Joint Vice Chair: Sue Trotman
Adviser for Effective Practice Physical Education and Dance, Sandwell LA

Sue Trotman has worked in education for over 35 years and is currently Adviser for Effective Practice Physical Education and Dance within Sandwell LA. She has spent most of her career in delivering Dance in-service training regionally, nationally and internationally. Sue is enthusiastic and passionate about ensuring all pupils experience high quality dance education. She has supported QCA in providing national guidance and was co-author of Top Dance. Sue supported the primary review and has developed a range of resources for national agencies. She is involved in major projects and initiatives including Dancing for the Games. Sue is a member of afPE and previously been vice chair of the NDTA. Sue believes that collegiate working is the way forward in securing a dance education for all.

Joint Vice Chair: Amanda Thornton
Teacher of Dance and SENCO, Malbank School, Cheshire

Amanda is currently a teacher of Dance and SENCO at Malbank School in Cheshire. She originally trained as a dancer at The Merseyside School of Dance and Drama, continuing at The Laban Centre, London. After travelling the world performing with various professional companies, she began teaching dance in Cheshire at Knutsford and Poynton High Schools and became Head of Dance at Ellesmere Port Specialist School of Performing Arts.
Over the past twenty years she has also had responsibilities as a Head of Year, PHSCE Coordinator, ECM Coordinator and G&T Coordinator. She has gained additional qualifications in the National SEN Coordinator Qualification and NPQH. Amanda has been a moderator for AQA in Expressive Arts and Applied Performing Arts. Her contribution to Dance within Cheshire has been extensive. She has led teacher inset for the county for all Key Stages, she was a member of the Cheshire working party for the 14 – 19 vocational courses (in 2007 she led an NDTA workshop on 14 – 19 vocational courses), and she has taught on the PGCE programme for John Moores University, Liverpool. Throughout Cheshire her work within the community has been extensive, organizing and leading numerous residential’s, working with IndepenDance (an integrated dance company) and choreographing a Dance piece based on Domestic Violence for the Home Office. Her passion for Dance and her determination to make education fully inclusive go hand in hand; her philosophy of education is clear; namely that every pupil has the right to have access to an education which is broad, balanced, relevant and differentiated, from which pupils can maximize their potential irrespective of ability and which will lead to fulfilling adult lives.

Liz Dale
Council for Dance Education and Training

Following a very successful time in her teens and early twenties as one of the UK’s top amateur competitive Ballroom and Latin American dancers, Liz trained at London College of Dance and Drama as a specialist dance and drama teacher accruing over 30 years experience teaching both subjects in schools to Advanced level. She has led highly successful performing arts departments in three schools with very diverse demographics and has produced and directed over eighty dance, drama and musical theatre productions during her career. Her work has been showcased throughout the country including at prestigious venues such as the National Theatre, Tate Britain, The Lowry, Laban and The Imperial War Museum of the North. An exceptional number of her former pupils, many of them boys, have been accepted into top vocational schools including Central School of Speech and Drama, Rambert School, London Studio Centre, Laine Theatre Arts, Millenium Dance, Laban, Northern Ballet School, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, LIPA, Doreen Bird, RSAMD, RADA, Welsh College, Rose Bruford, Guildhall and ALRA.

As Chief Examiner for GCSE Dance, Liz was responsible for co-writing the new GCSE Dance specification and she regularly leads training on all aspects of GCSE Dance for teachers, moderators and coursework advisors. She has advised on and contributed to a number of resources for dance with Artspool and is co-author of the AQA GCSE Dance textbook and Kerboodle online resources published by Nelson Thornes. Liz is also Head of Education and Training at the Council for Dance Education and Training in Covent Garden; the national standards body of the professional dance industry, where she has specific responsibility for the accreditation of programmes of training in Post-16 professional vocational dance and musical theatre colleges. She works closely, on a daily basis, with industry professionals and organisations including Arts Council England, Youth Dance England, Dance UK, Foundation for Community Dance, The Royal Opera House, and with many major dance companies and artists. She also works privately as a freelance dance teacher and dance in education consultant.

Zoie Golding
Producer, Rock Challenge UK/Founder and Choreographer FuzzyLogic Male Youth Dance Company.

Zoie has been the Producer of the national performing arts competition, Rock Challenge® the last 6 years. Zoie is also the founder and choreographer of the highly successful FuzzyLogic Male Youth Dance Company. Set up in 2000 the company now runs boys workshops in schools and referral units. Develops projects that engage ‘at risk’ young males and creating performance rep for the main company. Zoie also now runs training on ‘how to engage boys into dance’ as well as holding inset days in schools around the country.Since it began, FuzzyLogic has grown to become increasingly popular and well received across the country. FuzzyLogic aims to push the boundaries of male dance through a unique style of high tempo and energetic contact work fused with exciting narrative contemporary dance.As producer of the UK Rock Challenge, Zoie has seen first hand the powerful effects of the arts on mass. Her role as Producer includes organising and supervising all aspects of a 40 show tour held at prestigious venues around the country with over 400 schools and 22,000 young people participating in 2009. Zoie has also produced and worked on shows in Dubai, South Africa, Germany and Australia. All of these experiences have lead to a comprehensive understanding of the dance and arts industry both in the private and public sectors.

Alison Dixon
Advanced Skills Teacher & YDE SDC, County Durham

Alison is an Advanced Skills teacher and School Dance Coordinator for Youth Dance England. Her training includes The Royal Ballet School and Elmhurst School for Dance. Alison also has a First Class honours degree and QTS from the University of Sunderland.
Having previously been Head of Dance at an Arts College for 10 years, Alison has a wealth of experience in developing teaching and learning throughout Key Stage 3 and introducing and developing examination courses at key stage 4. Within this time Alison has also worked with a vast number of Primary schools and projects within the community including working with children, adults and young people with specific learning difficulties. Her teaching reputation has travelled wide with QCDA requesting a performance from her pupils to demonstrate ‘high quality’ dance in schools. Over the past 7 years Alison has led on a number of professional development courses working with teachers from across the age range. Since her appointment in an advisory capacity for the last two years, Alison has been supporting teachers in school by delivering bespoke professional development, 1:1 advice and developing resources and guidance for teaching, learning and assessment for Durham LA & Youth Dance England. She has also set up and runs the Durham Dance network, providing continuing professional development for teachers working across and beyond County Durham.