Central Delivers Masterclasses and Lectures as part of the British Council's Creative Bridge Programme
In February, Central is taking part in the British Council’s Creative Bridge Programme, a professional development programme that aims to connect cultural professionals and artists in Russia and the UK and create new opportunities for both individuals and cultural institutions that desire to work with the UK arts sector.
Central’s programme, entitled ‘Producing for Dance, Digital and Non-Traditional Space’, has been developed by Principal Lecturer and MA/MFA Creative Producing Course Leader Jessica Bowles, and comprises a series of masterclasses for students at the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS), Moscow State University and Moscow Arts Theatre School. The programme also includes a keynote public lecture by the internationally renowned Producer Farooq Chaudhry (Co-Founder and Producer of Akram Khan Dance Company) which is open to all Russian drama schools and theatre lovers across Russia. A student led-round table will also take place, allowing for cross-cultural dialogue between Central students and GITIS Of Central’s involvement in the Creative Bridge Programme, Jessica Bowles said:
Cross cultural dialogue and knowledge exchange is vital to our artistic ecology, I am delighted that RCSSD has been selected by the British Council to curate and produce this programme which shares the best of UK innovation in theatre and live performance technology with emerging producers and arts managers and a wider Russian theatre audience’
The UK – Russia Creative Bridge Programme facilitates activities which are designed to offer individual bursaries to Russian cultural professionals, to create networking opportunities for cross-cultural dialogue and exchange, to support long-term partnerships between the UK and Russian cultural organisations through collaborative projects, and to foster links between the UK and Russian creative education institutions.
The programme is delivered by the British Council, operating in Russia as the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy in Moscow, in partnership with a number of Russian cultural institutions, with funding from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Central’s involvement forms part of the Creative Education series, featuring events in partnership with UK and Russian universities specialised in creative education, social science and humanities. Workshops, seminars, conferences, and public talks will take place to enrich and inspire long-term partnerships between the educational institutions of the two countries.
Alongside sessions for students, a number of public events will take place for a general audience, including meetings with leading UK academics and creatives who will share their professional experience and give an overview of the current state of the sector.
Producing for Dance, Digital and Non-Traditional Space
Central’s programme has featured involvement from industry leaders, including:
Farooq Chaudhry - Farooq Chaudhry OBE is co-founder and Producer of Akram Khan Company and plays a key role in forming innovative business models to support Khan’s artistic ambitions and projects. Chaudhry also produced for China’s national dance icon YANG Liping and English National Ballet and was awarded an honorary doctorate from De Montfort University for his services to dance. In 2014, he founded Skye Blue Productions to support emerging artists. In 2019, as part of the Queen’s New Year’s Honours, Chaudhry was awarded an OBE for his services to Dance and Dance Production and was appointed a Tate Artist Trustee. Farooq is committed to “levelling the playing field” for artists, audiences and cultures.
Sarah McBriar* - Sarah is the creative director and founder of Up Productions Ltd and AVA.
Sarah founded and pioneered AVA, an Audio Visual Arts movement, producing 5 Festivals & Conferences in Belfast, 4 in London, and over 45 Satellite events across Manchester, Glasgow, Mumbai, Amsterdam and Dublin. Known for her ‘innovative and bold’ approach to projects and productions alike, her leadership has gained the prestigious Innovate UK award amongst the most challenging year for arts & culture.
Sarah is a qualified Prince II Project Manager, and a guest lecturer at Central, producing the University’s first online Creative Producing course. She has experience in managing budgets of circa £1M, and Top Tier artist & talent, bringing a wealth of experience and direction to large scale projects. Sarah’s passion for creativity and development is reflected in her professional life. Previous career highlights span from pioneering and project managing a large-scale tourism development project for Manchester City FC between 2012-2015 acquiring international investment and achieving leading attraction status in the City, to working as the assistant to the producer at Block 9 on the Glastonbury 2014 team, to artist liaison support at WHP and MIF.
Sarah is a leading voice on the Northern Ireland Music Steering Group, currently bidding for Unesco Status, and lobbying government for Covid Industry Support; & a member of AFEM, SSS & IEF.
James Pidgeon - James is currently Executive Director at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, one of the largest producing theatres in London. Previously, James was Director & Chief Executive at Shoreditch Town Hall, and held producing and administration roles at the National Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre and Shakespeare’s Globe. He is on the Advisory Board of Theatre Re, and a Trustee of Theatre Royal Plymouth.
Finn Ross* - Finn is a Tony and Olivier Award-winning Video Designer who has been involved in the development of video contents use in live performance for the past 15 years. He is an Honorary Fellow of The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. In 2015 he co-founded FRAY with fellow Central graduate, Adam Young.
Finn began exploring the emerging world of video deign and media servers in the early 00’s with theatre companies like Complicite and The English National Opera and has since designed production all over the world, in both commercial and artistic spaces. His work makes video a seamless part of the production, integrating it holistically with set, lights, sound and performer, helping to create one compelling for the audience. His work has been seen on Broadway, the West End, The Met, The Royal Opera House and on tour. He now focuses on work on the stage and beyond, leading large projects with a complex ambition for the video design that push the boundaries of what has been done before, frequently uniting new and innovative technologies with large multidisciplinary teams.
David Rosenberg* - David co-founded Shunt to pursue an interest in the role of an audience in theatrical productions and directed all their shows: The Ballad of Bobby Francois, Tennis Show, Dance Bear Dance, Tropicana, Amato Saltone, Money, The Architects and The Boy Who Climbed Out Of His Face. Working with Frauke Requardt he conceived and co-directed The Roof, Electric Hotel and Motor Show, for which he used binaural sound recordings to allow the audience intimate access to distant spaces. David co-directed DeadClub - presented at The Place, and he is one of the team behind Wiretapper - an audio project hiding performance in public spaces.
*Denotes Central Graduate