The Team
Who We Are
Emily Black
Principal Teacher
Emily started dancing at only two years old, she performed in many shows as a child whilst completing RAD and ISTD exams in Ballet, Tap and Modern. In her teenage years she decided to take Dance and Musical Theatre seriously and successfully gained a place on the Royal Conservatiore of Scotland's, Junior Musical Theatre program.
Emily progressed on to profesional training achieving a HNC in Musical Theatre from Motherwell college and then completed a HND in Professional Stage Dance from Dance For All Theatre School, passing both courses with an A. This then led Emily on to study Ba Hons Dance and Drama at Performing Arts Studio Scotland in conjunction with Kingston University.
She successfully graduated with a first class honors degree. University is where Emily discovered that her passion lies in teaching.
Frances Maxwell
Newton Stewart Teaching Team
Hi there! My name is Frances Maxwell and I’m so excited to be joining the team here at Emily Black Dance School. I began dancing at the age of 2 in my hometown of Castle Douglas before going on to travel to Ayr multiple times a week for classes in order to progress through ISTD and RAD examination syllabuses. Before long my love and passion for dance had grown enormously and I went on to study for a year at Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, and graduated in 2021 with a Degree in Professional Dance Performance from the MGA Academy of Performing Arts in Edinburgh. I have recently moved back home after living and training in London since finishing my professional training, and am looking forward to sharing all I have learned with the next generation of aspiring dancers. Growing up, dance was such an influential part of my life and has brought me so many happy memories over the years, and I hope to inspire the children at Emily Black Dance School to aim for the stars and follow their dancing dreams!
Rachel Dorrian
Fife Teaching Team, Collydean & Newburgh Teacher
Hi! My name is Rachel Dorrian. I am so excited to have been given the amazing opportunity to become a teacher at Emily Black Dance School and I can’t wait get started.
I started dancing when I was 2 and fell in love with it. I stuck with it and I went to study dance full time at college. I studied at DFA in Edinburgh for 3 years and graduated in 2021. During that time I did RAD Ballet exams, ISTD Modern exams, Spanish Exams and studied many interesting and wonderful genres of dance including commercial. Throughout my college career I was also involved in many performances.
My dance classes growing up were such a positive and fun part of my life and I can’t wait to help give the children of Emily Black Dance School the same fun filled experience as they continue on their own dance journey.
Linda Black
Admin & Finance Team
You will find Linda behind the scenes a lot, you will often spot her at our shows chaperoning.
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Linda is a very experienced "Dance Mum," after putting Emily into Ballet from age 2 she quickly became very involved in the dance industry. Linda used to help source auditions and opportunities for Emily and she is excited to use this experience to help our dancers.
