We have a great lineup of teachers and muscians to help dancers improve their dancing technique and musicians improve their musical knowledge of playing for dancing at our annual Day School. Find out more about our 2022 staff below:
TEACHERS
Patricia Houghton
Pat first started dancing when she was a child in Scotland and enjoys dancing whenever and wherever possible.
Pat gained her Teaching Certificates at St Andrews Summer School. She first taught at St Andrews in 2005 and has been a member of staff there every year since, teaching at all levels of experience. Pat enjoys teaching at local classes and at day and weekend schools in the UK and has been fortunate to teach at Winter Schools in Pitlochry and at events in Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and USA as well as in several European countries.
Pat is an RSCDS tutor, adjudicator and examiner and is currently a member of the Education and Training Committee.
David Hall
Dave danced and played music from an early age encouraged by his parents, both of whom danced and played. As a child he competed in Highland Dancing competitions and got interested in the lively Scottish Country Dancing scene in Manchester in his teens. He formed his own Scottish Country Dance Band in 1983, aged 15.
Dave got his RSCDS Teaching Certificate in 1993 and was granted Life Membership of the British Association of Teachers of Dancing (BATD) after over 25 years connection with them. He taught the London Branch Demonstration from 1998 to 2003, and has taught and played at the Society’s Summer and Winter Schools. Dave has enjoyed meeting dancers from around the world as fellow dancer, teacher, musician and keen traveller.
Away from Scottish dancing and music, Dave enjoys hill walking and cycling with his wife and daughters. Professionally, Dave is a scientist now working for the UK Diplomatic Service.
Kate Gentles
Kate danced as a child in Northumberland, and then started attending regular classes as a student in Cambridge. She took her teaching certificate in 1997 with Susan Nedderman in Cambridge and now teaches the class that she learned with. She also learned step dancing from Susan and ran a weekly Zoom step class throughout lockdown. She has taught both country dancing and step dancing at St Andrews and various day schools. She particularly enjoys encouraging people to develop both their technique and their social dancing skills.
Judy Valvona
Judy has been dancing since she was 11 years old. She lives on the Isle of Wight and gained her RSCDS teaching certificate in 1997 under the tutorship of Bruce Frazer. She has experience teaching juniors and beginners as well as regularly teaching a mixed ability class and weekend workshops for the Isle of Wight
Caledonian Society. Teaching further afield includes most recently presenting for serTA some of the lesser known Imperial dances recently republished by the RSCDS. Now happily retired, Judy is thrilled to be able to devote more time to Scottish County Dancing.
MUSICIANS
Ken Martlew
Ken has been a semi-professional musician most of his life, mainly with church music and conducting choral societies. He read music at Oxford University for a year before switching to medicine. While a medical student he gained his (ARCO) diploma on the organ, conducted numerous choirs, and composed an opera which was successfully performed at the college.
Around 1980 he discovered Scottish Country Dancing, and became a keen dancer, gaining his RSCDS Teacher’s Certificate in 1993. He then started playing the piano for Scottish Country Dancing, and gave up regular church and choral music commitments to concentrate on it. In 2002 he retired from his medical work as a GP in order to give more time to music and SCD.
Since 1994 Ken has been a frequent pianist at St. Andrews Summer School. He was Branch Pianist at Cambridge for 8 years, moving on to the Berks./Hants./Surrey Borders Branch, and he played for the London Advanced /Technique class for 15 years. He has taught or played for countless SCD events in the UK and in some 14 other countries. Ken has run SCD Music Workshops in Germany, France and Holland, danced with the London demonstration team, and tutored a successful RSCDS Teachers Certificate course.
Ian Robertson
Ian is from Buckinghamshire and comes from a family steeped in Scottish music. Classically trained but
with a lifelong passion for the fiddle, Ian is a familiar face on the Scottish dance scene. He is most often
seen now leading his own band on accordion although he regularly plays fiddle with a variety of leading
musicians. A regular at RSCDS Winter and Summer Schools, he has played for weekend schools,
functions and festivals across the UK and throughout the world. Ian is an accomplished composer with 2
volumes of tunes currently in print and more in the pipeline.
Adam Brady
Growing up on the east coast of Scotland, traditional music and dance have formed an integral part of Adam’s life. Adam began playing the accordion and piano at five years old and first started playing for
country dancing at ten years old. Since first playing for local classes for RSCDS Dundee Branch, Adam has had the pleasure to travel throughout the UK, Europe, US, Canada, Japan and Australia playing for classes, dances and music workshops. [We are very fortunate to have Adam as a regular London branch
class musician]. Adam has also been an invited musician for the RSCDS Summer School for the past ten years and has also played for the RSCDS Winter School, Spring Fling and AGM Weekend. Alongside his older brother, he has also recorded and released five albums of country dance music as well as two recordings for the RSCDS.
As a keen dancer, Adam also enjoys getting to dance – when he can!
Barbara Manning
After many years as a keen Scottish country and highland dancer, Barbara Manning turned her classical music training to band use over 35 years ago, and since then has accompanied dancing in many parts of the UK and Europe, the USA, Ukraine and Russia, besides visiting Summer School both as a dancer and musician. She has played for numerous day schools and London Branch technique classes, and has featured on recordings and with McBain’s Band on Radio Scotland’s ‘Take the Floor’ from St Columba’s, Pont Street and on the Earls Court Radio Show, besides playing on stage at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden for the Royal Ballet School’s Annual Performance in 1985. She currently plays mainly with the Silver Cross Band and in a duo with Ken Martlew, besides featuring solo on either piano or fiddle. In November 2016, Barbara was delighted to receive from the National Operatic and Dramatic Association the personal award of Vicki Avery for Service to Amateur Theatre.
MUSICIANS’ WORKSHOP
Luke Brady
A Dance Band Leader and Scottish Music Performer for over 20 years, Luke has also been a dedicated and active member of the RSCDS organisation at both Local and International level for over 15 years playing at Summer School for more than a decade as well as having coordinated both Spring Fling and Winter School. Luke is the RSCDS Musical Director and has previously been a member of both the Membership Services Committee and the Management Board as well as chair of his local branch.
