THE reviving her team
MEET THE DANCE ARTISTS
Grace Ford
“GIRL” AND REHEARSAL DIRECTOR
Grace is a freelance dance artist from Croydon. She has had the opportunity to work with: John William Watson, SAY, Rachel Clarke recently and many other artists. Grace has loved being involved with Northern Rascals for years now and becoming their rehearsal director also has been a dream. Grace loves being able to teach around the UK with Northern Rascals and NYDC and other companies. She loves being involved in many different on going works as it makes her grow, indulge and meet incredible, passionate creative artists. She has worked with many amazing choreographers and artists and can’t wait to continue on her exciting adventure as a freelancer. Outside of dancing Grace enjoys gardening and baking up some goods.
Sophie Thomas
“BODY”
Born and raised in England’s Lake District, Sophie’s love for dance, art and nature started from an early age. Whilst a majority of her formative dancing years took place in village halls, she furthered this learning by attending Northern School of Contemporary Dance, gaining her degree. After graduating, Sophie continues to be based in Leeds. Her professional credits include working with Night People, Southpaw Company, and Riptide Theatre Company, performing at a variety of theatre venues, clubs, galleries and festivals. After working with Northern Rascals on their previous work, SUNNY | SIDE, she is excited to return to the team for REVIVING HER.
Fern Grimbley
“BIRD”
Fern is a freelance dancer, based in London and graduated from Northern School of Contemporary with a First Class BA Hons degree in Contemporary Dance, and the Postgraduate company Verve where she worked with Matthew Robinson, Hannes Langolf, Lenka Vagnerova and Sita Ostheimer. She has most recently worked for Punchdrunk in their London production The Burnt City, Extended Play’s How To Build a Universe, and Mathieu Geffre’s From Greenwich with Love. She has featured in the music videos Hallucination (Olly Years&Years x Regard), Let It Die (Ellie Goulding), Carrie (Prep Band) and featured as lead actor in Georgina Starr’s art Film Quarantaine.
Flora Grant
“MOTHER”
Flora is a London based dancer, actor, movement director and teacher.
She first met Northern Rascals when she joined the tour of SHED at the end of 2022 where she learnt the show in just two weeks.
Flora began her professional training aged 18, at the Institute of the Arts Barcelona, in Spain, completing a Diploma, before coming back to London to attend Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music and Dance, where she completed her BA(Hons) in Contemporary Dance with a First.
Upon graduating in 2017 she was awarded the Marion North Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance and has since worked across stage and screen, in the UK and Europe, building an impressive and varied portfolio career.
Flora has worked with choreographers such as; Russell Maliphant, Holly Blakey, Jamaal Burkmar (Extended Play), Ben Wright, Charles Linehan and Vinicius Salles to name a few. Flora has worked with big magazines and brands such as; Vogue, Hermès, Gucci, Missoni, Amazon, Jo Malone and Trinny London. And some of her screen credits include; A Christmas Carol, Bridgerton, Black Mirror, Brave New World, Ocean Flaws and Martin Garrix.
Alongside her performance career she teaches part time at a secondary school in Central London and has a passion for Film Photography.
Sharol Mackenzie
“ICON”
Sharol’s first experience of dance was in her birth place Eswatini. Moving to England in 2005 she continued to dance, graduating from Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in 2017 with a first class honours degree. Upon graduating she joined Verve, the post-graduate performing company of Northern school of Contemporary Dance (2017-2018). With whom she performed works by Lenka Vagnerova, Hannes Langolf, Matthew Robinson and Sita Ostheimer on a National and European tour.
Since then Sharol’s work has spanned across theatre and screen. Working on music videos, dance films and with a variety of different companies such as Matthew Bournes New Adventures, Mark Bruce Dance Company, Richard Chappell Dance, Attic Projects, Edd Arnold, Punchdrunk & Ballet Boyz. As well as being a dance artist, Sharol is a certified Yoga and Himalayan breath-work teacher.
Ella Roberts
“CHILD”
Originally from South Devon, Ella began dancing at Swindon CAT scheme. She joined NYDC in 2017 and worked with Sharon Eyal and Botis Seva. During her training at NSCD, she took part in an R&D with Akram Khan Company, which led to an apprenticeship for the creation of Jungle Book: Reimagined.
Ella graduated from Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2022 and joined their postgraduate company VERVE. During VERVE she got to work with Faye Tan and KORSIA. Since graduating Ella worked for Night People Events on their new work Aphrodite House Party.
MEET THE CREATIVE TEAM
Caitlin Mawhinney
SET DESIGNER
Caitlin was nominated for Best Designer at The Stage Debut Awards 2022 and awarded the Evening Standard Future Theatre Fund for Visual Design in 2021. She was recently a JMK Finalist, Creative Associate at Jermyn Street Theatre, and a Resident Designer at New Diorama Broadgate.
Caitlin previously designed SUNNY | SIDE with Northern Rascals and is looking forward to their new collaboration.
Recent credits as Designer include: Everyday Non-sense (Southbank Centre), Pansexual Pregnant Piracy (Soho Theatre), No More Mr Nice Guy (Nouveau Riche), Camp Phoenix (Zest Theatre), Hansel and Gretel (Junction Goole), Pop Music, Ladies Unleashed, Teechers Leavers 22’ (Hull Truck Theatre), The Cyclops, The Island of The Sun (National Theatre Public Acts: CAST, Sunderland Culture), Dream School (The Space), The Anarchist (Jermyn Street Theatre), My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored (Red Ladder Theatre Co./UK Tour), The Sh*t (Leeds Playhouse/UK Tour), Shake The City (Leeds Playhouse/UK Tour), Frisky and Mannish: Popcorn (Lawrence Batley), Our Gate (Harrogate Theatre) and Is Anyone There? (Slung Low).
Aaron Howell
DIGITAL DESIGN
Aaron is a digital artist, filmmaker, animator and Director of visual arts company, Howl Creative.
Originating from a background in illustration and graphic moving image, Aaron now works across dance, audio-visual installation and theatre to push how digital art interacts with both visual and performative qualities. Aaron is also the Co-Director of Night People, a collaborative arts company specialising in performance events and cabaret theatrics.
Wilfred Kimber
COMPOSER AND SOUND DESIGN
As a graduate of film music composition, Wilfred began his career composing scores for independent films and contemporary dance works during his studies at Leeds Conservatoire. He was awarded ACE's 'Developing Your Creative Practice' fund in 2022 to further this work within the contemporary dance industry. Wilfred's music is heavily influenced by his deep passion for storytelling and the natural landscapes he grew up surrounded by in rural North Yorkshire.
Barnaby Booth
LIGHTING DESIGN
Barnaby is a lighting designer and choreographer. His lighting credits include work for Sita Ostheimer, DeNada Dance Theatre/Carlos Pons Guerra, Jamaal Burkmar/Extended Play, Andrea Costanzo Martini, National Dance Company of Wales, Marikiscrycrycry, Sebastian Abarbanell, Jack Philp, Northern Rascals, Lisard Tranid and Clementine Telesfort, Akeim Toussaint Buck/Toussaint to Move and Crystal Zillwood, Wilhelmina Ojanen, Abbott Dance Company, Impact Dance/Hakeem Onibudo, Unholy Mess Theatre Company, Feet Off the Ground, Mavin Khoo, Ieva Kuniskis, Tora Hed, Staatstheater Kassel and Mala Kline.
As a choreographer Barnaby won a number of prizes at the Stuttgart International Solo Festival and at the Gdanski festival tanca in Poland in 2017. From there, he went on to complete successful commissions worldwide, notably working for English National Opera, and Poetic Disaster's Club of Club Guy and Roni in The Netherlands. His commissions include work for Trak Dance Ensemble (Austria), Folkwang Tanzstudio of Folkwang University of the Arts (Germany), NSCD Verve (UK), Los Little Guys (US/Mexico), Dantzaz Dance Company (Spain) and Northern School of Contemporary Dance (UK).
Joshua Cartmell (MELSH)
COSTUME DESIGNER
Joshua Cartmell is a textile artist, costume designer and maker based in Leeds. After graduating from Nottingham Trent University with a BA in Fashion Knitwear Design and Knitted Textiles in 2021, Joshua worked as a freelance designer with New York based knitwear brand Zankov and Leeds based accessories brand S.Joon. During this time Joshua worked closely with Leeds based choreographer John-William Watson on productions commissioned by Sadler’s Wells, This is not a Penguin and Hang In There, Baby as a designer and creative consultant. Most recently, Joshua began a traineeship with The Macintosh Foundation and Leeds Playhouse, working on in-house productions as a costume maker within the theatre’s costume department.
Using his queer-centric, experimental graduation work Smalltown Boy as a catalyst, Joshua established MELSH in 2021 - a design studio exploring the relationship between textiles, movement, design and performance; which he now works under as a freelance artist and practitioner.
Adam Goode
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Adam is a northern based freelance theatre technician and production manager, passionate about the intimacy of interpersonal story telling. He has been in the technical industry for 3 years learning during his training at NSCD, where he met the team at Northern Rascals and has had the privilege of production managing both SHED and SUNNY | SIDE tours.
Adam has also had the chance to be a theatre technician and lighting designer for Don’t Get Me Wrong, a performance at The Hen and Chickens Theatre, Highbury & Islington. More recently working for Leeds Beckett designing the lighting and facilitating the spaces for their final year BA’s and MA programmes graduation works.
Quiplash
ACCESS CONSULTANTS / AUDIO DESCRIPTION
Quiplash is a creative, performance and consulting CIC that looks to take space for deaf disabled and neurodiverse people across the LGBTQQIA+ spectrum. It is led by actual quip married couple Al and Amelia Lander-Cavallo. Quiplash has two strands: performance and art-making that prioritises queer disabled performers and embedded access with a specialism in integrated and creative audio description. Quiplash also works as access consultants and trainers in audio description, disability justice and disability awareness.
Elly Welford
PHOTOGRAPHY
Elly is a freelance photographer based in the city of Leeds. She trained at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, graduating in 2019 and later served as an apprentice with Motionhouse Dance company. Life took an unexpected turn when a combination of a dance injury and the pandemic nudged Elly to channel her passion for photography.
As a dance photographer, Elly believes in the transformative power of photos to boost dancers' confidence. She enjoys creating a safe and supportive space, allowing dancers to freely express themselves; striving to capture not just the movements but also the individuality and strength of each dancer.
Elly began collaborating with Northern Rascals in her third year of dance training, working on The Mesmerist and SUNNY | SIDE. Over the past three years, Elly has continued the journey with Northern Rascals as a photographer, contributing to various projects.
In addition to conducting one-on-one photoshoots for dancers, Elly frequently works with the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and various dance companies, capturing performances and rehearsals. Some of the highlights include working with the National Dance Company Wales, VERVE, Ceyda Tanc Dance, LA HORDE, and Germain Acogny.
Ben Williams
VIDEOGRAPHER
Driven by a desire to capture beautiful aesthetics Ben seeks to do so by tapping into human emotion and stories of the people he films.
A lot of his work has been focused within arts and has been very fortunate to work with some very talented artists. Over the past few years, he has been working predominantly within the dance scene creating content for an array institutions and companies. Ben's work has been screened at various festivals including commissions for the BBC. He sees his work as a collaboration between people helping put ideas into motion.
Geoffrey Colman
MENTOR & DRAMATURG
Geoff is a much sought-after professional Acting Coach who has worked extensively in Film, TV, Theatre and Dance. From London's West End to the film sets of Hollywood, his phenomenal range of coaching skills has been developed through over 30 years experience in the performance industry.
Recent Film & TV includes John Wick 4 (Lionsgate); Mayor of Kingstown (Paramount); Bruiser (TIFF); Kick Ass 2 (Universal); Vigil (Netflix); The Vampire Academy (Universal); Heartstopper (Netflix); Minamata (Metal Work Pictures/ MGM); Tin Soldier (Unified Pictures); Casualty (BBC).
Recent West End includes Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Peacock Theatre / UK Tour); & Juliet (West End / UK Tour); Strictly Ballroom the Musical (New Wimbledon Theatre / UK Tour); Dirty Dancing (2018 /2023 Dominion Theatre); Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella (Gillian Lynne Theatre); Singing in the Rain (Sadlers Wells Theatre); An American in Paris (Dominion Theatre); War of The Worlds (Dominion Theatre/ UK Stadium Tour); Cabaret (New Wimbledon Theatre/ UK tour); Carousel (English National Opera); Crazy For You (UK Tour); Chicago (Phoenix Theatre); 9 to 5 (Savoy Theatre) and more.
Cristina Mackerron
PRODUCER
Cristina trained at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. After graduating, she co-founded multi-award-winning comedic dance theatre company, The Hiccup Project. Between 2014-2020, she co-created and performed in three full-length critically acclaimed shows, touring nationally, and leading an extensive community and educational engagement programme.
Since then, Cristina has worked as a producer for The Place, and ARC Stockton Arts Centre. She now works as an independent arts producer & creative mentor, whilst finishing her MA in Social Anthropology at University of Sussex, where she is specialising in researching the creative and cultural industries. Cristina is passionate about the sustainability of the arts sector, and supporting artists to feel empowered.
Lydia Wharf
PRODUCER
Lydia wharf is an independent producer working in contemporary and hip hop dance theatre, tending to specialise in practices of care, access and inclusion. She works directly with a range of artists and companies, most recently BirdGang Ltd, Dance Umbrella, Julie Cunningham & Company and Stuart Waters. Lydia has a long, twisty relationship with dance; as performer, writer, facilitator and producer. She reviews regularly for Gramilano and Springback Magazine and recently co-designed and hosted the Art of Dialogue, a series of discursive events as part of the Czech Dance Platform.
Marla King
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANCY
Marla is a freelance dance artist and climate justice advocate. She trained at Northern School of Contemporary Dance, and has since worked as a dancer with Rhiannon Faith Company, Rendez Vous Dance, Gwyn Emberton, Richard Chappell Dance, Eleesha Drennan, Impelo, Elisabeth Schilling, National Dance Company Wales and Jack Philp.
Climate justice advocacy and socioecological consciousness is interwoven in the creative projects and activism Marla engages with. She is a co-facilitator and board member of the Resilience Project, a youth-led organisation with a vision to empower young people who are experiencing climate anxiety and burnout from activism, through exploring creative processes that can help foster emotional awareness and collective care within activist spaces. She is also involved with various climate and social justice campaigns, some of which have included the Climate Justice Coalition, Re-Earth Initiative, Equity for a Green New Deal, Climate Cymru, Gentle Radical and others.
Marla is a co-creator of the Glanio collective - a collaboration between 3 creatives who came together to explore a creative response to the climate and ecological emergency we face, sharing a strong belief in the transformative power of arts in relation to climate action, as a gateway for climate communication and facilitating space to lean into the care and compassion needed to take collective action centring climate justice. The collective has recently been exploring models of slow touring rooted in ecological wellbeing, working with local artists and the community in Spring and Autumn 2023.
Marla facilitates workshops and dialogue sessions with various creatives and arts organisations around embedding values of climate justice and ecological consciousness within their work. She has worked with artists and organisations including Glasshouse Dance, VOXED, Richard Chappell Dance, The Motion Pack, Impelo, Glasshouse Dance, CoDa Dance, YDance, and Sustainable Arts in Leeds.
MEET THE MENTORSHIP team
Tabie Boateng
LIGHTING DESIGN MENTORSHIP
Tabie is currently a BA2 student at Northern School of Contermporary Dance, who is working with us on a Mentorship in Lighting Design, supported by Barnaby Booth.
Tabie says:
"I have discovered a new found fascination for all things Lighting and Tech. I have found that the work behind the scenes is just as rewarding as being in the spotlight, and that all the elements of a show come wonderfully together to produce something beautiful.
The concept of REVIVING HER is something that resonates and sits with me so deeply, so to be given the opportunity to form a connection with this work is something very special. I am very excited and grateful to be a part of this process with the lovely Barnaby Booth and Northern Rascals!"
Sophie Corbey
COMPOSING MENTORSHIP
Sophie is an aspiring composer working with us on a Mentorship in Composing, supported by Wilfred Kimber.
Sophie says:
“As an aspiring composer the opportunity to work collaboratively on a project like this is very exciting. Especially with my passion as an amateur contemporary dancer I have always wanted to write music alongside choreography. The concept of putting different talents together to create a project like this is wonderful and I hope to improve my skills as a musician and creative.”
Orla Hardie
PRODUCING MENTORSHIP
Orla is a dance artist and choreographer, now doing a Mentorship with us in Producing, supported by Anna Holmes.
Since completing an her training at The Place and an apprenticeship with Scottish Dance Theatre, Orla has been touring with Tom Dale Company alongside producing and performing her own work. Her most recent work ‘SKUMO’ premiered at The Place early this year and has gone on to be programmed for Brighton Fringe as part of FEAST: A Triple Bill which Orla is co-producing.
Orla says:
”I am very excited and grateful for this mentorship. I feel like it’s come along just as I’ve needed it and I feel almost giddy to be able to work with Anna- she’s such an inspiring artist and human! I know I’m going to learn a lot in the safe hands of Northern Rascals.”
Mairead Rutter
CHOREOGRAPHY MENTORSHIP
Mairead Rutter O’Connor is a dance artist based in Leeds, working with us on a Mentorship in Choreography with Sam Ford.
Mairead said:
"Having trained at NSCD for four years I have developed a clear artistic voice and creative practice. I would describe my practice as extremely fun, maximalist and subtly political. I am deeply curious and incredibly open; I am attracted to all things wild and wonderful while bringing the constant question of ‘what if?’ to the forefront. I am constantly looking at ways to push originality with a heavy focus on chance and its capabilities to produce mind boggling scenarios.
This mentorship is an extremely exciting opportunity for me, it’s a great opportunity to help me bridge the gap from training into professional life. As a female pursuing a career in choreography this project is the perfect fit for me. Having the opportunity to work with Sam is going to be a joy."
Elicia Yeardley
Digital Mentorship
Elicia is an inclusive practice dance artist based in Leeds, working with us on a Mentorship in Digital Design, supported by Aaron Howell.
Elicia says:
"As a neurodiverse artist, my priority in my practice is to make art for the disabled and neurodiverse community.
Over the past year I’ve been developing interactive/ multidisciplinary work to stimulate audiences and wanting to develop new skills in digital art to inform my next research phase.
This opportunity will give me a great insight to start to understand a new art form, to learn new skills and pick Aaron's brain. I love that Northern Rascals are nurturing individuals to learn new skills and bridge the gap of understanding. I’m excited to start this journey."