, ISTD Diploma of Dance Education (DDE teacher training)

    Lesley Wood is a Fellow and Examiner of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) and as such she is one of the most experienced and respected teachers in the country.

    Previously, she has performed across Europe, the USA and Canada, and was an External Verifier with the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and a faculty member of the Performing Arts Department at Motherwell College.

    She is Principal of the Dance Factory in Glasgow, has been the subject of two BBC documentaries, and is a renowned choreographer, working with the BBC, Scottish Television and Scottish Opera. In addition, she has choreographed numerous productions, including: Footloose, We Will Rock You, Rent, Our House, Witches of Eastwick, Songs for a New World, Jekyll and Hyde, Children of Eden and Panto for Imagine Theatre.

  • RAD Ballet, ISTD Tap, ISTD Modern, Acrobatic Dance, Jazz Dance

    Following training at the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance in Dundee, Peter Twyman CBTS RAD completed his BPA(Hons) at the NSCD in Leeds. Peter began teaching in Edinburgh in 2006 and has taught on the RAD Boys Only! Weekend Workshop since 2010. He has worked with the Royal Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Frankfort Ballet, Canadian Opera Company, Scottish Ballet, Scottish Dance Theatre and the White Oak Dance Company on their summer courses and workshops.

    Regularly choreographing dances for our shows, Peter also works with Edinburgh Ballet Circle, organises local charity events for McDonald’s and choreographs the junior and senior displays with Kestrel Gymnastics Club who tour and compete throughout the UK. Peter has also performed with Edinburgh’s charitable amateur dance and dramatic organisations, including Tempo, The Bohemians, Showcase and Southern Light Orchestra in shows such as the King & I, Wizard of Oz and West Side Story.

  • Anatomy, Physiology, Safe Dance Practice

    Samm Baigrie RAD RTS BA(Hons) has taught at DFA since 1998 and regularly choreographs for both our school and professional course productions. Holding a BA Hons in Dance Education and RAD Registered Teacher status, Samm has also been Head of Dance at Edinburgh’s Royal High School from 2001 – 2017 which has now switched to Aspire Dance Academy of which she is the owner and director. She is a qualified SQA Assessor and SQA Internal Verifier, a Certified Acrobatic Arts Teacher, a Higher Dance Teacher and Safe Dance Practice tutor.

    Samm has tutored at Stevenson College and for numerous community and charitable organisations, often choreographing project shows. Other choreography work includes productions such as Fame for BSkyB and We Will Rock You for the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her teaching and performance work has taken her to Mauritius, Greece and Portugal and she is a regular judge for Live and Unsigned as well as university finals.

  • Singing, Musical Theatre

    Steven Wren ALCM, LTCL, BA(Hons) has been teaching at Dance for All since 2002. As an actor, singer, director and musical director for 37 years, he brings with him a wealth of experience from such companies as 7:84, The Royal Lyceum, Dundee Rep, Perth Theatre, Pitlochry Festival Theatre and the Byre Theatre.

    He has directed and played Dame in pantomime at Eden Court Theatre, Inverness for the last 10 years. He taught singing at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh’s Telford College and on the Masters in Musical Theatre degree course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS, formally RSAMD). His repertoire is primarily theatrical and he is certified in the Estill method of voice production.

  • RAD Ballet

    Lindsey Cheyne has studied dance extensively. She started as a young, competitive highland dancer, followed on by three years of full-time dance training. She then went on to dance professionally worldwide for 15 years. Achieving Dance Captain status with an American production company led her to be an associate choreographer, teaching existing shows to their production casts of singers and dancers and installing them onboard Regents 7 Seas Cruise Lines.

    Upon retiring from the stage, she continues to share her love of dance and teaches a variety of genres in various settings.  She is a registered teacher – RAD RTS for Ballet; MUKA for Highland, Tap and Jazz and has a YMCA studio instructor certification.

  • Tap Dance

    Rona Anderson graduated Dance For All College in 2009 with an HND in Professional Dance Performance and an Foundation in Dance Instruction (ISTD) in teacher training. Since graduating, Rona has taught extensively for dance schools across Midlothian and the Borders, choreographing dances for school shows, auditions and competitions. 

    To continue developing her practice, she has taken classes from leading tap dance professionals in New York (such as Derick K Grant and Barbara Duffy) and across Europe in Tap Festivals, including Stockholm and Brighton Tap Festivals. In 2023, she choreographed a Tap dance trio that qualified to represent Team Scotland at the Dance World Cup in Braga, Portugal. She has also taught adult tap dance classes at Edinburgh University’s Modern Dance Society and Dancebase, Scotland’s National Centre for Dance.

Steven Berkoff

Patron

In 2010 we were delighted to announce that the accomplished writer, playwright, actor and director Steven Berkoff was to become our first official Patron.

Berkoff has created numerous adaptations and original plays for the stage, which have been performed in many countries and languages. He has authored a variety of books and acted in a number of films, including the blockbusters A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, Octopussy, Rambo, Under the Cherry Moon, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Krays.

Having worked with Tracy Hawkes during her time performing with Basic Space Dance Theatre, he says he is “thrilled to be a Patron” of her school and that Dance For All is a “wonderful school.”

Read more about Berkoff’s prolific and distinguished career or find out more on his website.