Luis Drake

Dance Lecturer

Trained in Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, and Tap (American and Irish) at Annette’s School of Dance (Quarteira, Portugal), Luis was qualified for and competed in the Dance World Cup 2011 (Paris, France), and had his choreography qualified for the two following Dance World Cups (Villach, Austria and Brighton, England).

Following that, he did the first two years of his BA in Dance at Escola Superior de Dança (Lisbon, Portugal), and the final year at Codarts University of the Arts (Rotterdam, Netherlands), where he had the opportunity to learn from internationally renowned teachers and choreographers, completing his BA in 2015.

Luis has since been based in Rotterdam and taught for over a year at the Technical University of Delft, toured the Netherlands and Belgium twice in Contemporary Dance company productions Ne Me Quitte Pas and Le Temps Perdu, by Belgian choreographer Isabelle Beernaert, worked for Princess Cruises, guest performed at events such as the Nederlands Acrobatiek Festival and most recently appeared in Pelléas et Mélisande by the Dutch National Opera.

Prior to his Dance experience, Luis held a regional title in kenpo karate (2001), regional and national titles in partner acrobatics (2003), and was vice-regional champion of high jump and javelin throw (2008) in the Algarve, Portugal. In high school, he studied advanced sciences, with the intent of pursuing astrophysics, up until he started dancing at the age of 16.

In early 2020, Luis began teaching at Edinburgh Festival Ballet School and The MGA Academy of Performing Arts, and is happy to be returning to Edinburgh as a full-time teacher at MGA.