GLOBAL GROOVES - Key Persons
Adriana is an exceptional performer and choreographer with over 20 years' experience in choreography, dance performance, training and teaching worldwide. Adriana lives and breathes the sheer joy and uplifting power of dance. Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, she has studied with and worked as lead dancer and teacher for Meninos do Morumbi and performed with different samba Schools in São Paulo during Carnival.
Now based in Manchester, UK, she works for organisations like Global Grooves, developing the music and dance scene in the North West and beyond. She has vast experience in working on large community projects and Carnivals including choreographies for all levels and ages. A truly international artist, Adriana regularly teaches and performs all over the world. Her most recent research and teaching trips include: Nigeria, The Gambia, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Adriana's talent, passion and energy for dance and movement is infectious and believes ‘it's all about letting the rhythms move you and celebrating life in a Brazilian way!'
Amelia first volunteered with Global Grooves on the Cotton Culture project, researching the social history of Vale Mill, now The Vale. She joins the team after a career in a variety of ancient (5,000 years!) and modern (est. 2002) arts and heritage venues across England. She is eager to explore everything The Vale can be for Mossley, Greater Manchester, and beyond.
Amelia is passionate about enabling people to realise their ambitions to create and achieve their goals. In a voluntary capacity she has worked with Refugee Action and Reclaim project, mentoring refugees, and young working-class female leaders. This rewarding mentoring ranged from increasing confidence in public speaking to CV and interview coaching.
When not working she'll be found hiking, jogging, cycling (very slowly) in the Peaks, and more recently, in handstand classes.
Bridget joined the Global Grooves team in 2016 as part of Creating Carnival. Having performed with Global Grooves previously, she was then offered the opportunity to choreograph the dance for The Tempest. Using traditional dance from Brazil, Cuba, and the Caribbean Islands, the story was retold in Carnival form.
Bridget joined the Global Grooves team in 2016 as part of Creating Carnival. Having performed with Global Grooves previously, she was then given the opportunity to choreograph the dance for The Tempest. Using traditional dance from Brazil, Cuba and the Caribbean Islands the story was retold in carnival form.
Bridget's constant love for dance has been lifelong and very driven by her passion for Latin American and African rhythms. This has led her to deliver within education, performing arts as well as the community with a constant desire to bring people together to represent such a strong and empowering art form. Her belief is that movement is a necessary form of communication for all and alongside music, dance is responsible for carrying as well as translating traditions, beliefs and stories across nations.
Promoting the use of movement to express and self-heal is, in her opinion, an opportunity to give the mind and body freedom and time enabling both to explore and express within a safe environment.
Bridget is Manchester based but often travels with work, delivering dance fitness within the community. She also delivers within schools and the educational system, often as part of student ‘enrichment' days. Travelling to festivals during the summer allows her to facilitate workshops and within term time she runs an after school activity, ‘Easy Movers', giving younger children an option to explore movement and its benefits whilst developing their confidence.
Charlie is a Director on the Global Grooves Board. By day he is Walk the Plank's Executive Director and had previously worked from 2009 to 2019 as Head of Operations and Finance for Brighter Sound. In his roles, Charlie leads on finance, HR, general management, communications and company strategy with over 11 years in senior management roles. He's a Clore Leadership Fellow and has worked in professional audio training, music event management and as a professional musician.
Christian has played a key role in the development of many Global Grooves projects. As a specialist in Cuban percussion and folkloric traditions, he has worked with the company for many years providing training, advice, musical direction and the delivery of workshops and courses.
Christian leads on many of our ‘Percussion and Songs of the Orishas‘ courses and co-produced our 2015 learning resource. Previous projects have included Cuban Carnival projects and he co-directed Journey of the Orixas, one of our flagship Carnival programmes.
Christian started playing West African music in 1981, in New York, with the Ghanaian master drummer Ben Ladzekpo. This experience cemented a deep fascination with polyrhythmic music that has continued to the present day. A few years later, he started his study of Cuban rumba and ritual music, eventually traveling to Cuba for the first time in 1994 to study with the Matanzan Olu Batá, Ricardo Fantoma. Since then, he has completed more than 25 individual research trips to Cuba, during which time he has studied with, and interviewed, many of the leading ritual drummers of western Cuba.
In 2004, he was initiated as a ritual drummer by his ‘padrino de aña', the late Mario Rodrigues Pedroso (Maño), and became the first foreigner to play the sacred drums of the Havana Arará cabildo Espirito Santo. He continues to play sacred drums, batá and arará, in ceremonies in Cuba and teaches and runs courses in Cuban music with his company La Timbala. His PhD in Ethnomusicology, combined with his practical experiences within ritual music in Cuba, gives him a unique insight not only into the music and dance of these traditions but also their social context, theoretical ideas and historical development.
Job Titles:
- Producer / Multidisciplinary Artist / Volunteer Coordinator
Ciara looks after our volunteer team at The Vale, she has recently moved into a producer role after supporting Global Grooves as an Arts Administrator since the beginning of 2022. She completed her BA in Fine Art at Leeds Beckett University in 2020. During her Erasmus volunteering in 2019 she curated and exhibited her first solo show Your Place Within the City at ΦΙΞ in art, Thessaloniki. She has since volunteered for a few non-profit organisations working to support social change.
Ciara completed her BA in Fine Art at Leeds Beckett University in 2020 and has been working to develop her digital artwork as a freelancer since. She has volunteered for non-profit organisations throughout her time at university, curating and exhibiting her first solo show Your Place Within the City at ΦΙΞ in Art, Thessaloniki in 2019, where she was volunteering as part of the Erasmus scheme. Whilst at University she advocated for the students of the Art school, while volunteering as the Art, Architecture and Design Representative.
Since leaving university she has volunteered for non-profits such as: Action Together and Hope Guardians. Both organisations working with something she feels extremely passionate about, helping people with mental health issues and teaching people to living more mindfully. She is excited to be part of the Global Grooves team, working as a Volunteer Coordinator.
Job Titles:
- Producer, Musician, Performer, Visual Artist
Dan is Mossley-based musician and artist. He works behind the scenes and as a performer/artist with Carnival arts organisations, Global Grooves and Cabasa Carnival Arts. He regularly performs as a percussionist with North-East Brazilian inspired drum and dance organisation, Juba do Leão, and is a founding member and project manager for Oldham-based youth drumming and dance outfit, Jubacana. He runs his own creative business, Abacaxi Creations, specialising in producing shekere instruments (shakers made from a beaded net and gourd) and silk painting. He has also released a debut album "The Crossing" under the guise of Coruja Jones.
Danny Henry, the legend himself! Danny is one of Manchester's most established Carnival dancers, having spent years developing the work of Manchester School of Samba. He is a highly experienced professional dancer working in schools, colleges and community centres leading dance projects, workshops, and classes.
Danny is a hugely popular workshop artist with an impressive skill in getting anyone up to dance, especially when they're least expecting to!
Dance is in his soul whether its performing teaching or choreography dance expression.
He has performed all over the world with performance outfit Inner Sense travelling to places like Egypt, Oman, Yemen, and Kuala Lumpur. With Global Grooves, Danny has performed all over the UK and in Nigeria at the Imo State Unity Carnival in 2018.
Danny also gained fame for his appearance in on TV. He was a regularly featured dancer on the show Hitman and Her, he created choreography work for a Songs of Praise feature called ‘Breakout, and was featured on BBCs Blue Peter and Show Me Show Me.
Emily is Artistic Director of Cabasa. She is responsible for the overall visual aesthetic of the project, managing our team of professional visual artists and makers.
Emily has been working with Global Grooves since 2009 as a lead artist and Carnival designer and has worked on all of our large-scale Carnival projects since then. When she is not busy making in the studio, Emily works with Global Grooves as a project manager and co-ordinates many of The Vale events.
Emily is also the Artistic Director of Manchester (UK) based Carnival Arts organisation Cabasa. Since its creation in 2009, the company has gone from strength-to-strength with Emily at the helm, producing large, spectacular outdoor work, turning the streets into a stage. From high profile commissions and productions such as ‘The Great Garden Carnival' for RHS Tatton Flower Show and The Olympic Heroes Parade 2016, her work has been showcased and toured to huge audiences across the UK.
Since founding Cabasa, Emily has already made huge leaps towards realising her vision of using the traditional methods of costume development and fabrication to broaden the impact and appeal of Carnival artistry in the northwest of England. Her work has gained national recognition and regularly works with other Carnival and outdoor production companies such as Global Grooves, Kinetika, Walk The Plank, and Notting Hill Carnival. She has around her a team of skilled artists and makers based in Manchester, and regularly provides opportunities for up-and-coming talent interested in Carnival, as well as sharing her skills with the local community.
Emily's work has always been informed, inspired and deeply rooted in traditional and folkloric styles of Carnival, in particular Candomblé (an Afro-Brazilian religion) and more recently the traditional characters of Trinidadian Carnival.
"I am a multi instrumentalist and producer with diverse influences and styles eg. Jazz, Afro swing, hip hop, world music.
We have had the pleasure of working with Emma since she was around 10 years old. Emma completed our first ever Future Leaders programme in 2014, and has since become one of our lead artists and school workshops facilitators.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Financial Director
- Member of the Core Team
Eraldo joined us in 2004 following a series of collaborative workshops delivered by Meninos do Morumbi. Born in Brazil, Eraldo brings a cheery, grounded energy to our often hectic and exciting schedule of events!
Eraldo's childhood beginnings within the percussion scene (with Meninos do Morumbi in São Paulo, Brazil) have provided him with a real love and understanding of the power of youth participation in the arts. As well as co-ordinating, administrating, and delivering musical content within Global Grooves and Bangdrum's workshops programmes since 2004, he has inspired a host of UK tutors with his knowledge and almost serene approach to workshop leading. Eraldo has aided the development of a number of North West percussion and dance groups including Meninos Oldham and Grupo SambAfriq, and regularly performs with ensemble groups around the world.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Core Team
- Member of the Global Grooves Office
- Producer, Dance Artist
Freya Bennett-Nielsen is a valued member of the Global Grooves Office, working and organising the wonderful programmes held by Global Grooves.
Freya completed our Future Leaders programme in 2016 which quickly opened up an inspiring world of new experiences and possibilities. As a multi-talented young Carnival artist, she has completed extensive on-the-job percussion and dance training as co-dance-director of Juba do Leão and project manager with Jubacana.
Despite her young years, Freya has already taken the reigns as lead producer of both the outdoor community event ‘Celebrate Festival‘ in 2017 as well as ‘A Sharing of Gifts' in 2022 - Global Grooves' most recent Carnival production.
She is working full time with the organisation to shape the future of Carnival arts in the UK, as well a sitting on the board of another arts venue to help drive their mission from her experience and passion.
"The best part about Carnival for me is that the journey never finishes or ends, and could probably go on eternally, and I find this so exciting. The community is like no other, and something that I've found a passion for, too. It's taken me to several countries around the world to perform and develop my artistic practise and millions of miles out of what I thought was my comfort zone."
What I've been working on.
Gabriel Lopes is a professional musician since the beginning of the 2000s. He has been teaching for over 10 years with international renoiwed 'Monobloco' preparing students for the parades in Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and São Paulo.
Gabriel Lopes is a professional musician since the beginning of the 2000s. At this stage, he joined the Monobloco, a big carnival group from Brazil. As a musician, plays at the gigs and recorded two albums and two DVDs. As a teacher, he has been teaching for over 10 years in the Monobloco workshops, preparing students for the parades in Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and São Paulo. As a teacher, he also teaches private lessons at music schools and makes an annual tour to the UK, called Bossas Tour, to teach the percussion from samba schools. He's also a bateria director for Volta Alice, a carnival group that has been parading around the streets of Laranjeiras since 2005. The group brings together an audience of 10,000 people and the bateria come out with approximately 100 members. Gabriel is also a researcher of samba school's baterias. He is the author of the books "Mestre Dudu - As paradinhas da Não Existe Mais Quente" and "As Bossas do Mestre Maurão". To share his research about samba school's baterias, he created the Samba Beats brand. Through the website www.sambabeats.com.br, and the YouTube channel youtube.com/sambabeats Gabriel Lopes shares the results of the research.
Gordon has been working with us for many years as a visual artist, workshop facilitator and sculptor. He brings a wealth of experience, particularly in our local community as a part time and voluntary Director of Mossley Community Arts LTD for 25 years.
Job Titles:
- Percussionist and Visual Artist
Guga is a percussionist, singer, dancer, music teacher, luthier, plastic artist, and contra master of Capoeira Angola. He is a complete artist, with a deep commitment to honouring and valuing our cultural roots.
Guga has been influenced and trained by great masters of art and popular culture from Pernambuco, such as: Mestre Sapo in capoeira Angola, Mestra Iza do Amparo in plastic arts and Mestre Salustiano in popular cultural forms such as Cavalo Marinho, Ciranda, Côco, Forró and Maracatu Rural. Guga brings with him a musical knowledge enriched by the traditions and knowledge transmitted by these great masters. His passion for percussion is evident in his artistry, where he takes us on an engaging, pulsating rhythmic journey.
In addition to his talent as a percussionist, Guga is also an accomplished singer and dancer, incorporating these artistic expressions to create authentic and emotional performances. He intertwines melodies, rhythms and movements in a harmonious way, connecting deeply with his origins and traditions. His talent transcends borders, inspiring students and audiences around the globe.
Not only a talented musician and dancer, Guga is also a skilled luthier, making three different instruments. His specialty is the manufacture of Agbê, an instrument that has gained great popularity and is often sought after by music lovers.
Guga is a contra mestre of Capoeira Angola, a Brazilian cultural manifestation that integrates dance, mime, fight and ancestry in a unique and cohesive way. He is dedicated to preserving and promoting this rich tradition, bringing to light its values and meanings.
Hannah has become our new Arts Administrator following three years of freelancing after university in a range of arts projects. Her passion for radio, community engagement and Afro-Latin music led her to found community station, Steam Radio, and party series, Nossa! She is eager to use this experience to contribute to The Vale's many exciting projects.
Hannah is joining the Global Grooves team as our new Arts Administrator following three years of freelancing after university in a range of arts projects. Her background is in philosophy but a life-long passion for music led her to join her university radio station, first as a host and then as Station Manager.
Since then, Hannah has founded a community radio station of her own. Steam Radio started during the lockdowns of 2020 as a way to keep people connected when they couldn't be together. Since then it has burst into the real world with a studio in Hulme's The Old Abbey Taphouse. The station continues to provide a centre for a unique community to form around and hosts a regular schedule of community projects, parties and workshops.
Hannah's other work has involved event programming, music business, workshop facilitation and more. She is also a keen DJ and plays a range of music spanning samba, jazz, disco, psych, baile funk and more. Her party series, Nossa!, offers a vehicle for these sounds on a community focused dancefloor and gives her a chance to explore her Brazilian heritage through radio shows and a yearly mini Brazilian carnival.
Helen joined the team in 2016 as part of Creating Carnival. She is the musical director of the project that uses Brazilian and Cuban rhythms to tell the story of Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Helen discovered her passion for rhythm playing Bartok on the piano. She studied piano and percussion at university and later discovered and fell in love with folkloric Brazilian percussion and singing. Her ongoing journey of study and experience means that today she has become a highly regarded workshop leader, teacher and performer.
Helen is a strong advocate of world music, she is the musical director of the Huddersfield based percussion band Slick Stick Sambastic, she performs in Swiss vocal duo, Sätteli, directs the Hebden Bridge Georgian folk choir, and directs the Leeds U3A choir. She plays piano in the band Charanga del Norte, teaches piano and percussion privately and takes freelance projects/performances.
Her approach is very inclusive, supportive and encouraging. She believes in music as a fine craft and has respect for all musical traditions, she believes that through music you can better yourself, those around you, and ultimately send waves of positivity and belonging through a community, as well as creating community.
Holly Prest is one of the UK Carnival scene's bright shiny lights. As the lead project manager of our Future Leaders youth arts leadership programme, Holly is passionate about facilitating the discovery of young and emerging artists honing their artistic talents and realising their potential as active, inspired young individuals.
Holly Prest is one of the UK Carnival scene's bright shiny lights. Following more than 20 years of participation and management of widespread performance and training initiatives, she has helped nurture and maintain lesser-known global music and dance traditions in a UK context. As the lead project manager of the Future Leaders youth arts leadership programme, Holly is passionate about facilitating the discovery of young and emerging artists honing their artistic talents and realising their potential as active, inspired young individuals.
Her performance group ‘Juba do Leão' offers one of the countries most unique fusion representations of Afro-Brazilian music from the Pernambuco region of Brazil, with a young cohort of 8-18 year old musicians and dancers carving their own path alongside in the ‘Jubacana' project.
Holly also offers tuition in drum kit and Afro-Brazilian percussion, and has supported the development of several community bands around the UK.
Since the early nineties, Iain Mellor has nurtured and furthered the musical skills of hundreds of musicians in the North West through Cabasa Carnival Arts and community outreach workshops. In 2001, Iain co-founded Bangdrum, a leading school workshops provider which aided the successful development of Global Grooves.
Iain's unique workshop persona and sense of humour make him popular with workshop and course participants both young and old! His knowledge, passion, and 30+ years' experience in Brazilian and West African culture have set him among the countries leading workshop facilitators and performers; he is particularly ‘mean' on the drum kit! Iain is driven by the desire for communities to work together through the creative arts and runs Oldham Percussion Academy, weekly percussion classes for young people in the Oldham area, an offshoot project of Meninos Oldham.
More recently, Iain has been working nationally and internationally with organisations such as University of Damascus, University of the West Indies and The British School of Kuwait to name but a few.
At the close of 2021, we said a sad goodbye to our dear friend and teacher, Ian. We raise a glass, a drum stick and a shaky thing supported by his musical ‘threads to the top of our heads' and say thank you, we love you.
Courtney is a professional percussionist, performer, tutor and event
Jack has led on the creation of melody for our large scale performances across the UK, weaving together his many musical influences and skills to produce new work. He has facilitated the coming together of numerous local brass players and ensembles through our ongoing programmes.
Jack is a Manchester based trumpeter and arranger. Having previously studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, Jack enjoys a varied career of both performing and writing. Jack plays predominantly with jazz and blues artists, with a busy touring schedule both across UK and Europe. Alongside this, Jack is currently working alongside some the UK's finest Drum and Bass artists. Besides playing, Jack takes great pleasure in writing, arranging and directing an array of projects.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Core Team
- Project Manager
Jane initially became involved with Global Grooves as a volunteer with one of our community projects in Oldham in the early 2000s. Jane saw an opportunity to transfer her previous professional skills in Higher Education to an exciting new environment and continue with her commitment to social action. Since then, Jane has managed a number of unique Global Grooves projects with a focus on widening access and participation to carnival arts and its related skills such as creative computing.
Jane is inspired by projects that use Carnival as a way of developing more confident individuals and building stronger communities. Jane has worked with Global Grooves and key partners to deliver the first Mossley Light Festival 2016 which was a lovely example of what can be achieved when individuals and communities work together towards a common goal.
What I've been working on.
Joe Harrison-Greaves is a musician, facilitator, project manager and consultant whose work focuses on social change through creativity and education. As a musician, and over the last 13 years, Joe has played with bands and artists from across the world, primarily on bass guitar and acoustic guitar.
Joe's work in education began over 10 years ago as a professional musician working in a wide variety of community and education settings. Over many years and many projects as a musical director and facilitator, this developed into practice and consultancy around the role of creativity in education, as well as supporting the development of music practice in special needs schools, project managing a music education research project co-ordinated by Birmingham City University, and continuing to work as a musician. Joe's work with the Slow Education movement was cited by internationally acclaimed creative education adviser and campaigner Sir Ken Robinson in his book, Creative Schools (2015).
Joe was a member of our Board until September 2020.
Job Titles:
- Programming Manager ( the Vale )
Johnny Clifford was around right at the beginning of the Samba explosion in Greater Manchester. Johnny joins us out of semi retirement to develop our own diverse live music and events programme.
Johnny Clifford was around right at the beginning of the Samba explosion in Greater Manchester. He cofounded Bangdrum workshops, was an original member of Cabasa, and has a special place in his heart for our work at the Vale.
Working out of Oldham, he ran and curated the Oldham samba school along with being the Cultural and Arts officer for the borough. In this role he commissioned street theatre, a range of festivals including Picking up Sticks, as well as programming theatre, live music and community arts development. Johnny left Oldham in 2006 to work as creative assistant to Paul Abbott, working on and developing ideas across the slate both in the UK and LA.
With a background career in electronic engineering, and a lifelong musician from a music loving family, Jon has found many opportunities to contribute as well as to discover in the colourful and varied environment of carnival arts production.
Jordan got involved with Global Grooves in 2014 as a part of our Future Leaders programme after playing in a community drumming band in Edinburgh since the age of 12. Since then he's continued his studies into world music, specialising in Brazilian carnival percussion which has taken him to Brazil on multiple occasions.
Now working as a musician in Glasgow Jordan is involved in numerous bands and projects. At Global Grooves, Jordan has been able to contribute with a wide range of skills including workshop leading, performing, project management and even Portuguese translations for guest artists. He is a core team member of the development of our ‘Future Leaders' youth arts leadership programme.
Kate has been working as a producer and performer for Global Grooves since discovering the power of Carnival. Now pursuing her love for visual arts and making, she is a freelance artists and producer for our lead partner Cabasa and will be responsible for much of the creative makes in our studios.
Kate has been working with Global Grooves since 2016 as a producer and project manager, and as a visual artist. She graduated from Manchester School of Art in 2015 with a BA in Textiles and since then, Kate has found a love for Carnival and Community arts.
She joined our team after completed our Future Leaders apprenticeship programme in 2015/16 and has gone on to produce many of our events and projects including The Tempest, Desi Carnival, Project Phoenix, Mossley Light Festival, and The Vale Live. Carnival has captured Kate's imagination and she is often found in the studio supporting the making process alongside coordinating our outdoor events.
Now working as a freelance artists and producer for Cabasa, she is a regular face in our studio usually managing a magical creation about to hit the road.
Job Titles:
- Digital Artist
- Visual Artist
Kooj Chuhan is a digital artist, filmmaker and creative producer. He artistically interweaves racial justice with climate resistance using a range of approaches including interactive media, theatrical VJ work and augmented reality combined with a critical cultural democracy practice. He is a founding member of artist collective Virtual Migrants, won an award for digital arts connecting refugees with climate change, curated the exhibition ‘Footprint Modulation' on climate migration across five venues in Durham and other stuff he's done for over 30 years including previously working as a musician. Currently director of Crossing Footprints CIC which connects creativity with issues of human rights, environment, inequality and wellbeing.
Lauren specialises in costumes and puppets with a focus on community engagement. She grew up attending festivals such as Streets Ahead where she developed a love for outdoor arts and street theatre. She became involved in carnival during her Jewellery and Textiles Design degree after being invited to a samba dance class by her friend.
After graduation, she began making costumes for Manchester School of Samba, where she is an established dancer, and jumped head first into the world of large-scale illuminated puppetry after she became a lead artist for Global Grooves' ‘Creating Carnival Illuminated' programme. Her focus is to make visually stunning work that fosters an emotional connection with the wearer and audience. Lauren has lead local and international workshops in carnival making techniques. She is passionate in her love of carnival and the empowerment it brings to communities. She strongly believes that creativity has the power to transform lives and endeavours to inspire people to develop their own creative practice.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Core Team
Leon Patel is at the helm of Global Grooves, having committed over a decade to sharing his passion and knowledge of percussion and song from around the world.
Leon Patel is at the helm of Global Grooves, and for the last 20 years he has focused on sharing his passion and knowledge of percussion and song from around the world - Brazilian, South Asian, West African, Cuban, and Western musical styles to name a few, eventually finding his main passion and focus in Carnival.
As well as laying claim to the loudest timba slap in the West, Leon regularly holds masterclasses and short courses to share his decades of study and performance techniques with students all over the world. He has studied with various international percussion ensembles in Brazil, West Africa and India and toured with Batucada Sound Machine in 2011.
As an arts leader, he has helped to develop many of the Northwest's leading carnival arts organisations, guiding them to produce high quality participatory arts and touring productions. Leon's main focus and passion over the last ten years has been the development of Global Grooves as CEO.
More recently he has taken the lead on the development of The Vale, home to Global Grooves and a new Northwest Centre for Carnival Arts that opened in Mossley, Greater Manchester September 2021.
Leon has also contributed to the development the arts module within the British Council's ‘Active Citizens' programme as well as being a Clore Artists fellow 2014.
Lizzie is a local visual artist, who's worked with Global Grooves for the last few years. Lizzie was a lead visual artist in the ‘Creating Carnival Illuminated' project for Mossley Light festival and has been growing as an artist ever since.
Before her involvement in Carnival arts, Lizzie had her own business selling hand-painted furniture and homeware. However, she now has experienced how Carnival and outdoor arts can bring so many people together, and the positive impact Carnival can have on the community.
Dance instructor on the Edun Ara - bloco de carnaval project and other OVM and Global Grooves workshops, Marcia Magliari is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She teaches Samba, Afro-Brazilian, Frevo, Forro, Lambada, Gafieira (samba ballroom), Salsa, Merengue and a Stretch class.
Mariana Pinho is a Brazilian artist, based in London since 2004. Through the years she has been a living ambassador of Brazilian culture through her work on dance, costume, international production, and cultural tourism as the Artistic Director of Gandaia Arts and its awarded resident group Maracatudo Mafua.
Specialising in rhythms such as Maracatu, Sambas (de coco, de roda, partido alto, batucada and samba reggae) among many other traditional manifestations, Mariana has shared her passion and knowledge with most of UK's brazilian based groups, festivals, carnival and key events.
Mariana has been a key tutor and mentor on our Future Leaders programme since its inception in 2014. www.facebook.com/marianagandaia
Mel has worked with Global Grooves since 2013 and has designed and made headdresses for the principal dancers at many festivals and events since then.
After many years playing on Tijuca and others samba schools, in 1999 he became bateria director of Unidos da Tijuca at the invitation of Mestre Celinho, where he remained until 2001. From that moment Maurão accumulated experience working as a director in different schools, learning from the masters of the time.
Mitch is a drummer, percussionist and educator. He joined the Global Grooves team in 2017 as an associate artist for The Desi Carnival.
Nadia has been working with Global Grooves since 2018 and is an experienced and enthusiastic dancer with a passion for all things Cuban, in particular Rumba and folkloric Afro-Cuban dances.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Trustee
Rachel joined our board as a Non-Executive Director in May 2020. As a keen participant, she has followed our journey from the Northwest to The Gambia! Rachel brings a wealth of professional experience in finance, accountancy, and project leadership, along with a creative outlook to further our organisation.
Job Titles:
- Founder / Director of One Voice Music and Lead Masterclass Facilitator
Founder/director of One Voice Music and lead masterclass facilitator for Global Grooves, Raz is an all-round percussionist specialising in the traditional drumming of Afrocuban and Afro-Brazilian music.
Rowan has been working with Global Grooves since 2016. After completing her studies in Textiles at Manchester School of Art, she became a young apprentice on Global Grooves' Future Leaders course as a visual artist.
Job Titles:
- Artist
- Project Manager / Visual Artist / Freelancer
Sarah is a visual artist and printmaker. Through collage and screen print she investigates the legacy of Modernist architecture and post-war social housing, viewed through the lens of documentary photography and the public history archive, while questioning the experience of women within the urban built environment and the complex relationship between female bodies, architecture, and space.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Global Grooves' Chair
Scott Darraugh was appointed as Global Grooves' Chair in 2017 and has helped to steer the organisation through a period of rapid change and growth.
Seby Ntege is a singer-songwriter from the Busoga region of eastern Uganda, renowned for producing some of the best multi-instrumentalists in the country and himself is a master of several folk instruments from his country including akogo thumb piano (a.k.a. kalimba), endongo lyre, adungu harp, percussion and endingidi, a one stringed fiddle.
Job Titles:
- Development Lead, Fundraiser
Tom's passionate about the impact of music and Carnival arts on communities and has worked with Global Grooves to develop and fund creative projects across the UK and beyond.