Artistic Director Fergus began his dancing career with the Royal Ballet, later studying at the London Contemporary Dance School where he became a senior teacher. He was a founder member of X6 Dance Space and New Dance magazine. In 1987 he formed Green Candle, a dance company working in community and educational contexts for all age groups and abilities. Green Candle has won three Digital Dance Awards and for 25 years has been at the forefront of new developments in community dance. Fergus is the winner of several awards, including a Greater London Arts Dance Award, a Lisa Ullman Traveling Bursary, the Time Out/Dance Umbrella Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement and a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship. In 2010 he was awarded an OBE for his contribution to dance and In 2011 he was made an Honorary Doctor of Arts by De Montfort University, Leicester.
Development Manager Annie joined the company as General Manager and has now moved to the role of Development Manager. Although she was working in commercial PR prior to starting Company Management, Annie had a long standing interest in the arts, dancing as a hobby when still a child. Her first foray into employment in the arts was with Footsbarn Theatre Company as their PR officer, and she went on to become their administrator.
Louisa has been working for Green Candle Dance Company since 1996. She’s an experienced Freelance Bookkeeper specialising in financial and management accounting with full knowledge of charity/SORP accounting. Her responsibilities include producing and submitting full end of year accounts, corporation tax return, VAT returns for SMEs. Louisa also works for Dance UK, LIFT, Nutkhut Dance Company and previously worked for Michael Clark Company.
Suzanne originally trained as a dancer and then diversified into backstage and front of house operations. Her experience includes lecturing on Business in the Performing Arts and production processes. As well as administration for Green Candle Suzanne is also the registrar, tutor and Internal Verifier for Green Candle’s Diploma: Leading Dance with Older People. In addition she also designs and creates costumes for the Senior Dancers Company and other projects at Green Candle.
Vicki Busfield started dancing from a young age and went on to train at the Northern Ballet School where she gained her teaching qualifications and then later a 1st class BA(Hons) degree at London Contemporary Dance School. Vicki’s career has taken her to many places around the world, including New Zealand where she spent five years teaching and choreographing for private dance schools and educational institutes, and California, US where she worked with choreographers, created live performances and dance films. As well as devising, managing and delivering a wide variety of projects and professional development courses for a broad range of ages for Green Candle as the Community and Education Manager, Vicki is also a freelance dance artist, the Artistic Director of DashDotDance, a Stopgap IRIS inclusive dance artist with her own inclusive youth group DashDot/YouthDance and a registered RAD and ISTD dance teacher in four genres, who holds a 100% success rate for students entering examinations at grade, vocational and teacher training levels.
Danielle Teale is an Associate Artist of Green Candle Dance Company. She first worked with the company in 2016 as Community Dance Artist, later shifting to freelance Associate Artist to provide her with greater opportunities for personal development and expansion within her career. Danielle delivers participatory projects for the company and consults on the Green Candle Diploma ‘Leading Dance with Older People’. She brings with her over twelve years of rich and varied experience in community and professional dance teaching, choreography, directing and project management. She has worked with organisations such as East London Dance and English National Ballet, designing and leading high profile dance and health initiatives. Danielle is recognised for providing high quality artistic experiences for dancers and non-dancers alike, from early years and youth dance, to older dancers and people with dementia. She has a particular interest in dance for those with neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s and specialises in this area of work having trained with Mark Morris Dance Group in New York on their Dance for PD ® programme. Danielle has successfully completed a Masters Degree in Community Dance at University of Roehampton.
Chantal Bardouille trained at Trinity Laban and has experience as a performer, choreographer and teacher: her passion is facilitating dance to early years, children, young people and adults of all ages and abilities, nurturing their process of growth and development and inspiring their creativity. Chantal joined Green Candle in September 2010 and also works for Trinity Laban delivering dance to children and young people.
Jreena is a professional dancer, choreographer and dance teacher. She’s currently head of dance at Peckham Theatre where she has developed a module entitled ‘Charleston To Hip Hop’ that explores the the links between current urban dance styles and African American dance styles from the 1920′s. She has a background performing in West End musicals (original cast of The Lion King). Jreena was a lead dancer in Green Candle’s Production ‘Falling About’ and she regularly teaches Green Candle workshops to both young and older people.
William began studying dance at 13 with Eve Leaueux, a former pupil of Marie Rambert. In 1998 as a member of ‘Moonshine Productions’ he premiered The Romantics, a play on the life of Byron, Keats and Shelley at the Derby Playhouse. The same year he appeared again with Moonshine in a play on the life of Jeddiah Strutt in and around Boston USA Community Theatres. In 1999 working at Nottingham Playhouse, Will completed his training in audio description for the visually impaired. Will trained at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. After graduating William joined Green Candle in the summer of 2003 touring with the company’s production of Mina’s Story to schools all over London.
Rachel joined Green Candle in November 2017. She has over 10 years experience working in marketing and digital communications for the charity sector having worked for other charities including Youth Music, ActionAid UK, Music For Youth, and Wandsworth Arts. Rachel looks after Green Candle’s marketing, website and social media presence. Although she has no formal training or practical dance experience, she has a love of dance and the arts in its many forms.