Academy People

The aim of the Royal Academy of Dance is to elevate and advance the art of dance. To fulfil our mission we greatly rely on the efforts of our Directors and the support, passion and guidance of our President and Vice-Presidents and the experience and expertise of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Darcey Bussell CBE, President
Darcey Bussell was born in London and trained at the Royal Ballet School where the late Kenneth MacMillan noticed her exceptional technique and in 1988 gave her the leading role in his ballet The Prince of The Pagodas, causing her to move to The Royal Ballet. A year later on the opening night of the show she was promoted to Principal, at the time the youngest ballerina to be given this honour. Read full biography

Kerry Rubie, Chairman
Kerry Rubie became Chairman of the Executive Committee in May 2006. He was previously vice chairman of Leo Burnett Worldwide Inc (LBWW) during 1997-2004. Read full biography

Find out about our vice-presidents

 Management Team

Luke Rittner, Chief Executive
Luke Rittner took up his appointment as Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Dance on 1 September 1999. From October 1992 he was Communications Director for Sotheby’s Europe and in January 1998 assumed additional responsibilities as Director of Corporate and Public Affairs until his departure in 1999. Read full biography

Richard Thom, Finance & Administration Director
Richard Thom joined the Royal Academy of Dance in 1988 and was appointed Finance Director in 1991. During this time he has published From Ballet to Business (1999) and Buying and Selling a School. Read full biography

Melanie Murphy, Director of Marketing Communications & Membership
Melanie joined the Royal Academy of Dance in May 2003 as Press & Marketing Manager. After a period of review she began to restructure the department addressing staffing and resourcing issues. In 2006 she became Head of a new department, the Marketing Communications & Membership department. Read full biography

Andrew McBirnie, Director of Examinations
Andrew took up his appointment as Director of Examinations at the Royal Academy of Dance in January 2010. Previously (2002-8) he was Chief Examiner in Music for London College of Music Examinations, based at Thames Valley University; in this role he was responsible for considerably updating and expanding LCM’s portfolio of graded and diploma qualifications. Read full biography

Lynn Wallis, Artistic Director
Lynn Wallis graduated from the Royal Ballet Senior School in 1965 into the Royal Ballet Touring Company, becoming Ballet Mistress at the school in 1969, a position she held until 1982, when she was made Deputy Principal. During this time she reproduced a great many ballets from classical repertoire for the school performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and other venues. Read full biography

 
Dr. Anne Hogan (BA, MA, PhD), Director of Education
Dr. Anne Hogan was appointed Director of the Faculty of Education in August 2011. She taught in the Department of Comparative Literature and was Director of Alumni Relations at The American University of Paris, and was previously the Head of Dance Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, and Head of Postgraduate Studies and Research at London Contemporary Dance School. Prior to joining  the RAD, she was an Associate Dean in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Languages and Education at London Metropolitan University. Read full biography