Our Coaches
Cherry Masson
Co-Owner, Head Coach & Head Choreographer
Cherry is the Co-Owner, Head Coach and Head Choreographer for LA Dance & Cheer. She started dancing at the age of 3 and went on to pass many exams, in various styles, with top marks. At the age of 6 Louise, her mum, re-opened her dance school and Cherry was trained by her Mum. By the age of 9, Cherry took part in every class, including all the adult classes. She started teaching Street Dance Classes & doing her own Choreography at the age of 15, under her Mum's supervision. In 2007 she was chosen to be part of the National Cheer Team to represent Scotland at the World Championships in America, placing 5th in the World. In 2010 she was chosen to be part of the National Hip Hop Team to compete at the World Dance Championships in Orlando, Florida.
Cherry has become an accomplished Dancer, Dance Instructor, Cheer & Tumble Coach, Qualified Judge and award winning Choreographer who has instructed all ages and levels in Cheerleading, Tumbling, Hip Hop, Pom, Jazz & Lyrical for the past 19 years. Known for her unique style and entertaining choreography, Cherry has choreographed National and World ranked routines. Cherry is a member of the International Cheer Union & International All Star Federation.
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Cherry has won numerous awards for her talents as a coach and choreographer including Dance Choreographer of the Year in 2019. Her Hip Hop teams have won bids to compete at the IASF World Championships in 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2024 in Walt Disney World, Florida. In 2016 and 2018 her teams were also asked to represent their country as the National Teams for the ICU World Championships. Competing as Team Scotland, in 2016 ranking 12th & in 2018 her Duet & Senior Team ranked Top 10 in the World and her Junior Team were the first dance team from Scotland to rank in the Top 3, coming home with the Bronze Globe. In 2011 her Youth & Senior Cheer and Hip Hop Teams won a bid to compete at the US Finals competition in Orlando where they ranked 3rd for Cheer and 1st for Hip Hop. These are definitely Cherry's most treasured achievements.
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Cherry is fully qualified with the ICU for Cheer and Tumbling Levels 1-5 and with BGU Level 1-3. She also holds qualifications with the ICU for Hip Hop, Pom, High Kick and Jazz as well as with BGU for Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical & Pom. Cherry is also an ICU Qualified Judge, has a teaching qualification with the UKA and is First Aid Trained. In addition, she has studied leadership and administration, along with Covid prevention, fire safety and safeguarding children. Cherry continues her education by attending conferences, seminars and workshops in the Dance & Cheer industry. Her accomplished athletes have gone on to perform, coach or choreograph with University Dance & Cheer programs or been able to progress into Musical Theatre and Dance Colleges.
Her alumni, fellow coaching team, and family are a continuous source of inspiration as she strives for excellence in and out of the studio/gym. Cherry coaches with passion, enthusiasm & positivity whilst motivating all athletes to Work Hard, Aim High & Dream Big.
Louise Robertson
Founder, Co-Owner & Head Coach
Louise is the Founder, Co-Owner and Head Coach of LA Dance & Cheer. Louise started dancing at the age of 3 in Highland Dancing, winning numerous National Titles at Competitions and Highland Games. After gaining her Teaching Qualification at age 18, she opened her first dance school in Aberdeen.
Louise was also heavily interested in fitness and ran adult "keep-fit" classes in the evenings alongside her Dance School. Louise continued to run these classes all the way through her pregnancy until she took a break from Teaching when Cherry was born.
Louise, now a single parent, re-opened her Dance School in Portlethen in 1993 when Cherry was 6, while also teaching KinderGym classes for the Community Centre. With further training and qualifications under her belt, the Dance School thrived and expanded. Line Dancing became the most popular subject with Children and Adult classes taking place nearly every day of the week. Since Line Dancing had become such a success for Louise, she was asked to take over Susan Wright's Adult Line Dancing classes the City Centre when Susan moved back to America. Louise also ran the monthly Line Dancing social night at the Station Hotel in Aberdeen which was sold out every month. She also coached and choreographed Line Dance routines for the very successful Rodeo Kickers Competition Teams.
With Highland, Tap, Modern, Disco/Freestyle and Line Dancing a success, Louise continued to develop her accomplishments as a Dance Instructor and introduced Cheer-Dance & Cheerleading to the school in 2002. From then on, All-Star Cheer and Dance subjects became the sole focus of the Dance School with unprecedented popularity. Louise coached the very first team to enter the Scotcheer Championships in 2003. Now she shares the Head Coach role with her daughter, Cherry, by overseeing all amazing 18 competitive teams along with another 14 recreational classes that train each week. Louise is known for being a stickler for footwork and has an eye for detail when perfecting routines. The athletes know that if they can make Louise shed a tear with their performance, they've nailed it! :)
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Louise is a member of the International Cheer Union and International All Star Federation and is fully qualified with the ICU for Cheer and Tumbling Levels 1-4 and with BGU Level 1-3. She is also a qualified Judge with the ICU. Louise also holds qualifications with BGU in Jazz, Lyrical & Pom and a Teaching qualification for Highland & Cheer-Dance with the UKA. Louise is also First Aid Trained and LA's "Guru" to the athletes when it comes to their aches/pains or mental health issues. In addition, she has studied injury prevention, along with, fire safety, safeguarding children & COVID prevention.
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Louise's biggest achievement was being able to open the LA Gym & Studio with Cherry and seeing her Daughter follow in her steps as a Dance & Cheer Coach.
Nicola Mitchell
Coach
Nicola started her Dance & Cheer career with LA at the age of 4....18 years ago! Over the years, she trained in Cheerleading, Tumbling, Pom, Hip Hop & Jazz/Lyrical. In 2011 Nicola was able to take her first trip abroad to compete at the US Finals Championships in Orlando, Florida, securing a 1st for Hip Hop and 3rd for Cheer for the Youth Teams. In 2016 & 2018 she also attended the World Cheer and Dance Championships in Walt Disney World, Orlando as part of LA's Junior & Senior teams who represented their country as Team Scotland at the ICU Worlds gaining a Bronze Medal for Scotland in 2018 with the Junior Team - LA Legends. This has been one of Nicola's greatest achievements in her Dance & Cheer career.
In 2016, Nicola started coaching for LA by assisting Coaches and after training & gaining great experience, Nicola passed her coaching qualifications. Since then she has further progressed to now holding qualifications with BGU in Cheer Level 1-3, Hip Hop, Pom, Jazz & Lyrical. Nicola also studied Dance as part of her SQA subjects and passed her Nat 5 and Higher Dance examinations. Her dedication and commitment to LA is unmatched and truly special.
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Charlotte Priddy
Coach
Charlotte has danced from a young age but her love and passion for Cheer started at University. Studying Geology at Keele University, Charlotte joined the Cheer team as an athlete and progressed to become their coach and choreographer.
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After moving to Aberdeen to work at Aberdeen University, Charlotte joined LA as an athlete on our Senior/Open Team and has since continued her coaching career with recreational classes with Allstar CDG and Cheer Teams with LA​
Milli Ferguson
Coach
Milli has been a member of LA for 15yrs, and has taken part in all disciplines - Cheer, Tumbling, Pom, Hip Hop, Jazz & Lyrical. Milli is currently in Open Hip Hop, Senior Pom, Senior Jazz . Milli's biggest achievement was being part of our Junior Hip Hop Team who represented Scotland at the ICU World Champions in 2018 and secured a 3rd place Bronze medal. Milli is currently studying to become a Primary School Teacher and works at Hillside School with the after school club.​​
Thea Burgoyne
Coach
Thea has been a member of LA for 10yrs, and has taken part in most disciplines - Cheer, Tumbling, Pom & Hip Hop Thea is currently in Open Hip Hop & Senior Pom. Thea's biggest achievement was being part of our Open Hip Hop Team who competed at both the Allstar World Championships and Dance Worlds in 2024. Thea is currently in 5th year at Mearns Academy.
Eva Brownie
Coach
Eva has been a member of LA for 10yrs, and has taken part in all disciplines - Cheer, Tumbling, Pom, Hip Hop, Jazz & Lyrical. Eva is currently in Open Cheer, Senior Hip Hop, Senior Pom & Senior Jazz . Eva's biggest achievement was winning a bid to The Dance Summit and competing at the International Championships in Bournemouth. Eva is currently in 5th year at Portlethen Academy.​​