Young Company

Ages: S1+

Entry by audition

We are a contemporary performance company made up of an ensemble of performers aged 12+, working collaboratively with professional artists. Together, we work side-by-side to make original and dynamic dance theatre productions with live music. Artistic integrity is at the centre of the Company's ambition - we believe in processes and productions that are approached with vigour and vision, blurring the lines between the youth and professional performance sector.

Our works explore diverse ideas and concepts which the young people are supported to interrogate - ideas which ask questions about the world we live in, our experience in it and our visions for the future.

We meet for weekly training and rehearsals, working towards a biannual production. As well as making new work, the Company build their skills and creative practice through guest workshops, exchanges and and mentoring from the creative team. Our current production is That Feeling When.

Originally founded by Lyra's Artistic Director, Jo Timmins, the Young Company is led by Director/Choreogapher, Natalia Barua with Composer, Caitlin Mulgrew. (Natalia is currently on maternity leave and Caitlin is leading as Young Company Director (Maternity Cover) in collaboration with Dance Artist, Bridie Gane).

Past productions include Sampler, This Way Up, and Wild Heart.

How can you become a Lyra Young Company member?

Many of our current members took part in Lyra's Young Artists programme and have since auditioned for the Young Company. The rest of the company were recruited through an audition process facilitated in collaboration with local community partners and high schools.

Auditions are held annually in January.

Young Company is currently led by Caitlin Mulgrew caitlin@lyra.co.uk

Young Company Team

Natalia Barua - Director / Choreographer

Natalia is a dance artist and choreographer working predominantly in video dance, interdisciplinary performance and participation. She has worked in participation for over 10 years as a practitioner, facilitator and producer, designing, leading and supporting community-focused and professional projects. Natalia has developed and delivered high-quality dance projects with vulnerable young people, for adults experiencing mental health issues, worked for charities such as Mencap and NACRO, in primary, secondary and SEN schools across England and Scotland, facilitated social development programmes in deprived communities and has been employed by leading dance organisations including East London Dance, English National Ballet School, YDance and Pavilion Dance South West. She co-directed Diverse Dance, an inclusive dance company in London from 2013-2017, presenting work at venues such as Siobhan Davies Dance Studios, Big Dance Bus and Southbank Centre (Unlimited Festival).

Natalia's video dance productions have been awarded at and screened at festivals worldwide and installed at venues throughout the UK. In 2020 Natalia was commissioned by Lyra's Young Artists for the creation of a video-performance-installation, Slumbering Deep.

Natalia is currently on maternity leave.

Caitlin Mulgrew - Young Company Director (maternity cover) & Composer

Caitlin is a musician, composer and sound designer from Edinburgh with over 10 years of experience creating original music and audio experiences for theatre, installations, dance and film.

She is interested in multi-disciplinary artforms and her work often takes an immersive form. She enjoy creating experiential audio spaces, where audiences feel welcome and inspired (hopefully).

Caitlin's practice is always collaborative, she strives for inclusivity and welcomes non-traditional approaches to making contemporary music and performance. Her influences are eclectic – from Brian Eno to Beyonce; Dalí to Gilmore Girls and Brecht to Cirque de Solei.

She has worked with the National Theatre of Scotland, Imaginate, Lyceum, Lyra, Buzzcut, National Youth Choir of Scotland, Artlink and Drake Music Scotland amongst many others.

Bridie Gane - Dance Artist

Bridie Gane is a choreographer based in Edinburgh. She is passionate about making dance work of a high artistic quality that is accessible and engaging to a wide ranging audience. Her work utilises strong musicality, physicality and humour, spanning live performance for the stage and outdoor locations, dance film and dance works with and for young people.

A graduate of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, in 2016 she moved to Scotland after three years in Berlin. She teaches at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has been Associate Artist with Dance Base and Catherine Wheels. Her dance film commissions include climate themed ‘Foul Fish’ and ‘End of the World Show’ made for COP 22 and shown internationally, and ‘Bernat’ about Scottish Borders based textile designer Bernat Klein which travelled to House for an Art Lover, Glasgow and The V&A Dundee. She has choreographed on both professional and non-professional dancers including Scottish Dance Theatre and 60+ dance company ‘Prime’, and has worked extensively with young people. Most recently Bridie’s show for young audiences ‘The Last Forecast’, produced by Catherine Wheels, toured schools and rural venues across Scotland with Theatre in Schools Scotland before being selected to be part of the Made In Scotland Showcase at The Edinburgh Fringe 2024. Bridie has worked with Lyra on ‘This Way Up’, and was lead artist on ‘The Lyra Barrier Reef’.

Jo Sharp - Engagement Facilitator

Jo is a Performance Maker and Facilitator who works with young people to make original performance. Since graduating from Contemporary Performance Practice at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2016 she has worked across Scotland and beyond. In 2016 Jo received the Avrom Greenbaum Players Award for Direction. In 2017 Jo was awarded the Saltire Emerging Directors award from Youth Theatre Arts Scotland. In 2022 Jo travelled to Belgium with the BUZZ network, an international programme designed to share practice between youth theatre leaders across Europe. Jo has worked as a Director and Facilitator with people of all ages in a range of settings including theatres, community spaces, schools and prisons. Previous collaborations include the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, HMP Low Moss, Falkirk Community Trust, Lyceum Youth Theatre, Macrobert Arts Centre, Perth Horsecross Theatre, Youth Theatre Arts Scotland and Children’s Parliament.

Anna Plasberg-Hill - Producer

Anna has been working with Lyra since 2018 and is delighted to be producing the Young Company's work.

She studied Drama, Applied Theatre and Education at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (2012), and subsequently went on to train in Physical Theatre at St Mary’s University College (2013). She has over 10 years of experience working as a practitioner, project coordinator and producer in a range of arts and engagement contexts, particularly focusing on projects with children, young people and communities. She has worked with a number of organisations including Catherine Wheels Theatre Company, Children’s Parliament, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Aberdeen Performing Arts, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, Kulturmanagement Solingen (Germany) and the National Theatre of Scotland.