NEW ADVENTURES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Environmental Manager / Green Champion / Dancer
- Environmental Sustainability Manager and Leader of the Green Adventures Working Group
Andrew is currently the Environmental Sustainability Manager and leader of the Green Adventures working group for New Adventures.
Aysha has been working for over 13 years in high energy arts management roles. She was previously Head of Finance and Operations at Trigger and Punchdrunk Enrichment, providing critical key strategic planning and financial capacity to the senior leadership team and board of trustees, General Manager at Paines Plough and Finance Manager at the Lyric Hammersmith. Aysha is passionate about demystifying the processes involved in making great art and co-runs LVL/UP arts training.
Aysha is a mentor, was a trustee for Middle Child Theatre and Curious Directive and has volunteered as a Special Constable for the Metropolitan Police Service.
Job Titles:
- Chairman, Board of Trustees
Brenda has had a long and consistent career on national television, turning her skills to a broad range of subjects from news and current affairs, travel, consumer issues, fashion and interior design. She is equally at home interviewing international artists and A-list celebrities as she is with the general public.
Job Titles:
- Music Director & Principal Conductor, Associate Artist
For two decades Brett has been Music Director and Principal Conductor of New Adventures, and he is an Associate Artist of the company. During this time, he has conducted Sir Matthew's production of Swan Lake throughout the UK, the US, Europe and Japan. Brett has also given world premieres and revivals of Edward Scissorhands, The Car Man, Nutcracker!, Highland Fling and The Red Shoes for the company. He has recorded (for CD, DVD and live cinema broadcast) all of New Adventures current repertoire.
Brett has been a guest conductor for the Royal Ballet, the Norwegian National Ballet, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, the Royal Ballet of Flanders and Birmingham Royal Ballet. Since 1998 he has had a professional relationship with Northern Ballet, and he returned to them earlier this season to conduct David Nixon's productions of The Nutcracker and The Three Musketeers.
Brett has conducted seasons for English Touring Opera, English Festival Opera, Carl Rosa Opera, and Opera New Zealand. He has given performances with the RPO Concert Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, de Philharmonie Antwerpen, Tokyo Philharmonic, Tokyo City Symphony and the National Orchestra of Belgium, amongst others.
He will conduct Matthew Bourne's new production of Romeo and Juliet in the Spring of 2019.
Job Titles:
- Trusts and Foundations Manager
Clare is a development professional with a dynamic background in fundraising consultancy, bid writing and executive production for dance, film and visual arts.
Prior to joining New Adventures in 2023, Clare supported several independent creatives, film makers, choreographers and charitable organisations as a development consultant and producer. Clare was Fundraising Manager at Dancer's Career Development from 2017 to 2021. She is a trustee of the Birmingham based multi-disciplinary company, Autin Dance Theatre.
Job Titles:
- DBE Was Made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( DBE ) in the 2018 New Year Honours
- Patron
- President of the Royal Academy of Dance
Dame Darcey Bussell DBE was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2018 New Year Honours.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of English National Opera at the London Coliseum
Job Titles:
- Assistant General Manager
- Various Tours Company Manager
Eman joined New Adventures as Executive Assistant in January 2020 before moving into the role of Inclusion, Access and Development Coordinator in October 2021, and now Inclusion, Access and Data Manager.
Emily is passionate about contributing to a future we can all be proud of.
She has worked on the forefront of social change for almost two decades. Most recently as a senior leader and executive board member at Social Finance. Her work includes founding and leading the Impact Incubator - a collaboration with UK foundations to deliver lasting, widespread change to entrenched social issues. Her work has spanned a range of issues from mental health inequalities to quality of life in later years. She created the world's first Social Impact Bond in Peterborough and was one of the founders of Drive changing the UK's response to perpetrators of domestic abuse.
She formerly worked with REDF a venture philanthropy fund in San Francisco.
Emily believes deeply in the values and vision that underpin New Adventures work and is honoured to sit on the board. Alongside this Emily sits of the board of Henry Smith Foundation and on the advisory board of Greenwood Place.
Job Titles:
- Associate Artistic Director
Etta joined the company in 1991 and is the Associate Artistic Director of New Adventures.
Etta is also Movement Director for Wise Children.
Job Titles:
- Resident Artist / Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Champion
Glenn Graham is a London-based dancer, choreographer, and mentor. His previous choreographic works include Intimate Windows (Introdans, NL, 2009) a collaboration with Dutch fashion designers, And yet we stand tall (University of Cumbria) exploring the lives of Londoners during the blitz and Alter Ego (Legat Associates) which looks at how we bring out another side of ourselves. Glenn has also choreographed for Winter Guard UK (WGUK), Winter guard International (WGI) and for the Northern School of Contemporary Dance CAT scheme.
Glenn joined New Adventures in 2003 making his debut in Nutcracker! before performing as The Swan in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake in Paris the following year. Glenn also originated the role of Grischa Ljubov in The Red Shoes and Ernest Ralph Gorse in The Midnight Bell. Glenn was Rehearsal Director (2018/19) and Resident Director (2020) for the most recent tour of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake.
In addition to his New Adventures work Glenn has also performed choreography by Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek, Sidi Larbi, Richard Alston, William Forsythe and Sharon Watson.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Partner at Lee & Thompson
Huw is a Partner at Lee & Thompson, a leading law firm for the creative industries, where he specialises in advertising and marketing, and general media and entertainment law.
He is an advocate for D&I and chairs the firm's Inclusion and Belonging Network, as well as being a Board Member of OUTvertising (the LGBTQ network for people working in the advertising and marketing industry). He is an Adviser to the Board of TLC Lions - an organisation that uses the power of storytelling to transform workplaces & support Inclusion, mental health & talent development, and a Trustee for youth charity DitchTheLabel.
Huw has a keen interest in the Arts and is absolutely thrilled to join the Board of Trustees of New Adventures.
Jacquie Brunjes, known professionally as Jacquie Storey, is a performer and choreographer. Currently Jacquie is Artistic Advisor of Dance World Cup UK, Adjudicator and Fellow of The British Federation of Festivals, All England Dance, Chair of Sussex Festival of Performing Arts and a Trustee at ArtsEd London, and she is delighted to be joining the board of trustees at New Adventures.
Recent productions as a Choreographer include 'What a Performance' for the BBC, 'Toast of London' Channel 4, and a 60th Anniversary Performance of 'My Fair Lady'.She has produced shows with Ruthie Henshall, Henry Blofeld and Alexander Armstrong at Folkington Manor. In 2017 she appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and toured the UK with Dame Arlene Phillips in 'Glitz, Glamour and Gossip.'
Jacquie is married to Dr Harry Brunjes, Chairman of English National Opera at the London Coliseum and they have four children and six grandchildren.
Job Titles:
- Assistant General Manager
James has worked for New Adventures' General Management company, Great Leap Forward, since 2018.
In 2010, Jessica took up the post of Principal at Elmhurst Ballet School. Over a decade later, along with her dedicated team, she has introduced ground-breaking initiatives to improve the lives of the young students, particularly in the areas of mental health and wellbeing, diversity, equality and inclusion.
Together with Elmhurst staff, she continues to reinforce the school's ethos that talent is classless and ensures that funded places are available for students with the potential, regardless of their background. Recognising that many dancers enjoy a portfolio career, Jessica and her team have strengthened Elmhurst's contemporary dance offer through building high-profile relationships with Studio Wayne McGregor, New Adventures, Rambert, and many other companies and guest artists.
She is the Chair of the National Music and Dance Scheme Schools' head teachers group, a Team Inspector for the Independent Schools Inspectorate and Ofsted have described her as a ‘highly effective leader'. She is committed to her own professional development and is member of Vistage, a peer advisory group for Chief Executives. Jessica will be working as the safeguarding lead for the New Adventures board as she joins the Board of Trustees.
She loves being mum to two young children and two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels!
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Head of New Formats at the Financial Times
Juliet Riddell is Head of New Formats at the Financial Times. At the FT Juliet has produced and directed multiple award winning videos, collaborating with artists to explore current news stories.
Juliet was previously a multimedia Commissioning Editor at the Guardian, where she executive produced an award winning short drama, a new YouTube channel and arts, current affairs and documentary series.
Juliet has over 15 years experience as a TV producer, director and development executive; including producing two BAFTA winning arts series with Grayson Perry for C4 and prime time factual programmes for BBC, ITV and Sky Arts.
Juliet was in the first youth company at The Young Place and was training at dance schools in New York when New Adventure's Swan Lake first came to Broadway, leaving a lasting impression.
Job Titles:
- Director, Bookings - Great Leap Forward
Kayte's career began in theatre in 1996 when she started working as administrator for Kaos Theatre. While working there she also began working with Jan Ryan at UK Arts International where she booked UK and international tours for dance and physical theatre companies.
In 1999 she joined Back Row Productions as general manager and when Back Row was acquired by Clear Channel she joined the booking department and booked international tours for productions such as Fosse, CATS, Chicago, Miss Saigon, Slava's Snowshow and Starlight Express.
In 2007, Jennie Green and Kayte left Back Row and set up Great Leap Forward. Kayte runs the booking side of the business and has been lucky enough to work with the Royal National Theatre, Matthew Bourne's New Adventures and Complicite to name but a few.
Kenneth is a key figure in the UK arts and culture scene with close to 40 years professional experience in the sector. He is currently working as a freelance Arts & Culture Consultant.
He began his career as a dancer; as one of the leading dance artists of his generation, he performed for 13 years with the internationally-acclaimed London Contemporary Dance Theatre, and then with other leading companies during a 25-year career as a performer, choreographer, teacher and director. With composer Simon Redfern, he was co-director of ArtyfartyArts, a multi-disciplinary arts group, from 1998-2004, and has been involved in many music and dance collaborations across a huge variety of musical genres and settings.
From 2007 to 2016, he was Chief Executive of The Place, the UK's leading centre for contemporary dance development. From May 2018 to Sept 2020, he was Director of The Africa Centre, in its new home in Southwark. He was proud to have led such an iconic organisation, at a time when its role as a home for contemporary African and diaspora culture and heritage, is needed now, more than ever.
In 2020 he was honoured to be appointed Chair of the judging panel for the prestigious AKO Caine Prize for African Writing.
He is a devoted champion of the arts, cultural learning, creativity and diversity, and frequently presents as a keynote speaker in a variety of contexts, from schools to leadership courses, industry related events and the corporate sector. He has been a regular contributor to Speakers for Schools.
He has served on various arts Boards, including The Royal Opera House and The Royal Opera House Benevolent Fund. He is currently a Patron of Akademi and The Place, and a Trustee of choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne's New Adventures company, and the Chineke! Foundation and Orchestra. He is also Vice-Chair of a School Governing Body, and sits on the British Council's Arts & Creative Economy Advisory Group.
He has appeared in eight successive editions of the annual Powerlist of Britain's most influential people of African and African-Caribbean heritage, as well as in Who's Who.
In 2003 Kenneth was made an OBE in recognition of his services to dance, and in June 2017 was made a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours, also in recognition of his services to dance.
Job Titles:
- Founder Artistic Associate
Sir Matthew Bourne OBE is widely hailed as the UK's most popular and successful choreographer and director.
Since 1986, he has been creating and directing dance for musicals, theatre, film as well as his own highly successful, award-winning companies.
Matthew is the creator of the world's longest running ballet production, and has been recognised by numerous international awards. He was knighted in the Queen's New Year Honours 2016 for services to dance, and awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award - one of the most coveted honours in the world of dance - in recognition of his outstanding services to the art of ballet.
Job Titles:
- Dance Captain ( Jordan Productions )
Job Titles:
- Featured Actor / Dancer ( ITV )