Teachers and qualifications
Miss Saunders
The director of Danceworld always says “Knowledge is Power and every day is for learning new things”. Miss Saunders herself holds teaching qualifications with the following societies RAD, ISTD, SDTA, BATD and Acrobatic Arts which are known worldwide and has successfully for nearly 40 years entered candidates from First Steps exams to helping teaching over Scotland achieve their teaching qualifications. After 10 years of teaching I made the best decision ever to travel to London each weekend (for 9 months) and be coached by the best there. The end result was “Distinction” and an invitation to become an examiner. What an honour although I did not take up the position as I had a young family and Danceworld was where I wanted to inspire and nurture dancers, future teachers and performers.
Miss Kayleigh
At just 4 years old Kayleigh began her dance journey at West Lothian Danceworld and has trained in both RAD and ISTD Syllabus up to Intermediate Level. Kayleigh’s passion for dance led her to go on to dance college gaining a place in Second Year (skipping ahead a year thanks to all the wonderful training at danceworld) at Performing Arts Studio Scotland where she achieved her HND then followed by a First class honours degree in dance artistry where she fell in love with contemporary dance. During her time at college she got the opportunity to work experience with YADA in Malta which is a large contemporary company. Kayleigh is a qualified I-D contemporary and Acrobatics Arts teacher. Kayleigh was a member of the hip hop team Pulsationz, where she and her team were crowned UDO World Champions in 2014. She also danced the intervals of various sporting events during Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games. Kayleigh’s heart has always been at Danceworld and is where she found her love of teaching from becoming an assistant at a young age to then be promoted to a Manager in 2023 she has really found friends for life and has the best job in the world.
Miss Lauren
Lauren started dancing at 2 and a half years old and was taught by Miss Saunders. What started as a hobby turned into a passion and then later into her career. Lauren became a classroom assistant and then later a Dance Teacher at Danceworld. She then went on to train professionally at Dance For All Theatre College in Edinburgh. During her second year at Dance college, she was selected to be a part of Team Scotland’s Hip Hop Team and represented Scotland at the Dance Worlds in 2010 – which was such an incredible experience! Once graduated from college, Lauren travelled the world and worked as a Professional Singer and Dancer for Costa CruiseLine and Carnival Cruises. This job was a dream come true for her! She performed in incredible shows in front of hundreds of guests each night. She had the privilege of working with amazing choreographers, show producers and talented cast members who she gained so much knowledge from. When she moved home to Scotland in 2022, Lauren returned to Danceworld as a Teacher and Coach of the Jazz and Lyrical Competition Teams. In June 2023, Elevate Senior Team won a bid to compete at the Dance Summit in Florida. In September 2023, she was promoted to Manager for Danceworld. In January 2025, Starstruck Youth Lyrical Team and Elevate Senior Lyrical Team both won All Star World Bids for 2026.
It is a privilege being a part of any members Dance journey, and to be teaching at Danceworld where it all began for Lauren is such an honour.
Miss Lucy
Miss Lucy started dancing at Danceworld when she was only little then was accepted into the Dance School of Scotland for 6 years of vocational training. Here she gained her Advanced 2 ISTD Modern and Tap exams as well as her RAD Advanced 2 Ballet exam at Distinction. She then went onto train professionally in classical ballet at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she gained her Bachelor of Arts in Ballet. Miss Lucy then furthered her training attending the Royal Academy of Dance gaining her certificate in ballet teaching studies. She is a fully accredited teacher under the prestigious RAD, as well as qualifications with Progressing Ballet Technique and RAD Silver Swans. Miss Lucy’s favourite thing about teaching is her lovely students. After teaching at Danceworld for 8 years now, she’s helped to develop so many students from tiny ballerinas to graceful dancers, but the best part is watching them grow up into wonderful young ladies.
Miss Seonaid
Seonaid was a Danceworld student from the age of 7 where she was tutored by Miss Hazel Saunders in BATD and ISTD examinations. She then went on to study at Dance For All, Edinburgh. During her time there, she gained her HND and ISTD Level 4 Diploma in Dance Education (DDE). During her time at dance college, Seonaid assisted in classes at West Lothian Danceworld gaining valuable experience and guidance from the teaching team through her studies. She also balanced a Domestic Assistant role within the NHS for 10 years where she loved working with the public. Following her graduation in 2015, Seonaid took a year out and travelled all around Australia where she worked on a Merino Stud farm and even managed to teach a couple of dances classes too! When Seonaid came back to Scotland, she continued teaching in multiple schools across the central belt as well as studying and obtaining further teaching experience with the IDTA and her Acrotrix Level 1 Qualification. Seonaid loves to share her knowledge and passion for dance with our dancers and especially loves teaching the Tinies and seeing their confidence grow and dance potential shine! Whilst she loves to push all her students to their full potential for dancing exams, Seonaid especially loves showtime and creating special choreography for her students to truly show their talent.
Miss Jennifer
I trained at Dance for All in Edinburgh and continued my ISTD Teacher training with the wonderful Elaine. I also hold my Acrobatic Arts Module one certification and have to thank Miss Kayleigh for her encouragement to sit the course. I have been teaching around central Scotland now for over 18 years at dance schools, theatre schools and outreach programmes. Eventually I decided to take a leap of faith and open my own Dance school in Stirling in 2018. Now an established school with 100 students and 2 shows under our belt. I am also going into my third year of running my own dance summer camp in Campbeltown, Argyle. I came to Danceworld in 2016 and quickly became in awe of the dedication and talent across the school. There have been lots of milestones during this time with the opening of the new Bathgate studios being top of the list! Now home to the boys only class and Adult Tap and Jazz. I look forward to welcoming lots new students in August.
Miss Elaine
Elaine and Miss Saunders were trained as children by Mary Docherty, an ultra talented lady who inspired them both. Elaine then went on to train at Glasgow Ballet School for 4years including associate modern and Tap. After leaving she continued her training achieving Licenciate status. Then a few years later went on to study the DDE Tutor course. Elaine is now DDE Tutor in modern dance for ISTD, where she loves teaching and passing on her amazing knowledge to the students who join the journey to be a dance teacher. She has helped our very own Miss Jennifer and Miss Kayleigh to name a few, achieve success in their teacher training qualifications. Elaine has worked for Danceworld for over 7 years now, mainly teaching our seniors in the ISTD vocational examinations. Elaine is an exceptional teacher, who’s choreography and knowledge is first class.
Miss Hollie
I joined Danceworld in the tiny tots class at age 2 and continued dancing here until I was 17. I absolutely loved dancing at Danceworld and during my time I completed exams in ballet, tap and jazz, participated in dance shows and was part of the Street dance team PulsationZ which placed in numerous UDO World and Scottish street dance championships. I joined Danceworld as a street dance teacher in 2021 and formed the street dance team Illusion who have had lots of successes in their recent competitions. At the same time, I’m studying Interpreting and Translating with French and Spanish at Heriot-Watt University which allowed me to spend 2 semesters abroad in Grenoble and Seville. I have also been able to continue dancing at university, joining the ballet, contemporary, jazz and street teams. I was chosen as Street Captain and have choreographed and led the university street team for a few years with 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.
Miss Amy
Amy started dancing at West Lothian danceworld at the age of two and continued training under the guidance of miss saunders up until completing her intermediate vocational exams in both Modern & Ballet. Amy was a member of the streetdance team Pulsationz, who were crowned Scottish champions in 2013 and then later world champions in 2014. Both titles were earned within the under 18 intermediate category, when Amy was only 12 years old. After gaining a place at the prestigious performers college, Amy moved down to London at the age of 16 to begin her professional training in dance & musical theatre, where she achieved distinction in her trinity diploma and also completed her teaching qualifications in both Modern & Ballet. Throughout her 3 years of vocational training Amy also got to train alongside world class choreographers and was lucky enough to work under the direct guidance of Jay Revell, Josh Wharmby and Layla Ellison through their reputable training companies. Despite Graduating during the Pandemic, Amy was lucky enough to begin working in the commercial industry, where she got to perform at Wembley stadium for the UEFA European championship final, be a part of the skeleton crew for Capital FM’s Jingle bell ball and booked a national commercial as the lead actor all in 2021. Amy continued to work within the corporate dance scene before moving home in 2023, where she returned to danceworld as a teacher and coach of their street dance competition team. Now Amy coaches our youngest street dance team ‘Amplify’ and assists Miss Hollie with their senior counterpart ‘Illusion’.
