About Katie
Katie is a Midlands based Artist and Creative Producer. She is passionate about providing opportunity to emerging artists and supporting children and young people to access the arts and cultural sector.
She embeds a co-created strategy in her work, particularly across community settings to deepen engagement, access and opportunity.
ABOUT
After a number of years training and performing in contemporary dance, Katie made the decision that her passion lay in supporting others to perform and achieve their own ambitions, working behind the scenes rather than in the spotlight.
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She trained in Performing Arts at De Montfort University, Leicester, specialising in Arts Management, Contemporary Practices and Emerging Technologies. Graduating with a First class BA (Hons), she emerged at the same moment the pandemic hit, putting a pause on the vast majority of the sector. Instead of surrendering, Katie grabbed this moment by the horns and sought out digital opportunities that were the first of their kind.
The role she considers as her first 'professional' position came at this moment, working as a leader on the production team of #DanceConnect; a digital enquiry that discovered what collaboration was possible in a digital context across styles, lead by DanceXchange and Arts Connect.
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Following this, Katies work escalated extremely quickly. She moved from Operations Assistant at Big Difference Company to Assistant Producer for ArtLincs Festival of Creativity, and then Producer at Creative Academies Network, leading on the HomeGrown31 programme. During this period Katie also secured several of her own commissions from China Plate Theatre, Warwick Arts Centre and Creative Black Country, working with various communities for artistic projects.
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During her work with Creative Academies Network, Katie made the decision to go freelance in order to pursue her own passions and drive change in the sector. Since then, she has worked with numerous high profile organisations such as Imagineer Productions, Arts Connect, and The National Trust, and continues to strive to create opportunities for emerging artists and support children and young people to access arts and culture.
Katie also works as a creative artists across various art forms. She enjoys bringing an interdisciplinary approach, combining physical theatre, creative writing, spoken word, dance and emerging technologies as her specialisms.
Katies creative work has seen her gain several artistic commissions through her professional career. This began at China Plate Theatres First Bite and Bitesize Festivals in 2019, where she performed 'On This Day' with theatre company Turkey and Cranberry Sauce Collective.
In 2020, Katie was commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre to create a digital piece of work, 'Patchworks', as part of the national initiative 'It Gets Lighter From Here'.
This was followed by several commissions from Creative Black Country; 'Pop-Up Lives' featured as part of the Offsite9 programme 2021-22 and 'This is Our Home' was produced as part of Dudley Creates in 2022.
Katie is also the Artistic Director for DeMontfort Universities Physical Theatre School, which takes place each summer.
She is currently working on her latest commission from Solihull MBC, which will tell the stories of communities in Solihull in a creative writing zine.
I am very proud to say I have a fantastic network of people surrounding me, championing my work, connecting me with opportunities and pushing me to develop.
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Much of my career I owe to the fabulous Amy Dalton-Hardy, who has remained my cheerleader from the very start. Amy introduced me to the professional sector by inviting me onto the Motionhouse Youth Board when I was just 19. This was really the springboard for opportunities in my life, getting my name into the mix of professionals who had been at it for years.
I was then introduced to the Dance Development Leaders Group (DDLG); a network comprised of over 70 dance professionals from core funded and project funded organisations as well as independents, working in all parts of the region.
The group introduced me to independent Artistic Director Orit Azaz, who I also owe much of my success to. Orit has brought me on board with several projects, also introducing me to Imagineer Productions through our collaboration on Imagine Bamboo.
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I am keen to continue the legacy of connection within the industry, advocating for collaboration rather than competition. If I can be of any help with this, please get in touch.
