Catherine James
Cath has worked at South East Dance for 6 years, initially as Programme Director. She has over 35 years of professional dance industry experience from a range of perspectives. Originally trained as a dancer at the conservatoire in Brisbane before performing with a number of Australian dance companies (Expressions Dance Company, Queensland Ballet, Dance North), Cath spent six years as leading dancer at Rambert Dance Company, and was a founding member of Jeremy James & Company. She went on to dance with Siobhan Davies Company for a further 12 years, before stepping offstage and into the company office as the Company and Tour Manager. She has taught professional class for Company Wayne McGregor, New Adventures, Rambert Dance Company, Scottish Ballet, The Place and the Dalston School in New York City.
Cath was producer and performer for SNAG, a women’s performance collective, invited by Deborah Bull to curate the Royal Opera House summer independent dance season Snagged and Clored for three years. Cath was producer for bgroup, a company based in the UK and directed by Jerwood award winning choreographer Ben Wright, whilst also being appointed Director of Dance at Take Art in Somerset. Cath was a mentor for both the Dance UK Artist Development programme and the Peter Darrell choreographic award. Cath was chair of the Merlin Theatre Trust in Frome, and on the board of trustees at Pavilion Dance South West. Cath currently sits on the board of Brighton Digital Festival.
Curatorial Statement:
South East Dance, based in Brighton UK, is an arts charity committed to making life better through dance. We challenge perceptions of what dance looks like: how it’s made, who it’s for and what it can achieve. We support dance artists, present bold new work, develop the infrastructure for dance and get more people across the south east of England involved in dance. We are interested in work that provides different perspectives on the most important global and social issues of our times.