Miss Natalie

Growing Up Dancing

Natalie was born in Aberdeen and began dancing at Sharon Gill School of Dance at age four with weekly Ballet and Tap classes, and soon added Modern Theatre, Cheerleading, Jazz, National and Classical Greek to the mix.

In addition to regular ISTD dance examinations, Natalie began competing across Scotland from age seven in several genres as a soloist, and in duos/trios and group dances also. Natalie was also lucky enough to be selected as part of a team to attend the World Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, Florida when she was only 15 years old!

Over her 10 years of competing, she accumulated many medals, trophies, and Scottish Championship titles, as well as achieving Distinctions in all major dance examinations up to and including ISTD Advanced 2 Tap, ISTD Advanced 1 Modern, and RAD & ISTD Intermediate Ballet.

Training Full-Time

At age 17, Natalie left Aberdeen to train full-time in Musical Theatre at Performers College in Essex, where she added more genres to her repertoire, including Contemporary and Commercial.

Upon returning home, Natalie continued her dance training, gaining Distinctions for ISTD Advanced 2 Modern and RAD Advanced 1 Ballet. She also decided to give Highland dancing a try in her early 20s and completed up to SDTA Scottish Award Level 5 in Highland & National with top marks in both genres.

Teaching and the Stage

In 2011, Natalie began teaching for several local dance schools in and around Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire whilst also taking to the stage and performing with local theatre companies in musicals such as A Chorus Line and Fame, and in local pantomimes, including playing the role of the Prince in Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs in Inverurie Panto!

Natalie was also lucky enough to be selected to perform solo on the stage at His Majesty’s Theatre with her own choreography in Aberdeen’s ‘Great Big Dance Show’, as well as in a trio which she also choreographed.

Opening the School

Upon completion of her Diploma In Dance Education (DDE) in 2013 with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD), Natalie began making plans for Natalie Tough School of Dance. The school opened in July 2014 with a summer school, and she has been dedicating her time to training and nurturing the talents of the new generations ever since!

Still Learning

Natalie strives to continue educating herself and improving her knowledge of dance and dance teaching, and has since become Module 2 certified with Acrobatic Arts and qualified with iD-Contemporary, in addition to participating in regular CPD work annually.

Most recently, in 2024 and 2025, Natalie attained her Licentiate Tap and Modern qualifications respectively and is now training towards her Fellowships, with the view to becoming an examiner for the ISTD in the future!