©Jevan Chowdhury
OUR TEAM
Meet our Associates, all experts with arts or specialist dance industry knowledge.
photo: Sylvaine Poitau
Assis Carreiro MBE
Founder & Director
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Mentoring & Strategic Planning
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Assis is a cultural entrepreneur working in the international performing arts world, with a specialisation in dance and the Founding Director of Dance Services.
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Assis represents international choreographers and designers from around the globe as an agent. She also provides bespoke mentoring, with clients that include Mercury Creatives as well as strategic consultancy to arts and cultural organisations including Finnish National Ballet, DanceEast, Australia Council and Canada's CAPACOA. She is a Trustee of Rambert School of Ballet and Dance and Eastern Angles Theatre and Australia’s Project Animo.
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Assis has served as Artistic Director, Ballet Flanders, Artistic Director and CEO, DanceEast (UK) where she led the creation of the Jerwood DanceHouse; Cultural Strategist, High Commission of Canada & Director of Culture, Quebec Delegation (UK); Programmer at DasTAT, Ballet Frankfurt; Artistic Director, DanceXchange; Head of Education, Outreach & Publications, The National Ballet of Canada.
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Assis has a BA (Hon) from Toronto's York University and an MA (distinction) in Dance Studies from Surrey University and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of East Anglia.
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Born in the Azores and raised in Canada, Assis has lived UK since 1994. In 2014, she was awarded an MBE for her services to dance in the Queen's New Year's Honours.
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Assis lives in Mistley, England with her family and two cats. Away from the desk and theatres she is an avid reader, world traveller and collects ceramics.
Susannah Burke
Associate Director
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Project Management
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Susannah has over 25 years experience working in dance, beginning her career at Sadler's Wells and then at DanceEast, Jerwood DanceHouse for 20 years.
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She worked directly with Assis, who at that time was Artistic Director & Chief Executive, on the strategy and execution of the Capital Campaign for the multi-million pound appeal to build a new Dance House on the Ipswich Waterfront.
Susannah also project managed the Rural Retreats Programme, a series of international think tanks supporting dance leadership for existing and future Artistic Directors; three ChoreoLabs for The National Centre for Choreography established at the DanceHouse; Britten Dances, a joint production with the Royal Ballet, Royal Ballet Flanders and Aldeburgh Music and Snape Dances, an international dance series at Snape Maltings Concert Hall.
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In recent years, she was responsible for the delivery of DanceEast's professional dance performances in and beyond the Dance House and for overseeing the professional development of dance artists including the Associate Artists’ Scheme.
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Since 2020, Susannah has been working as a Freelance Dance Project Manager for choreographers, designers and composers and supporting national and international arts projects, including work with Yorke Dance Project, Martha Graham Dance Company, English National Ballet and McNicol Ballet Collective.
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Susannah is a graduate of UWE and lives with her family in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. Aside from work and theatre trips, she loves travelling, long coastal walks, taking exercise classes and doing yoga.
Claire Bowdler
Marketing Campaigns | Social Media
Claire is a freelance arts marketing and audience development specialist, passionate about widening access and increasing audiences to arts and culture.
Her current portfolio of clients includes Bloomsbury Festival, National Youth Ballet, NW Live Arts, Notnow Collective and King’s Lynn Festival. She has also worked on projects for Luton Culture, Cambridge Corn Exchange, Cambridge Handel Opera Company, City of London Sinfonia and others.
Prior to becoming a freelancer, Claire was the Marketing Director at Britten Sinfonia for almost ten years and before that worked at artsdepot, City of London Sinfonia, the Norfolk & Norwich Festival and DanceEast.
Lucy Brooks
Marketing | Graphic Design
Lucy has worked with a range of arts organisations, festivals and charities across all art forms, including contemporary dance, music, theatre, film and community events. She has managed venue dance campaigns for companies such as Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, Hofesh Shechter Company, NDT2, Carlos Acosta, Breakin’ Convention, Brownton Abbey, DV8, Akram Kahn Company, Jasmin Vardimon, Ballet Trockadero De Monte Carlo, Boy Blue Ents, ZooNation, Ballet Black and Ultima Vez.
Roles she has held for leading arts organisations include Interim Communications Manager for Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures,Interim Marketing Manager at Royal Albert Hall, Interim Marketing Manager at DanceEast, Campaigns Manager at Paraorchestra, Marketing Manager at Brainchild Festival, Senior Marketing Officer at Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival.
Along with providing arts marketing services, Lucy also works as a freelance graphic designer for the arts, designing brochures, print, outdoor signage and digital assets. She designs bespoke brands for small dance companies, such as Project Female (Brighton) and Brooks Dance Company (West Sussex), and is also highly experienced working on large print projects such as brochures, programmes or magazines.
Jevan Chowdhury
Photography | Film Showreels | Dance Film
Support & Advice
Jevan Chowdhury is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer working in commercials and performing arts. He has created work for brands and cultural institutions.
His project ‘Moving Cities’ is responsible for the engagement of over 50 million visitors in the last 5 years and has exhibited in 68 festivals with recent exhibitions in Sadler’s Wells, Tate Modern, London City Hall, The AT&T Aurora Exhibition and Standard Vision Los Angeles.
Jevan is founder of film and advertising studio Wind & Foster who create commercials, broadcast and documentary content.
Jim Fletcher
Public Relations
Jim has worked internationally for more than 30 years, across PR, marketing, fundraising and production, project management, and advocacy, in opera, music, theatre, the visual arts, literature and film, but primarily in the Dance Industry. With a network of contacts globally, and having worked with most of the major UK ballet companies, he commands respect not just for this, but for the passion with which he has undertaken community dance projects for social change. He worked with around 200 youth at risk on Birmingham Royal Ballet’s ‘Ballet Hoo! Ballet Changed My Life’, and set up Dance4Change for girls in gangs, young solo asylum seekers, and people who are deaf blind, for The Change Foundation. His current charitable project, Step For Change Jamaica, aims to support at risk groups in Jamaican correctional facilities. Jim is offering PR support including press release writing and campaign planning, to freelancers and small companies who do not have resources of their own.
Greta Hodgkinson OOnt
Dance Mentoring
Greta is one of Canada’s most treasured and celebrated dance artists. A career of rare distinction, she was a frequent guest artist with major ballet companies around the world and has inspired a legacy of roles created on her by some of the world’s top choreographers.Upon her retirement, following a remarkable 30 year career as a Prima Ballerina and International Guest Artist, Greta was appointed Artist in Residence at The National Ballet of Canada.
She is a dance mentor, teacher and private coach who works with professional dancers at every stage of their career offering guidance, support and expertise to inspire and empower artists.
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With her extensive dance experience and knowledge, Greta understands the unique demands of managing a dancer’s career and provides the tools to help artists navigate transitions, find work/life balance and reach their optimal potential in order to succeed at the highest level.
She offers artistic direction and can make connections with industry experts and professionals that will further expand a performer’s network. Greta knows what it takes to build and maintain a long, successful career in dance and is passionate about and committed to giving back to the next generation of artists.
Amber Kucheria
Marketing
Ambika is a Director at Raw Mango Communications in London. With a Masters in Media and Communications Management and over 25 years’ experience in marketing and comms across digital and social media marketing, events marketing, content creation, PR and corporate communications, she brings a unique cross-platform approach to her work.
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Her skill set includes a bespoke, creative and innovative approach to each client, content and writing, wide knowledge of marketing channels, experience of diverse sectors’, ability to accommodate varied budgets, attention to detail, a can-do attitude and a sense of humour. She is happy to get involved with strategy and execution of large and small scale projects, as well as ongoing profile building. Current clients include dance, education and charity organisations.
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Rachel Jean Birch & Hannah Moreno (Moving Art Management)
Funding & Bid Writing | Project Management | Tour Management​ | Mentoring
Rachel & Hannah are co-directors and founders of Moving Art Management
Rachel and is a freelance producer, teacher, dancer and creative entrepreneur, specialising in dance.
Hannah is also the Manager for the CAT Programme at Dance City supporting gifted and talented young dancers to access high level training in the North East.
Moving Art Management is a dance producing company who support artists with a range of projects and events, bringing new cultural opportunities to communities in the UK and internationally.
Fern Potter
Fundraising Mentoring & Development | Application Writing for Trusts/Foundation | Facilitating Board Meetings
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Fern's expertise is in fundraising and development, having raised millions for various arts organisations, over more than 20 years. She hasworked in senior development roles for a number of organisations including(most recently), Birmingham Royal Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Dance UK, Dance Umbrella, Ballet Boyz, Barbican, and was founding Director of Essexdance.
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She has also worked in the corporate sector as Business Development Manager with Tom Peters Company (UK).
Fern is a skilled facilitator and mentor, with an entrepreneurial flair in leveraging funds from statutory sources and private funders. She is passionate about sharing her expertise with others through freelance training and consulting and currently mentors for the Chartered Institute of Fundraisers’ RAISE programme, Mercury Creatives and Heritage Compass programme. She is a regular trainer for Arts Funding and Philanthropy programme, and lecturer in fundraising for City, University of London’s MA Culture, Policy, and Management. She also consults on change management and Board development.
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Along being Chair of Viviana Durante Company, Fern sits on the Creative Estuary Commissioning Group and Southend Creative and Culture Network. She holds a MA in Arts Management from City University and is a full member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraisers.
Matz Skoog
photo: Sane Seven
Karen Gallagher MBE
Coaching | Mentoring | Business Planning
As Artistic Director of Merseyside Dance Initiative for 25 years, Karen strengthened the NW dance sector, providing access and support to all those who engaged in dance activity. Stepping down from MDI in 2018 to pursue a freelance career in producing, consulting, coaching and programme development, Karen has been working with artists, universities, companies and organisations to develop strategic planning, marketing and tailored learning. Over the years she has been instrumental in devising and producing large- scale events, festivals and small scale touring.
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A Graduate of Liverpool John Moore’s University (LJMU) in 2007 with an MA in Social Enterprise, she received a BMOBO for MDI’s community dance practice (2010) and in 2011 was a runner up for Merseyside Woman of the Year. Karen received an MBE, awarded for services to dance in The Queen’s New Year Honours List (2012) and is an Honorary Fellow of LJMU (2014).
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In 2020 Karen created Karen Gallagher and Associates, producing Our Dance Democracy, a biennial conference in collaboration with Dr. Sarah Black-Frizell and touring support to associates: Michael Douglas Kollektiv and Liz Lea. Karen also works with Cause 4 as part of their Heritage Compass programme acting as a freelance Critical Friend, Mentor and Coach.
Jan Hart
Bookkeeping | Payroll | VAT | Budget Management
Jan has a background in classical music, and worked her way through BBC Radio and English National Opera before starting her own Arts Admin business over twenty years ago.
Initially providing a range of services such as basic web design, tour and concert management and marketing, over the years that work has gradually dropped away in favour of bookkeeping.
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Jan's portfolio of clients includes Akram Khan Dance Company, Tavaziva Dance, Camden People’s Theatre, Signum Classics and Alleyne Dance.
Once described as “London’s leading contemporary dance book-keeper”, Jan has built up a solid portfolio of clients within the arts, providing her invaluable services to individuals and small companies in the music, dance and theatre world.
Matz Skoog
Coaching
Matz Skoog is a performance and executive coach, mentor, consultant and artistic adviser, accredited as a coach by the UK Institute of Leadership and Management, and by the City and Guilds of London.
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Following a successful performance career, Matz became a much sought-after tutor, leading to a variety of leadership appointments in the dance world, including as Artistic Director of two national ballet companies: English National Ballet and the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
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The diverse professional responsibilities Matz has held during his career has ensured a fair amount of wisdom together with extensive experience of working with people. He understands what great leadership is, and how to help people get there. The knowledge he has gained over the years means he is able to combine hard-earned and 'road-tested' experience, with a strong focus on individual needs.
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Matz has worked with some of the most ambitious high performers on the planet, helping them discover what they need to do to achieve success and, most importantly, what is stopping them from maximising their potential. He works one-on-one with clients from all walks of life, although with a special focus on coaching arts professionals, to enable them to manage personal and professional development confidently, perform at a higher level, and get better results more quickly and more effectively. His approach is enquiring, empathetic, and practical. People he works with typically go from feeling stuck, for any variety of reasons, to finding courage and the clarity of direction they need to achieve their objectives and get to where they want to be.
June Gamble
Coaching | Mentoring | Business Planning
Jessica has worked with award-winning clients offering branding, marketing, strategy, advertising, and training in marketing. Jessica your marketing strategy for you to know how you can stand out against your competitors, get noticed by your audience and continue to see results to grow your business.
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She has worked with the beloved British heritage brand Sadler's Wells to build their social media content and reporting strategy - resulting in an increase in their social media following by 1050% in 4 months and their link clicks by over 75%.
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In addition, Jess has worked with award-winning dance companies, including Shobana Jeyasingh Dance and Rendez-Vous Dance.
With expertise in project management, digital marketing, advertising and branding, Jess can assist with all your marketing and design deliverables for your campaign - and uses her network of experts to assist if needed.
Andy Corrigan
Visas | Work permits | Carnets | Passports | Covid Travel Requirements
Viva La Visa specialise in Visas, Passports and all Immigration needs for the entertainment industry and beyond.
Founded by Andy Corrigan in 2009, as an experienced musician and touring veteran he wanted to ensure that tour managers, as well as other organisations, have access to assistance when it comes to navigating the complicated 'minefield' of visas, work permits and travel documentation.
Jessica Mallinson
Marketing & Social Media
Jessica has worked with award-winning clients offering branding, marketing, strategy, advertising, and training in marketing. Jessica focuses your marketing strategy for you to know how you can stand out against your competitors, get noticed by your audience and continue to see results to grow your business.
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She has worked with the beloved British heritage brand Sadler's Wells to build their social media content and reporting strategy - resulting in an increase in their social media following by 1050% in 4 months and their link clicks by over 75%.
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In addition, Jess has worked with award-winning dance companies, including Shobana Jeyasingh Dance and Rendez-Vous Dance.
With expertise in project management, digital marketing, advertising and branding, Jess can assist with all your marketing and design deliverables for your campaign - and uses her network of experts to assist if needed.
Helen Oldfield
PR and PR Coaching
Helen is a publicist, communications consultant and PR Coach working with clients in arts and culture, creative and performance industries, including SPILL Festival of Performance, Primadonna Festival, New Wolsey Theatre, Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, HouseofAbsolute.com and Neurodelicious.co.uk.
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Helen’s in-house Press and Marketing career began at Tyne Theatre and Opera House then Northern Stage Company, progressing to Assistant to Head of Press at Edinburgh International Festival.
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Among the first to hire Helen as a PR Coach was the international dance artist and choreographer
Julia Cheng, who described her experience as “one of the greatest investments and business choices I’ve made.” Shortly afterwards, Julia put herself forwards and became Choreographer for Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club, an Olivier nominee and winner of The Stage Debut Award 2022. At Julia’s invitation, Helen led a sold-out PR Masterclass for other dance and performance professionals, as a guest of The Philharmonia and their Artists-in-Residence, House of Absolute.
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Helen has been a Visiting Fellow at University of Suffolk since 2012, contributing regularly to their undergraduate learning programme on the commercial applications of Strategic Marketing.