Born in Germany and based in London, I am an independent curator, programmer and arts manager. I specialise in dance, contemporary Arab culture, and international cultural programming and exchanges.
From 2026, I am developing a bespoke portfolio that furthers my interest in international curatorial work. I focus on collaborating with new artists emerging onto the global stage, and on mentoring and advising.
I am the Chair of the Advisory Board of the Arab music organisation MARSM and the inaugural chair of DeNada Dance, led by artistic director Carlos Pons Guerra.
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For 11 years, I was Programming Associate – Dance at the LOWRY in Salford, Greater Manchester (2014–2025). During this time, I curated an award-winning international dance programme across the venue’s three theatres.
From 2021–2025, I also worked as touring and international producer for Collective Ma’louba, Thick & Tight, and Colette Sadler. This role included a nine-country tour of Collective Ma’louba’s The Long Shadow of Alois Brunner. I secured the commission of the UK National Theatre Award–winning Natural Behaviour by Thick & Tight. I also presented Colette Sadler’s ARK 1 at the inaugural Digital Bodies festival.
As a consultant, I collaborated with Buckinghamshire Culture to conceptualise and deliver STORIES (2024), a season of three groundbreaking commissions responding to the heritage, landscape and people of the county. For the London Borough of Richmond, I developed the inaugural Arts & Ideas Festival (2023) and the 2025 Dance Commission.
I led international development for LOD in Ghent, Belgium, and Theater an der Ruhr in Mülheim, Germany (2022–2024). I was a Selector for the Sadler’s Wells Rose International Dance Prize 2025, and served on Creative Scotland panels for Made in Scotland 2024 and the Touring Panel 2025. I was a member of the dance jury for the Sky Arts Awards 2024.
Previously, I was Artistic Director and CEO of Shubbak (2012–2021), London’s largest festival of contemporary Arab culture. I was Associate Artistic Curator for CODA – Oslo International Dance Festival (2016-2017). I worked as a freelance producer for The Space, and twice as interim Creative Producer for Siobhan Davies Dance.
I was a producer for the London 2012 Festival and the Cultural Olympiad. I curated the Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival 2011 and advised on the 2014 edition. I curated OUTSPOKEN – New Performance from Arab Artists for International Dance Festival Birmingham (2010) and African Crossroads for Dance Umbrella (2009).
I programmed the opening season of Pavilion Dance (2010) and the conference Digital Futures in Dance (2011). I was Artistic Director of Woking Dance Festival (2001–2007) and Year of the Artist Coordinator for South East Arts(1999–2001).
I regularly lead artists’ talks and post-show discussions, and I continue to mentor artists.
Credit photo: Sara Hannant
ARTISTS & PROJECTS
I work with artists and institutions across dance, theatre and music to develop their touring capacity and international profile.
I am dedicated to support exceptional work to reach new audiences worldwide. Artists I work with often explore new positions for a global context, informed by migration, marginalisation, new identities, contested histories and freedom of expression.
Mufutau Yusuf
Chara Kotsali
Collective Ma’louba
Other Projects
MUFUTAU YUSUF
Mufutau Yusuf is a Nigeria-born Irish choreographer, performer, and teacher based in Ireland and Brussels. His acclaimed works, including Òwe and Impasse, have toured across Ireland, Europe, the US, and Nigeria. In 2025, Mufutau was elected to membership of Aosdána, a body which honours artists whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the Arts in Ireland.
He has worked with artists and companies such as Wim Vandekeybus/Ultima Vez, Liz Roche Company, Irish Modern Dance Theatre and Emma Martin/United Fall. Mufutau is a resident choreographer with Luail, Ireland’s National Dance Company and shares his practice through teaching and improvisation internationally.
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Impasse
A powerful, driving, and charged duet that seeks to understand the politics of the Black body in a contemporary western society.
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Proses on neither here nor there
A meditation on how we live, what we leave behind and the legacy we shape.
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The Fifth Sun
Inspired by the tradition of Irish keening, The Fifth Sun unfolds as both a eulogy and a renewal.
CHARA KOTSALI
Chara Kotsali is a new-generation Greek artist. Known as a charismatic performer with Christos Papadopoulos, Euripides Laskaridis and many others, Chara Kotsali is fast establishing her position as a choreographer of raw yet precise, politically sharp yet accessible works.
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IT'S THE END OF THE AMUSEMENT PHASE
In a dance marathon that spans the historical continuum, three women regress between personal and collective history.
COLLECTIVE MA’LOUBA
Collective Ma’louba – Arabic for Upside Down – was founded as a collective by Syrian theatre makers, who graduated from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus and are now based across Europe. Current key-team members reside in Berlin, Marseille, Duisburg and Paris. Ma’louba’s works reflect on the lived experiences of Arabs in a global context: their historical, political and colonial links and the unsettled status of existences.
Ma’louba’s works are always topical and include themes of migration, identity, culture, freedom and the nature of theatre. Their creations Your Love Is Fire (2017), Days In The Sun (2018), Reine Formsache (2019), The Return Of Danton (2021) and Up There (2022) have toured extensively including Theater an der Ruhr Mülheim, Kammerspiele München. The 2023 production of The Long Shadow of Alois Brunner toured to 9 countries, including D-CAF Festival Cairo, Theater El Hamra Tunis, Factory International Manchester, HAU Berlin, Oda Theater Kosovo, Masahat Festival Oslo, Teatro Ateneo Nuovo Rome, Sogar Theater Zürich.
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The Long Shadow of Alois Brunner
The Long Shadow of Alois Brunner interrogates the true story of one of the most wanted Nazi criminals to escape sentencing.
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Braveheart
Written and directed by Wael Kadour, Braveheart tells the poignant story of Aline, a Syrian refugee recently settled in France.
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Up There
Syria, early 1990s: In a women's prison, a group of political prisoners perform Henrik Ibsen's play "The Lady from the Sea".
OTHER PROJETS
I am consulting for a number of organisations offering my services on programming, internationalisation and much more. Here’s a selection of the projects I am currently working on or I have recently been involved with:
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RABAT INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL
I work as adviser for International Development with Rabat International Dance Festival - a brand-new dance festival in Morocco’s capital Rabat.
Led by emerging choreographer and artistic director Said El Haddaji, this is an exciting new platform and meeting ground for North African choreographers. The festival includes premieres and recent works from Morocco and Tunisia, - as well as international dance from France, Canada, Belgium and US.The first edition of Rabat Dance is from 19th to 24th May 2026.
Over the next years we aim to develop Rabat Dance as a major showcase and meeting place for the Moroccan and North African dance sector, as well as creating opportunities for international dance to be presented in Rabat, generate new international collaborations and new commissions,
To hear more about Rabat International Dance Festival contact me over email: eckhard@eckhardthiemann.com.