Rebecca joined Ludus dance in 2020 and is working to enable creative opportunities for young people through dance, in particular those facing a complex transition to adulthood. Her expertise lies in business management and youth work, having worked within prisons, social justice and Toyota offending teams throughout her career. Oh, and she’s a professional dance practitioner too-she studied Theatre Studies at Lancaster University, is a ballet and Pilates teacher and has had direct links with Ludus Dance since she was a teenager.
Sophie joined Ludus as a member of Ludus Youth Dance Company in 2018 whilst studying at UCLan. Having maintained a relationship with Ludus as a freelancer, Sophie joined us as an Alien on our Alien Needs our Help project and worked as one of our Dance Development Officers (Maternity Cover). Following a break away travelling the world, Sophie returns as our Office and Projects Manager.
Why did Linda join the board?
Linda joined our board she believes in our central mission to enrich and change children and young peoples’ lives for the better through dance.
She has experienced the positive benefits of dance and wants to support young people in the local area, and the wider region, to have the same opportunities to engage in this art form that uniquely brings together physicalmovement with creativity and imagination.
She is committed to supporting our small team to make the most of all available resources to make significant changes in the lives of as many young people as possible through dance.
More about Linda...
Linda originally trained as a dancer at a dance school and a state secondary school in Morecambe. She went onto Alsager teacher training college to train as a dance teacher followed by taking a post graduate diploma in Dance Theatre, at the Laban Centre. She was awarded a MA in Language, Arts and Education from the University of Sussex. Her first teaching post was at Heysham High school where she taught dance alongside Emily Hargreaves. Following working as a school dance teacher she worked in various contexts including community dance (as one of the first dance animateurs), dance/arts development agencies (the first Director of South East Dance specialising in dance film andnew technologies), higher education (University of Surrey dance department as Senior Professional Training Tutor), local authorities and working with government departments and funding bodies.
In 2004 she formed Youth Dance England (YDE) and led the organisation until 2016 when it merged with other organisations to form One Dance UK. At YDE she set up a national network of regional coordinators and commissioned Ludus to host the NW coordinator. She was awarded a MBE for services to dance, an Honorary Doctorate Arts by De Montfort University and Honorary Life Memberships of the Foundation for Community Dance and National Dance Teachers Association. She is currently a free-lance consultant working with, amongst other organisations, The Royal Ballet School and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing.
Sara, originally from Portugal, is a contemporary dance artist/educator with an undergraduate degree and postgraduate in Contemporary Dance and Performance from Northern School of Contemporary Dance.
She has worked with renowned companies such as Company Chameleon, Highly Sprung and co-founded DAMAEDANCE. She has performed in major festivals both nationally and internationally.
She uses a multidisciplinary approach to her work and focuses on mental health & wellbeing, social unity and mentoring emerging dancers. She is excited to join Ludus Dance to further her passion for dance education and engagement.
I started working with Ludus in 2023, as a freelance artist. Since then, I have enjoyed working in several roles, including as a performer, studio programme leader and project manager. One of my favourite projects has been to co-create and deliver Creative Intensives, to engage young people in creative dance, film and nature. I also really loved choreographing and performing at Ludus@50 in 2025.
Outside of Ludus, I work as a dance artist, in performing, teaching and chorographical practices. I love performing in outdoor and immersive roles that encourage the audience to engage with performers in new ways, and am also very passionate about getting more young people into dance.
My top advice for someone considering a freelance career would be to seek out as many opportunities that interest you, take risks, and don’t be afraid to introduce yourself!
What makes Ludus unique is the strong values of play and young people at its core. Within every project and opportunity, we always strive to put young peoples’ experiences first, and of course, keep playing and being creative, always!
I joined Ludus In September 2025 as an emerging artist working on their Studio Programme. Since then, I have been a part of many exciting experiences including performing at: Ludus@50, Light Up Lancaster and Lancaster Light Switch on, and through this teaching on the studio programme has been the continuous thread.
Outside of Ludus I am juggling a fair few hats, working on projects for Socially Engaged Arts with Born and Bred Dance Theatre, pushing my focus on inclusive and accessible arts which has been presented through my work with TripleC youth theatre and Venture Arts, and developing my passion for community arts and creating fun and positive memories through movement, incorporating my key values of inclusion, individuality and creativity.
One of my favourite memories of Ludus so far is probably from Light Up Lancaster! The creation period where we created these cheeky and absolutely hilarious characters to take into town was just brilliant, and seeing the joy they brought to the evening for people was very exciting and heart-warming – it also brought back out the inner cheeky child where you can always have fun and play!
Being a freelance dance artist is exciting because saying that you dance for a living and you enjoy what you do is something I, and my younger self, is very grateful for. One of my favourite parts of the industry is working with such vibrant people and collaborating creatively, learning from one another and celebrating everyone’s individuality. Being able to be part of fun, quirky and cool projects is also amazing where you get to see the audience connect with art!
A piece of advice I would give someone who is wanting to be a freelancer is go for it, you will never know otherwise! Say yes to everything and just truly enjoy it, don’t live in your head. Be bold, be brave, be you.
Ludus is unique in so many ways! It’s a space for play and creativity, where play is the centre of their practice in teaching and performance, which is the human’s natural instinct! As a youth-led company it gives everyone professional opportunities that projects the voices of the young people of today. Their play-centred approach means that young people can explore and learn through their choices. This mixed with didactic teaching creates a balance that teaches creativity, ownership and independence.