Our people

Lynda first entered a dance school at the age of ten and attended various classes in ballroom and theatre subjects; eight years later she took her first IDTA Associate examination. In 1991 she became an Examiner in the Ballroom Branch, giving her the opportunity to travel around the UK and overseas.

She first lectured at Congress in 1996 and has since lectured at many Area meetings. Throughout these engagements she has enjoyed meeting other dance teachers who are also working to promote dance to the general public. She has also enjoyed working, as co-author with Lyndon Wainwright, on various commercial projects including the most successful Let's Dance published by Harper Collins in 2005. Lynda's own book Let's Rock 'n' Roll was first published in 2006; this technique is used for professional examinations. Further technical publications for IDTA have since followed, including Street Dance Guide, IDTA’s first syllabus and printed publication.

She bought her dance school in 1987 and ran a very successful and busy medallist school in Essex, for more than 26 years, teaching children from the age of three through to adults of all ages and abilities. Still backed by a brilliant team of assistants, she always gets great satisfaction from teaching anyone to dance. Lynda, currently serving as a member of both the Freestyle Faculty and the Latin Faculty, enjoys the work that involves a strong commitment to the Association and its members. The opportunity to develop this involvement further came in 2005 when she was first elected to the Board of Directors. 

Dawn started dancing at the age of seven, and was introduced into the Medal test system through the classical sequence branch. Subsequently she took Medals in several branches, entered and partnered in IDTA Medallist competitions, and in 1974 won Medallist of the Year in Classical and Modern Sequence under the guidance of Derek Tonks and Beryl Bates.

Her desire to teach was very strong and as a result she qualified at 17 in Classical Sequence and Ballroom. She continued studying for further qualifications in other branches at John Knight Dance Studios. By 28 years old Dawn had attained Fellowships in Ballroom, Latin and Sequence, and at 29 was appointed IDTA examiner. She has been a full-time dance teacher all her working life.

She has been a part of IDTA since the beginning in 1967 and firmly believes it will remain the biggest and best by keeping up with modern trends and styles, and encouraging all ages and abilities to get involved in the subject. She has, and still continues to, fully support the Medal test system and has entered thousands of pupils in Ballroom, Latin, Sequence, Freestyle, Rock 'n' Roll, Country and Western, Cheerleading, Dance Exercise and Club Dance style tests.

She has trained numerous professionals in all branches. Dawn has been a member of the Midlands Area Committee for 14 years and is currently Vice Chairman; she is also the current Chairman of the Freestyle Faculty and has previously held titles in 2002-2004 and 2009-2010.

In 2006 she was elected onto the Ballroom Faculty and has thoroughly enjoyed working with colleagues on the revision of our technique book. Her love of examining, lecturing and adjudicating at all levels has not deteriorated, and she still loves the buzz of visiting and revisiting venues to receive a warm reception from all our members. She has thoroughly enjoyed being a member of the Board since 2004, and has become even more aware of how hard her fellow directors work to maintain our standards.

It has been an honour and privilege for Dawn to play a part in the continuing development of the biggest and best dance teachers association in the world, and especially to represent the Association as President from 2010-2011 and again in 2018-2019 - a role she thoroughly enjoyed and took very seriously. She would like to thank everyone who had faith in her. Dawn is always approachable and ready to offer advice and encouragement.

Michael is a Fellow and Examiner of IDTA, and former Chairman of the North West Area Ballroom Committee.

Having grown up in the business, Michael and his wife Marie had a successful amateur and professional competitive career, and are former finalists in the World and European Professional ten dance championships. When they retired from competing they opened their first dance studio and now run IDTA studios in three locations.

Over the past 20 years IDTA members have supported him with advice and assistance, and as a Director he is able to return that support by working hard for members of the Association. Michael is a member of many IDTA committees including the Ballroom and Latin Faculties, the Finance & General Purposes Committee and London Meeting and Congress Arrangements Committee.

With 30 years of service as an IDTA Examiner, Yvonne has a wide experience in Ballroom, Latin, Classical Sequence and Freestyle. Since the age of 17 she has taught social and medallist dancers to achieve their ambitions, and now coaches many professionals for their qualifications.

With her in-depth knowledge and teaching techniques, she has pioneered to increase the IDTA’s visibility globally by successfully establishing links in other countries. A former Chairman of the Ballroom Faculty, and current Chairman of the Latin Faculty, Yvonne is a team player - contributing new ideas whilst always taking into consideration the needs of the IDTA members and the high standards of this Association.

She contributes regularly to the Dance International Magazine with her Saunders Snippets feature. She feels strongly about developing wider communications within the IDTA, specifically the links between the Theatre and Ballroom branches. The growth, development and structure of the dance business has never been so important as at this time.

Bryan Thomson began dancing at the age of ten and took his first professional examination at 17. He has been a member for 42 years. At aged 26, with his wife Brenda, he opened Lee Green Dance Centre which grew quite quickly. Making full use of the medal test system brought success to his pupils in the school at Area and national level in all sections of the ballroom branch. He has compered all the IDTA Nationwide events for many years along with serving the North East as Area chairman on more than one occasion a position he has held with great pride. It has also been his pleasure to lecture at Congress on more than one occasion. As a ballroom branch examiner he always enjoys his visits to other schools and to see their progress. He continues to study to further his knowledge in all aspects of dance and still has a desire to promote dance at all levels.