YDance (Scottish Youth Dance)
South Block,
Unit 103,
60-64 Osbourne Street,
Glasgow, G1 5QH
Telephone: 0141 552 7712
Meet the Board
Sue Mitchell
ChairSue is passionate about dance! After graduating with a Joint Honours degree in English & French, Sue did a Diploma in Dance at the Laban Centre and then studied Mime in Paris with Etienne Decroux.
She has worked as a movement teacher, dance-artist -in residence and director of Out of the Darkness Theatre Company. She later worked in a management capacity for a variety of 3rd sector organisations.
Her relationship with YDance began when she hosted them to carry out a summer school in Buckie. Sue is now semi-retired and living in a remote rural community in Ross-shire. She participated in the Generation Dance Festival in 2018 celebrating the diversity and connectivity of dance. Sue is proud of YDance’s role as a pivotal dance sector organisation in Scotland, which enables young people to discover their potential through dance.
Alan Busby
Alan joined Glasgow Chamber of Commerce in 2005. His role as Events and Professional Development Manager involves the planning, marketing and delivery of the wide and varied events the Chamber offers.
Highlights include the development and delivery of The Glasgow Business Awards, The Inspiring City Awards, Glasgow Talks, Think Digital Scotland and Made in Glasgow.
The highlight of his Chamber career was leading the Chamber team's event delivery during the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth games and our support of the Glasgow Business Embassy and Scotland House.
Educated at University of Stirling, he studied initially for his BA (Hons) in Marketing and Politics (2001) before moving on to study for an MSc in Entrepreneurial Studies and Business Growth (2003). Afterwards, Alan worked with the Methodist Church in London, before joining Marks and Spencer as a graduate. In 2005 the opportunity came to join Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.
Alan joined YDance in 2013 and has been blown away with the talent and achievements of the young people who are engaging with YDance Scotland. In addition, the dedication of the YDance team to the development and creativity of Young People in Scotland and the reach that they achieve is inspirational.
Alan lives in Balloch, Loch Lomond and his other interests include walking, drinking real ales and having a good debate about politics.
Theresa Campbell
Theresa has had the privilege to work in the field of teacher education for over 25 years. During her time in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow she began a long-standing partnership with YDance which focussed on supporting teachers across Scotland in the delivery of high-quality dance experiences for young people.
Theresa is now retired and was delighted to be given the opportunity to continue her connection with YDance when she was appointed to the YDance Board. She loves the passion and commitment of the staff and takes great joy from being part of an organisation that centres on spreading this love of dance.
Anita Clark
Anita's first encounter with YDance was in 1989 at the second ever Scottish Youth Dance Festival at the University of Stirling. That experience was formative in rooting her passion for dance as an inclusive and expansive artform.
She has gone on to pursue a career in dance as a practitioner, producer and in funding and policy. Anita is now Director of The Work Room, an artist-led organisation based in Glasgow, Scotland. Working with artists in dance, movement and choreography, The Work Room’s mission is to empower artists to lead in their practice, enabling them to make high quality, pioneering dance for diverse contexts at home and internationally. Anita was previously Head of Dance at Creative Scotland and Artistic Director of City Moves in Aberdeen. She holds an MA in Arts in Social Context from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and a BA (hons) in Dance & Related Arts from London College of Dance.
Ian Dewar
Ian is currently an accountant with Kitchin Group in Edinburgh, involved in the management of four restaurants and a hotel.
He has had a varied career in finance and administration including eleven years with Festival and King's Theatre's Edinburgh. He set up and ran a Youth Theatre in the 1990s and has also been a leader with The Scout Association (soon to return again) and a mentor with YMCA Edinburgh.
Ian is also a keen community dancer and take classes at Dance Base and perform with various companies. He was therefore very pleased to be able to volunteer with YDance given his background and experience and has really enjoyed his involvement over the years.
Colin Fyfe
Colin started dancing at 18 with his first foray into serious training as a member of the Project Y company from 2008 – 2010, which included writing his undergraduate dissertation (The Geographies of Contemporary Dance: A Performers Perspective) with a case study on the 2009 company. He was also involved in several other projects with YDance during this time.
Since then he went on to train as a teacher and then as a dancer, gaining his HNC Dance Artist from West College Scotland. Colin is currently working for South Lanarkshire Council as a Teacher of Additional Support Needs, Geography, Drama and Dance.
Laurie Houston
Carolyn Lappin
Carolyn has been Chief Executive at YDance (Scottish Youth Dance) since 2002. Educated at Glasgow University, she began working in the arts front of house at the Citizens’ Theatre in Glasgow, before going on to Scottish Youth Theatre where she was General Manager from 1984 until 2001, also managing the Old Athenaeum Theatre for SYT.
Carolyn has also been Administrator for Winged Horse Touring Productions, IPB Productions and Spontaneous Combustions, and was Chair of the Independent Theatre Council in Scotland from 1996 – 1998 and a member of the UK ITC Board of Directors. She is Chair of Surge, a company which develops street arts, physical theatre and circus in Scotland, and is a Trustee of People Dancing (Foundation for Community Dance).
Lucy Vaughan
Lucy is an Arts Consultant specialising in Creative Learning. Lucy was the Director of the Scottish Drama Training Network from 2016 - 2020, and she joined SDTN following ten years as Head of Creative Learning with the Lyceum Theatre Company, Edinburgh and two years as Principal Officer Creative Learning (Performing Arts) with City of Edinburgh Council.
Lucy has worked in both the performing arts and education sectors in Scotland, creating, developing and producing opportunities for young people to experience high quality engagement with the Performing Arts and to develop their own creative skills.
Lucy joined the Lyceum Theatre Company in Edinburgh, in 2004.Over a period of 10 years, she led the Lyceum's team of youth theatre and creative learning practitioners delivering a diverse creative learning programme that included one of the largest Youth Theatres in Scotland, work with schools and colleges, and a participation programme for people of all ages, linked to the Company’s productions. During this time she developed innovative, inter-disciplinary creative learning approaches to engaging with schools in Edinburgh, including the highly regarded programmes: Project Dream and Project Scrooge.
Since 2008 Lucy has been an External Assessor for the Scottish Government's National Companies Unit(For Scottish Ballet and National Theatre of Scotland programmes). In 2018 she was invited to take up a Fellowship with the Royal Society of the Arts. She joined the Board of Directors of YDance in 2018 and is also on the Board of children’s Theatre Company, Tortoise in a Nutshell.