Meet the judges for the One Dance UK Awards 2025!

Abi is the CEO of Rambert Grades, the pioneering creative contemporary dance examination syllabus founded by Rambert dance company and Rambert School. A sector changing initiative, Rambert Grades brings an accessible and formalised training process into contemporary dance education. Prior to this, Abi was Executive Producer at Birmingham Royal Ballet with a remit to oversee the delivery of all new work for the company, alongside programming existing ballet repertoire from other companies. Abi continues to mentor future leaders in the arts sector covering creatives, producers and managers. She is a trustee of Stopgap Dance Company. 

Alan works in a specialist mental health treatment and research centre and is a visiting professor in Sport and Exercise Sciences. He is founder of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Sports and Exercise Psychiatry Special Interest Group. In 2019 he joined the International Olympic Committee mental health working group and was appointed to the Mental Health Expert Panel of the UK Sports Institute. 

Angela is the first Professor of Dance Education in the UK and Director of the Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health. She is widely published and works nationally and internationally with children, young people, students, professional dancers, schools, communities, dance training institutions, organisations and companies, researching and developing dance practice. She is the Principal Investigator for the UK-wide AHRC funded Dance Educator’s Network: Critical Dance Pedagogy. She also has visiting Professorships in Switzerland and Malaysia.

Multi Award-Winning choreographer, creative director and producer working on Shows and Films. Leading live performances and film productions using Motion Capture, Swarm Technology, Projection Mapping, and Extended Reality. 

Credits include Expo Dubai, Israr Award, David Guetta show, Diversity UK Tour, Ferrari shows, and Award-winning dance films.  

He is a proud member of the Digital Black Dance Ecologies, an interdisciplinary network that foregrounds Caribbean and African dance across digital performance art. Also working with IJAD toward developing OOTFest, a hybrid festival dedicated to elevating live and digital work. 

Aoife McGrath is Professor of Dance at the School of Arts, English and Languages, Queen’s University Belfast. She is a dance artist/choreographer and PaR dance scholar who is interested in how embodied knowledge can be valued and included within interdisciplinary, collaborative, and policy-informing research processes. She is PI or Co-PI for several funded research projects (EU Horizon 2020, AHRC, HEA North South Fund) collaborating with researchers in sociology, psychology, education, and the health sciences. She has published widely on dance in Ireland, and book publications include her monograph Dance Theatre in Ireland: Revolutionary Moves and a co-edited collection (with Emma Meehan, CDaRe, Coventry), Dance Matters in Ireland: Contemporary Processes and Practices. 

Bia is an experienced senior arts manager and producer, having worked on a series of high profile projects, from Akram Khan’s performance at the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony to Sylvie Guillem’s farewell international tour, amongst many other projects. Bia is now working on Our Mighty Groove by Vicki Igbokwe, the production that will open Sadler's Wells new venue, Sadler's Wells East in 2024. Over the last 20 years Bia has produced cross-art, site-specific and digital projects, documentaries, work for digital platforms, TV, installations and exhibitions. She has also worked as a consultant for performing arts companies wishing to develop their work and touring moving from mid to large-scale, national to international touring circuits.

Bia started as a performer in experimental theatre as a teenager in Brazil and moved on to directing and producing arts projects, focusing on producing work since 2003. She has toured cross-arts productions all over the world and has also general managed and led performing arts companies and teams. She is a native Portuguese speaker, fluent in English and also speaks Spanish, French and some Italian.

Bia is the Director of the Digital Stage & Studio at Sadler's Wells, the platform for all Sadler's Wells digital arts initiatives. She is also Head of Producing & Touring, working with securing international partnerships for their productions.

Brendan started his career in 1979 as a freelance dancer, performing  with a number of independent dance companies, and has a string of Film, TV, and Theatre credits.  He has since worked as an animateur choreographer, teacher and laterally as a manager and artistic director. Before joining DanceEast, in March 2013, Brendan was Director of Greenwich Dance, a post he held for 16 years, prior to that, he was employed as the Dance Officer, with responsibility for Independent Dance, at the (then) Arts Council of England.  He is currently Chair of the Bonne Bird Choreography Fund. He received the Jane Attenborough Award in 2006  and is an Honorary Fellow of Goldsmiths College.

Carolyn was the Executive Director at YDance (Scottish Youth Dance) from 2002 until 2024. Educated at Glasgow University, she began working in the arts 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 was Chair of Surge, a company which develops street arts, physical theatre and circus in Scotland from 2011 until this year, and is a Vice Chair of People Dancing (The UK Foundation for Community Dance). 

Claire has made a profound impact on dance and creative arts education in West Yorkshire. She has provided outstanding dance and arts education to thousands of young people, most recently through the development of CAPA College, a DfE funded free school providing unique arts education for 16 – 19 year olds. Her belief that all young people can achieve exceptional things when nurtured in the right way has transformed the lives of thousands of young people.

Eliot Smith is the founder and creative director of Eliot Smith Dance (ESD) based at Dance City in Newcastle upon Tyne, working across the North East of England. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and has created 18 contemporary dance works for ESD and has self-published a book "Martha & Me" which traces his passion for Martha Graham in the UK. He has won numerous awards for ESD and joined The Bowes Museum Board of Trustees in autumn 2021. In 2022, Eliot was invited to become an Honorary Friend of the British Federation of Festivals in recognition of the contribution he has made throughout his career in the performing arts.

Emma Smith (she/her) has worked in community and participatory dance in Scotland for over 12 years. As a dance artist she performed internationally and across the UK, and in 2015 she was one of three Scottish artists to be awarded a BBC Performing Arts Fellowship. Emma holds a Masters of Education from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has worked with Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Akram Khan Company and Edinburgh International Festival. 

In her current role at Dance Base, she leads the delivery of a wide programme of social- and health-focussed projects, with the aim of changing more lives through dance.

Hannah is Head of National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) and is based at Sadler’s Wells in London. She has been working with the company since it was reformed 12 years ago, over this time NYDC has worked with over 10,000 young people and collaborated with some of the world’s leading choreographers (including Russell Maliphant, Alesandra Seutin, Wayne McGregor, Oona Doherty and Boy Blue).   

Helen has spent 25 years realising initiatives to support dancers’ health, well-being and career sustainability. She authored Fit to Dance 2 while at Dance UK and led on the establishment of the UK’s National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science, and its NHS dance injury clinics, for which she was recognised in the 2014 Evening Standard's 1000 most influential Londoners alongside Caroline Miller. She is currently undertaking a PhD at Coventry University’s Centre for Dance Research (C-DaRE) where her research is investigating the influence of representation, and economic/socio-political factors, on freelance dance artists’ pay and working conditions. 

I am a freelance dance psychology researcher, lecturer, and life and wellbeing coach at Dance in Mind. After working in Higher Education for over a decade, I went freelance to focus on the application of psychological research to enhance participation, performance and wellbeing in dance. My research centres on psychological wellbeing, inclusive dance, and the working lives of freelancers, and I am a member of International Association for Dance Medicine and Science's Mental Health Working Group. 

Iona is Rehearsal Director at ACE Dance and Music and Board Member for Dance Consortium and People Dancing.  

Having spent 11 years in ACE Youth Iona went on to study at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, and then at the University of Wolverhampton, graduating with a First-Class Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance and Professional Practice. 

Iona was a performer and in ACE’S professional company for 10 years and transitioned to the role of Rehearsal Director in September 2021. Working alongside the company’s directors, Iona supports the strategic development of dance in the African Diaspora, oversees all studio activity, assists guest choreographers and technical teams to support the delivery of national and international tours.

Dr James Brouner is the course leader of the Sport and Exercise Science programmes at Kingston University, London, he also delivers the biomechanical component on the MSc/MFA Dance Science programmes at Trinity Laban. James’s key research interests focus on mechanical load and understanding the risk factors associated with injury and ways of optimising technique to reduce injury occurrence. Recently, James has led the Sport Science support for the Norwegian Breaking team in preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympics.  

He began his professional dance training at Stella Mann College before developing his contemporary dance technique at the London Contemporary Dance School. He later gained a PGCE qualification at Aberystwyth University. Whilst still undertaking training, Jamie embarked on his professional performing career, subsequently going on to perform with professional companies, touring the UK and internationally. 

He has a number of professional performing credits under his belt, in television, musical theatre, and contemporary dance. Jamie continued developing his career in the dance sector as a Dance Practitioner and Project Manager within learning and participation and dance education. Jamie is the Dance Producer for National Youth Arts Wales (NYAW). 

Jamiel Devernay-Laurence is a Producer of dance-based experiences for stage, screen, events, in education and professional development. Through entrepreneurship, Jamiel brings his creations to life through JAMIEL LAURENCE CREATION - collaboratively platforming and curating the work of other artists and harnessing his professional network drawn from his experience as a Performer, Choreographer, Creative Director, Venue Director, and award-winning Filmmaker. 

In April 2023, Jamiel was appointed as the Executive Artistic Director of Fundamentally Dance and has been commissioned to deliver multiple performances of his unique vision for a new dance platform – Ballet Nights.

Kathryn is a dance researcher and educator, specialising in inclusive dance, dance education and dance and health. She is Assistant Professor at the Centre for Dance Research (C-DaRE) at Coventry University, Chair of the Society for Dance Research and a board member of Dance HE. She recently published Ethical Agility in Dance: Rethinking Technique in British Dance  co-edited with Noyale Colin and Catherine Seago (Routledge, 2023) and Dancing, a co-written book part of the Arts for Health Book series (Emerald 2024). She is Ambassador for AWA DANCE (Advancing Women’s Aspirations with Dance) and a We Are Epic advisory board member. 

Kerry is the Head of the School of Dance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Head of the Associate Programme at Scottish Ballet, and has taught vocational students for 30 years. She has a 1st class Honours degree and Licentiate from the RAD, and a Masters in Ballet Studies from the University of Surrey. Kerry has worked in full-time dance schools across the UK and has been part of the BA Modern Ballet programme at RCS since its inception in 2008. She enjoys working with trainee teachers and is the current External Examiner for dance at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. 

Laura González is an artist, writer and embodiment teacher. Her work falls between medical humanities, psychoanalysis, performance and Eastern thought. She is the author of ‘Make Me Yours: How Art Seduces’ (Cambridge Scholars, 2016) and ‘The Hysteric’ (with Eleanor Bowen, Routledge, 2023). She has published chapters on the seductive qualities of a lemon squeezer, inter-semiotic translation, her maternal line and madness. She has performed with professional dance companies, including Michael Clark, Barrowland Ballet and Scottish Dance Theatre. Between 2015 and 2018, together with dance artist Penny Chivas, she co-directed @TheGlasgowJam, a multidisciplinary arts organisation focused on improvisation.  

Laura Kriefman is an award winning Choreographer and Artist with over 20 years’ experience obsessing about movement and colour.
 
Her practice includes over 15 years of experience creating and delivering interdisciplinary projects worldwide that fuse the performing arts and creative technology, created through her company Hellion Trace Ltd. Recent work includes BBC Arts Commission Neon Romance (2022), Petrol Headz (2021), Producing the UK and EU premiere of the Future Undokai Project (2023), Choreographing Arcadia’s Crane (2019) winning the Smart Oxford Playable City Commission (2017), Kicking The Mic (touring 2017 onwards) and Crane Dance Bristol (2015) which was launched as part of her Creative Fellowship with WIRED Magazine.
 
Her work is designed for audiences from 1-2-1 to 50,000.
 
Her work has been performed worldwide including USA, Brazil, Ireland, Croatia, Europe, India, and Indonesia. She has been award numerous international fellowships including 2023 The Space Fellow with The Performance Corporation, Quest Lab Artist in Residence at Studio Wayne McGregor, Mozilla XR Studio Fellow 2018, UK Innovator in Music 2017 (Keychange.eu) a 2016 INK Fellow, 2015 WIRED Magazine/The Space Creative Fellow and a 2011-2012 Fellow of the Clore Cultural Leadership Programme.
 
Laura has been a guest speaker and performed worldwide at SIPA International, INK, WIRED, ReMIX, SxSW Interactive, World Science Fair (New York), IRCAM Paris, the Southbank Centre, and TEDxRoma, TEDxDanubia and TEDxLondon.

Dr Lisa May Thomas is an award-winning contemporary dance artist, filmmaker and researcher. She is currently a Senior Research Associate at the ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures and lectures in dance film and immersive performance and somatic and improvisation practices. As artistic director for May Productions, alongside a team of interdisciplinary collaborators, she produces work that investigates the intersections between dance, embodied and sensory participation, and immersive technology. She is a Studio Wayne McGregor QuestLab Network Artist and resident at Bristol’s Pervasive Media Studio, and regularly mentors emerging dance artists across the SW.

Mags has been working in dance professionally for over thirty-five years. Initially as a performer she worked with many dance companies including Dance Theatre of Ireland, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Footwork, Daghadha, Moving Shapes and Barefoot Dance. More recently she has worked as a teacher and choreographer mounting projects throughout Britain and Ireland and internationally in South Africa, Romania, Indonesia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Ethiopia and Palestine. Based on a fundamental belief in the intrinsic value of dance both as an art form and as a social activity, Mags works with people of all ages and ability levels and is currently the founder and Artistic Director of DU Dance (NI). Over the past five years the Company has gained a reputation for its work at the cutting edge of dance and social and community development where it constantly pushes the boundaries of where and with whom dance has value.   

Matthew is an artist, collaborating internationally. He is currently artistic director of National Dance Company Wales, and artistic director of ŻfinMalta National Dance Company. 

Matthew is a graduate of London Contemporary Dance School and was part of Scottish Dance Theatre for many years, as dancer and rehearsal director. In 2016 he became Artistic Director of VERVE. Under his direction VERVE became widely known for its bold commissioning and quality of artistic training. 

His highly physical choreographic work translates contradictions and complex emotions. Matthew is engaged in ongoing collaborative partnerships in the fields of sound, fashion, theatre and technology.  

Melanie joined Candoco from her previous role as CEO and Creative Director at Greenwich Dance, bringing a wealth of senior leadership experience within the dance sector. 

She has worked in senior leadership positions at Shubbak Festival, Protein Dance, The Place, and Dance East, undertaken freelance strategic consultancy, and held roles within education and participation at Alex Whitley Dance Company, Hofesh Shechter Dance Company, and Sadlers Wells. Her experience is rooted in a decade-long career as a dancer and teacher. 

Melly Still has worked as a director, choreographer, designer and adaptor. Her work has travelled throughout the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, the Far East, US, India and Broadway. She has been nominated as Best Director and for Best Design at both the Olivier and Tony Awards for her National Theatre production of Coram Boy. Her work includes The Wreckers and Rusalka (Glyndebourne), My Brilliant Friend, The Revengers' Tragedy, From Morning to Midnight (National Theatre), Cymbeline (RSC), Lovely Bones (UK tour), Captain Corelli's Mandolin (UK tour and West End). 

Omari Carter is the founder of Motion Dance Collective, a screendance production company for which he directs, produces, choreographs, and performs. Hailing from London, he performed for 7 years in the West End and international tour of ‘Stomp!’. Omari graduated from the trailblazing MA in Screendance at London Contemporary Dance School in 2020, where he became an assistant lecturer. Currently, Omari is continuing his role as assistant professor in dance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Omari's practice and research revolves predominantly around dances of Hip Hop Culture, Screendance and Body Percussion. 

Paul is the Subject Advisor for Pearson Edexcel's BTEC Performing Arts and dance suite of qualifications, plus GCSE and A level Drama and Theatre, providing support and guidance to dance and performing arts teachers on teaching and assessment and represents teacher and student interests within Pearson. He was the Education Consultant for GCSE Drama for BBC Bitesize. Paul has worked extensively in the performing arts industry as a performer, writer and designer. He was a performing arts teacher in schools and FE, teaching acting, design and physical theatre.  

Phil Hargreaves is an award-winning cultural leader, currently working as head of cultural programmes for Bradford Council, and as Creative/Executive Producer under the alias producingphil. 

Phil works with creatives, production teams, communities, partners, funders, participants, and volunteers, creating safe spaces for creative ideas to thrive and for people's artistic and cultural experiences to be developed. Phil’s work isn’t about his ego, it’s about creating the space for culture to flourish and talent to be discovered and encouraged. It’s about taking risks and failing well, allowing creative talent to grow, demonstrating how culture can empower people and have social and economic impact. 

Pippa has danced all of her life in a range of styles and has  numerous qualifications under her belt. She now works as head of dance in a secondary school, delivers training and also owns her own dance school. Pippa is a massive advocate of dance in education and dance being accessible to all. She loves providing opportunities to young people and values the importance of mental and physical wellbeing.  

As the Environmental Manager at the Royal Ballet and Opera Rachael is passionate about engaging with staff, artists, audiences and visitors to encourage discussion and promote action to reduce our impact on the environment. Rachael is a member of the Theatre Greenbook Operations committee and involved with the Westminster Sustainable City Charter.   

Her journey started at the age of six learning Flamenco and traditional Spanish Classical dance in her native Cordoba, Spain. Her dance career in the UK started in 1996 as a performer, choreographer and teacher.  Rosaria continues her research into Brazilian, Cuban, Spanish and Indian culture ecology. She has worked with professional dancers and performers in this area, such as Rosangela Silvestre (Brazil), Ile Aiye (Brazil), Raina de Oliveira (Brazil), Campelo Dance (Brazil), Paula De Hollanda (Sweden/Brazil), Martica Galarraga (Cuba), Himany Dixit (Udaipur, India) and Maria la Chata (Cordoba, Spain). 

Subathra is the Artistic Director and Joint CEO of Akademi, the UK’s leading South Asian Dance organisation, and a choreographer and educator working at the meeting point of dance, culture and science. 

Having spent over 20 years as Artistic Director of two South Asian dance companies – Angika and Sadhana Dance – Subathra is experienced at creating work for theatres, festivals and alternative spaces. Subathra’s works are a result of in-depth cross art collaborations with award winning artists alongside extended periods of research undertaken with scientists and academic institutions. 

Dr Swati Raut has worked in the Northwest region of England for the last three decades. Her highly successful dance career began in the UK in 1987. Since then, Dr Swati Raut has not only established herself as a leading classical dance artist but has concurrently focused attention in training and developing the next generation of young dancers and teachers.  

Dr Swati Raut is a Committee Member of the ISTD -The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing for the Classical Indian Dance Faculty. She is also a Unesco (CID- International Dance Council) approved Artiste.  

Terry started dancing classes at age 6, joining the Royal Ballet age 18.  He moved to London’s Festival Ballet (now ENB) as a soloist and performed in West End musicals, Film and TV. 

Terry attained an MA in Psychotherapy in 2012, and in 2017 set up the website www.counsellingfordancers.com, specifically to address the mental health needs of dancers.  Terry understands the mental health needs of dancers and uses that in his 1-2-1 therapy sessions and in his proactive Mental Health Self-Care Workshops. 

He is the Founder and CEO of STEPPS CIO, a charity which launched in 2024, whose aim is to support the mental health needs of the UK’s dance world. 

Tom Rogers is the Creative Content Producer at Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB), a role he has held since 2021. Prior to this, he was a soloist dancer with BRB for 17 years, performing a wide variety of roles across the companies repertoire.

His transition to his new career came during the Covid-19 pandemic and was driven by a love and curiosity for design, innovation, and pushing boundaries. He has spearheaded numerous digital initiatives for BRB, including virtual content, immersive experiences at audience development events aimed at engaging new audiences and making ballet more accessible. 

Tracey has worked at Rubicon since September 1996 and her very first role was Dance Development Worker, leading dance sessions for a wide range of ages, abilities and backgrounds and contexts whilst setting up Rubicon's development programme across Cardiff which initially targeted five key areas of the city.   

Tracey now manages Rubicon CPD programmes and the community dance apprentice training programme, mentor development as well as the Wales Wide Training Programme (WWTP) which was established in 2013 with seven partners and now has twenty eight across Wales from community dance organisations, to venues, to national companies. In the past year Tracey has also taken additional hours to focus on fundraising for Rubicon.