DanceEast Rural Retreat 2010: Future Leaders, the way forward

DanceEast's 5th Rural Retreat will be taking place this January at the new Jerwood DanceHouse, Ipswich. DanceEast conceived the now internationally recognised Rural Retreats - international think tanks looking at the future of ballet and dance in 2003. These facilitated sessions have brought guest speakers from the worlds of business, sport and the arts to interface with existing and future dance leaders to share experiences and allow opportunities to think 'out of the box' about the place of dance in today's society and the development of dance leadership. Guest speakers have included ex England football manager Graham Taylor,  writer Charles Handy, Random House's Gail Rebuck, and artistic directors David Lan (Young Vic), Nick Hytner (Royal National Theatre), to name but a few.

DanceEast's 4th Retreat took place in January 2008 when 26 aspiring leaders from around the globe were selected to discuss the realities and challenges of the Artistic Director's job in the 21st century.  With funding support from the Cultural Leadership Programme, 7 of these individuals have completed placements shadowing artistic leaders in dance organisations around the globe.

These seven will now come together this January with their hosts to share their experiences with each other, discuss the realities of leadership and the role of placements in the development of future leaders. Those coming together include Royal Ballet Principal Dancer Tamara Rojo and dancer Ernst Meisner; Marc Brew, André Gingras, Karol Urbanski, Michael Trent who will be joined by Dutch National Ballet Artistic Director Ted Brandsen, the Royal Ballet's Jeanetta Laurence and Scottish Dance Theatre's Janet Smith.

Guest speakers for this three day think tank are: Battersea Arts Centre Co-Artistic Director David Micklem,  Nicola Horlick, Chief Executive Officer of Bramdean Asset Management and gourmet TV chef Valentina Harris.  The Retreat will be facilitated by Siân Prime.

Since setting up the first Rural Retreat in 2003, DanceEast Artistic Director and Chief Executive Assis Carreiro, has brought together leading directors from major ballet and dance companies and schools from all over the world and the Rural Retreat think tanks have become internationally recognised as an invaluable forum for sharing ideas and discussing the future of dance in the 21st century and developing dance leaders for the future.

Assis Carreiro said: 'The Rural Retreats have allowed DanceEast to reach out internationally and fill a much needed gap in professional development at the highest levels of dance and provided existing and future leaders an opportunity to come together and opening and honestly share experiences and look at the place of dance in the wider community and encourage a stronger voice for dance and develop the next generation of dance champions.'


Notes to Editors

Marc Brew - Performer, Choreographer and Teacher  
Placement with Janet Smith, Artistic Director, Scottish Dance Theatre    
Marc Brew has been working in the UK and internationally for the past 11 years as a dancer, choreographer and teacher, with the Australian Ballet Company, the State Theatre Ballet Company of South African, Infinity Dance Theatre in New York and, for five years until early 2008, with CandoCo Dance Company.  Since 2001 he has dedicated time to choreography with Marc Brew Company, and is currently involved as performer for the London Handover Ceremony for the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony.  Marc has won numerous awards including a Centenary Medal of Australia for Outstanding Service as a Dancer and Choreographer, and was listed as critics' choice in Time Out magazine's best of the new breed of London's Rising Dance Talent. As a result of his placement, Marc has been appointed Associate Director Fellow of Scottish Dance Theatre.

Jeff Edwards -Associate Artistic Director& Ballet Master,  Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company
Placements with Gailene Stock, Director, The Royal Ballet School, and Dame Monica Mason OBE, Director, The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden
Jeff Edwards has over twenty years experience as a professional dancer, educator and administrator.  Having studied at the School of American Ballet, he went on to have an illustrious career with New York City Ballet.  Since retiring from the stage, Jeff has worked as Director of Education with Twyla Tharp, graduated Magma Cum Laude from Brown University and studied and worked as a Fellow at the John F Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts.  Working as guest teacher for various ballet companies and for the Robbins Rights Trust and the George Balanchine Trust, Jeff was appointed Associate Artistic Director of Washington Ballet in 2003 and was with the company until summer 2008.

André Gingras- Freelance Choreographer
Placement with Reid Anderson, Artistic Director, Stuttgart Ballet     
Based in the Netherlands, André Gingras studied in Toronto, Montreal and New York, encompassing theatre, English literature and contemporary dance.  He received a Canada Council Arts Award to pursue his dance education in New York.  His extensive career in dance and theatre began in Holland in 1999, with his first stage work receiving critical acclaim, a world tour and the Encouragement Prize by the Amsterdam Art Fund.  Recent creations include an evening length ballet for Nurnberg Staatsheater, and new works for Netherlands Dance Theater 1, Iceland Dance Company, Rambert Dance Company  and the Holland Dance Festival.

Ernst Meisner - Dancer, The Royal Ballet
Placement with Ted Brandsen, Artistic Director, Dutch National Ballet  
Ernst Meisner trained at the School of Dutch National Ballet, with summer school scholarships to The Royal Ballet School and the National Ballet School in Toronto.   Representing The Netherlands in the finals of the Eurovision Grand Prix for Young Dancers in Lyon, he was offered a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School and awarded a prize for Best Newcomer by the Alexandria Radius Fonds in Holland.  After two years at the Royal Ballet, he was promoted to First Artist, and toured extensively all over the world.  His experience includes production and direction, choreography and teaching.  He has worked on several projects for the Royal Opera House Education Department and on workshops for children with Kent County Council.

Tamara Rojo - Principal Dancer, The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden            
Placement with Karen Kain, Artistic Director, National Ballet of Canada
Ballerina Tamara Rojo studied in her native Spain and at the age of 16 joined the Ballet Victor Ullate.  After winning the Paris Grand Prix, she was invited as Guest Principal with the Scottish Ballet, following which she joined English National Ballet, and then The Royal Ballet as Principal Dancer since 2000.  Today she is one of the most acclaimed interpreters of the ballets of Kenneth MacMillan, and has performed leading roles in the classical repertoire as well as contemporary works.   A multi-award winner, Tamara has performed as Guest Artist with dance companies across the globe and participated in numerous international galas.

Michael Trent - Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer, Dancemakers & the Centre for Creation, Toronto
Placement with choreographer Maguy Marin, Centre Chorégraphique National, Lyon and with Carla Peterson, Dance Theatre Workshop, New York
Michael Trent graduated from the University of Toronto with a BSc in Physiology and Bioethics in 1985.  Since then, he has garnered national recognition in Canada as a choreographer, dancer, teacher and producer and was co-recipient of the 2004 K.M. Hunter Award in dance.  Michael founded the empty collective in 2000, and has created over 30 works, including the award-winning solo Acts of Light.  He has worked as a performer with some of Canada's most respected creators, and has been guest teacher with various dance companies and Artist-in-residence at Canadian Children's Dance Theatre.

Karol Urbanski - Founder, The Centre for Contemporary Dance, Warsaw
Placement with John Ashford, Theatre Director, The Place             
Born in Lodz, Poland, Karol Urbanski studied at the State Ballet School in Lodz and later studied philosophy at Warsaw University.  His dance career began at the ballet company at the Grand Theatre in Lodz, following which he joined the National Opera in Warsaw and then the Norwegian National Ballet.  He then returned to Warsaw where he is still based.  As a choreographer, he has created works in Poland and Norway, and has taught for the State Ballet School in Lodz and the Ballet School in Warsaw.  In 2006, Karol co-founded the Centre for Contemporary Dance in Warsaw, of which he is still actively involved.

Nicola Horlick - CEO Bramdean Asset Management - Guest Speaker
Nicola Horlick is a senior fund manager and the Chief Executive Officer of Bramdean Asset Management LLP. Nicola has worked in the fund management industry for over twenty-five years and has participated in the growth of some of the UK's premier asset management businesses.

Nicola joined SG Warburg as a graduate trainee in 1983, which became Mercury Asset Management. In 1991, she joined Morgan Grenfell Asset Management as Director and became Managing Director of the fund management division of the UK business in 1992. Over the next four years, funds under her management rose from £4 billion to £22 billion. After leaving Morgan Grenfell, Nicola took six weeks out to write her autobiographical account of her daughter's traumatic treatment for leukaemia, revealing the real woman behind the headlines. The booked was called 'Can You Have It All?' and the proceeds went to Great Ormond Street Hospital. In 1997, Nicola co-founded the UK arm of Société Générale Asset Management and pulled in £7 billion worth of investments for them.

David Micklem - Co-Artistic Director, Battersea Arts Centre
David Micklem was appointed Joint Artistic Director of BAC in April 2008, working alongside David Jubb to enable the organisation to build capacity to achieve ambitious growth plans.
 David brought six years experience as Theatre Strategy Officer at Arts Council England, where he managed large scale projects and budgets including taking on the project based role of Associate Producer for Artichoke on The Sultan's Elephant; leading an international debate on the role of contemporary circus arts; and working closely with foreign governments on theatre investment strategies, establishing an international artists fellowship programme across Europe and Australia. David also commissioned The Producers: Alchemists of the Impossible in collaboration with The Jerwood Foundation -a publication which looked at the work of the UK's leading creative producers including David Jubb, David Lan and Farooq Chaudhry.

Before his time at the Arts Council, David spent five years as the General Manager of the Chelsea Theatre, leading the theatre through a capital fundraising campaign and refurbishment programme, positioning the venue as a centre for new writing and overseeing a period of intense growth and development, trebling audiences and doubling turnover.

David has a strong track record of producing new theatre projects including critically acclaimed new plays from Tony Kushner (Home Body / Kabul), Sarah Kane (Crave), Abi Morgan (Skinned), Pete Lawson (Burning Houses), Paul Tucker (Room to Let and The Last Yellow) and Amy Rosenthal (Sitting Pretty).

Valentina Harris - Guest Chef
Valentina Harris is the noted authority on Italian food and food culture and a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.  Valentina is bright and passionate and appeals to people far beyond her chosen subject. Being a prolific author as well as doing many TV appearances, she is always in demand to appear at top food events. She has given innumerable live cookery demonstrations and lectures extensively across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Africa. Valentina's first cookery book, Perfect Pasta, has been translated into six languages.

Seven other books followed on from the success of Perfect Pasta culminating in the BBC six-part television series - Italian Regional Cookery. Valentina is the author of over twenty books on Italian cookery and has also contributed to The Sunday Times Cooks Companion and Insight Guide to Tuscany amongst others. Valentina is now established as a prolific writer on Italian food and cuisine and regularly features on television and radio and contributes to many leading national newspapers and magazines.

Valentina has worked as a consultant to Tesco, Waitrose and other supermarkets as well as food manufacturers. Her skills are also sought by food appliance companies, hotel and restaurant groups for marketing, promotions, product, recipe and menu development, through to lecturing and training. Valentina has an ability to put across her deep knowledge of Italian food culture and history in a most entertaining and accessible way which makes her in demand as an after dinner speaker as well as making her demonstrations uniquely fulfilling for those taking part.

For images and interviews please contact Emma Brightmore at DanceEast on 01473 295230 or emma.brightmore@danceeast.co.uk