National Dance Company Wales appoints Alison Thorne as its new Chair of Trustees

National Dance Company Wales (NDCWales) has announced the appointment of Alison Thorne as its new Chair of the Board of Trustees after an open recruitment which took place earlier this summer. She takes over from Jane McCloskey, who stepped down after 5 years in the role earlier this year.  

Alison grew up in Cardiff, developing a career in retail with a number of large companies including Asda, Lego, B&Q and Mothercare in buying and merchandising roles to Executive Director. She now has her own company called atconnect, which is a people development company and she is the Wales lead for ‘Women on Boards’. 

‘Coming from a dancing family and passionate about celebrating Wales locally and on the world stage, I am delighted to join National Dance Company Wales. With thanks to Jane McCloskey, the previous chair, I will be working with a talented board team. Our focus will be to enable Dance as a force for positive change.’ Alison Thorne, Chair of Trustees, National Dance Company Wales. 

Her current non-Exec roles include governor of Cardiff Metropolitan University, member of the Sport Wales board, independent panel member for Public Appointments for Welsh Government, and she was formerly Chair of Chwarae Teg. 

Alison joins the Company just as it embarks on its 2022/23 season of events called NOW | NAWR, an exciting mix of new commissions, collaborations and UK-wide and international tours. 

NDCWales thanks Jane McCloskey for her hard work, dedication and contribution to NDCWales as Chair over the past five years. 

Chief Executive, Paul Kaynes, added ‘We’re delighted that Alison is joining us as Chair of Trustees. Her enthusiasm for dance as an artform, plus her insight into marketing and sales together with her experience on boards means that she is the ideal candidate. We're delighted to be working with her and the other trustees to ensure dance reaches even more people across Wales and the world. We'd also like to pay tribute to Jane McCloskey who has steered the Board so ably and worked so closely with us since 2017.’ 
 

Photo: Paul Kaynes & Alison Thorne (Simon Gough Photography)