People
Marc Brew (Artistic Director/Choreographer/Dancer)
Internationally acclaimed choreographer Marc Brew trained as a professional dancer at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and The Australian Ballet School. He has been working in the UK and Internationally for the past 19 years as a director, choreographer, dancer, teacher and speaker; with the Australian Ballet Company, State Theatre Ballet Company of South Africa, Infinity Dance Theatre, CandoCo Dance Company and as Associate Director with Scottish Dance Theatre and Guest Artistic Director with AXIS Dance Company. Since 2008 Marc has been dedicating time to his own choreography with Marc Brew Company and is currently Associate Artistic Director with Ballet Cymru in Wales and was Associate Artist in 2015 at Tramway Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland where he is now based. Recent choreographic commissions include Scottish Ballet, Ballet Cymru, AXIS Dance Company (USA), Candoco Dance Company (UK), Touch Compass (NZ), Amy Seiwert’s Imagery (USA), GDance, Scottish Dance Theatre, Greewnwich & Docklands International Festival and City of London Festival (UK). Marc was featured by Time Out Magazine as the best of the new breed of London’s Rising Dance Talent and was presented with a Centenary Medal for Outstanding Contribution as a dancer and choreographer. His work Remember When was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Best Performance (individual) and his recent solo work For Now, I am… was listed in the Guardians Top 10 Dance Shows for 2016.
Marc has worked extensively with other integrated and non-integrated dance companies in New Zealand, Australia, America and Europe. Read more about Marc
Susan Hay (Producer)
Susan is well respected in the Arts sector for supporting and managing artists, and has presented dance internationally, both as a producer and choreographer/dancer. She has diverse experience in project management and production and was Dance/Quality Officer for Scottish Arts Council/Creative Scotland. Susan trained as a dancer and has choreographed and toured internationally. She is also an experienced dance photographer.
Melanie Wilson (Marc’s P.A.)
Mel has been Marc’s PA/Support Worker for 7 years and ensures Marc’s access requirements are met while touring, checking the accessibility of accommodation, theatres, venues and transport. She also helps behind the scenes with props during performance and rehearsals and provides some administrative support for the company. Mel has previously worked in event management and occasionally performs with a fire and dance troupe.
Joe Hornsby (Lighting Designer/Technical Manager)
Joe provides production management and lighting design in collaboration with a collection of theatre and dance companies.
Recent production management credits include Without Stars & There We Have Been (James Cousins Company, UK & International tours), Varmints (Sadlers Wells/Traveling Light, UK tour). For Shams Theatre: Thin Ice (UK tour); Reykjavik (UK tour). For Company Chameleon: Pictures We Make & Eden (UK tour); Gameshow (UK tour). For Marc Brew Company: Fusional Fragments (Royal Opera House); Nocturne (UK tour). Also LIFT & In Control (Theatre Venture), Maggie’s End (Gut Reaction).
Recent lighting design credits include ‘K’ & Subliminal Effects (Pell Ensemble, The Place), Balloon (Carolyn Defryn, Chelsea Theatre), Nocturne & Remember When (Marc Brew Dance, UK tour), Jack and the Beanstalk (Shaw Theatre), Kerry Ellis – On The Edge (UK tour), Elegies (Shaw Theatre), Up and Over It (Puck, UK & European tour), The Joy of Politics (Black Sheep, UK tour), Heartbreak Beautiful (National Theatre Olivier).
Joe holds a first class honours degree in Drama and Theatre Arts from Goldsmiths, University of London.
Jools Walls (Production Manager)
Jools graduated from Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh and has worked in theatre and events for over 20years. She has toured Britain extensively with various companies, such as Traverse Theatre, Borderline Theatre, Cumbernauld Theatre, English Touring Theatre, Visible Fictions, SNAP People’s Theatre, Red Ladder and TAG. She was Company Manager on the very first ‘Balamory Live!’ Arena Tour. Jools was also Production Manager for Fringe Sunday for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for 7years. Event experience includes Edinburgh & Glasgow Hogmanay, BIG in Falkirk, Glasgow Art Fair and The Gathering Clan Pageant. Previously, Jools worked on ‘White Gold’ at the Sugar Sheds in Greenock for Iron Oxide and the Opening Ceremony for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Jools secretly wants to be a stunt driver!
Graeme Smillie (Lead Musician – BREWBAND)
Graeme Smillie has extensive touring and recording experience with acts including Arab Strap, Olympic Swimmers, Emma Pollock, The Vaselines, The Unwinding Hours, Karine Polwart, Inge Thomson’s Da Hands, Sons & Daughters, Idlewild, Lord Cut Glass, A Mote Of Dust and The Fruit Tree Foundation for the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. He has also played for theatre and screen through Sigma Films, National Theatre of Scotland, Scottish Opera and Random Accomplice.
Peter Kelly (Drummer – BREWBAND)
Peter Kelly has been performing for roughly 13 years for various bands and acts, including Galchen, Union of knives, Moon Unit, Jonnie Common, Song of Return, Marnie, Owl John, Bdy_Prts and The Kills. He was also involved in Rapunzel at Citizen’s Theatre in 2016 and was a ‘sound carrier’ for Damo Suzukis (Can) improvisational project back in 2010.
Marta Masiero (Dancer – BREWBAND)
Marta Masiero combined her dance training with Humanities studies in Literature and Philosophy. She graduated with a first class honours degree at London Contemporary Dance School and joined Scottish Dance Theatre as an apprentice under the direction of Janet Smith. Since working as a freelancer Marta has been involved in a wide diversity of dance projects around the UK performing nationally and internationally.
Rob Heaslip (Dancer – BREWBAND & (i)land)
Rob Heaslip is a contemporary dance artist working in both The U.K. and Ireland. Prior to his contemporary training, Rob was a member of The National Folk Theatre of Ireland and earned a BA in Languages and Cultural Studies as well as a MA in Contemporary Performance. He later completed 3 years of professional training at The Scottish School of Contemporary Dance.
As a maker, key works created include FREAGRA | A Blurred Expanse, MEITHEAL, RÁS, 2-1-2, That Sweetest Moment. Key collaborations include Wunderbar and You and Me, and You with Laura Murphy, and dance film Strange Attractors with film-maker Marie Liden.
Throughout his career Rob has performed with Irish Modern Dance Theatre, David Hughes Dance Productions Gary Clarke, Angus Balbernie, Flesh Collective, Untitled Productions, Mary Nunan, Charles Lenihan, Cindy Cummings, Kylie Walters, and Tanja Liedtke.
This is the second time Rob has joined Marc Brew Company, having previously toured the UK as part of (i)land.
Jill O’Sullivan (Musician – BREWBAND)
Jill O’Sullivan (BDY_PRTS, Sparrow And The Workshop) is a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter based in Glasgow. Initially trained as a classical violinist, Jill was attracted to folk, rock and pop and joined her first band at age 19. She taught herself guitar and began writing her own songs shortly thereafter. She’s been in numerous bands and collaborated on a wide variety of projects in addition to teaching and mentoring young, aspiring musicians (Chen19’s SoundLan for young producers in 2013 & Beatroute Arts in Balarnock, Glasgow. She has written a song for “Sports Day”, a play that ran for two weeks at the Citizens Theatre in 2014 and was a contributor to 2010’s Fruit Tree Foundation.
Alice Sheppard (Dancer – BREWBAND)
Alice Sheppard was dared to dance. Her first dance class was with AXIS Dance Company in Oakland. She went on to study with Kitty Lunn in New York before making her dance debut with Infinity Dance Theater. She later joined AXIS Dance Company as a company member and teaching artist, where she met Marc Brew.
Alex McCabe (Rehearsal Director – BREWBAND)
Alex entered the dance industry initially as a collaborating professional musician (violin, percussion, piano, voice), before beginning full-time dance training in 2012. He was awarded Scotland’s competitive post-graduate DEBS (Dancers Emerging Bursary Scheme) through Dance Base (Edinburgh) 2013-5. Since this period Alex has worked nationally (dancing with Curious Seed, V/DA, Luke Pell, Merav Israel, Matthew Hawkins and others) and internationally, as a choreographer, assistant choreographer and dancer in numerous operatic productions (Wexford Festival Opera, Teatro Regio, Teatro del Maggio, where his dual understanding of both music and dance proves particularly productive. Since 2015, an ongoing choreographic collaboration with Riccardo Olivier has produced two multi-disciplinary works in progress, premiering winter 2017. Extensive long-term collaborations with broad-ranging inclusive community and education projects in both dance and music (notably with Paragon and Scottish Opera) inform all aspects of Alex’s practice. In 2016, Alex collaboratively instigated and secured funding for the Mirabilia Scotland Focus, which took a large convoy of Scottish-based artists and industry representatives to a prominent Italian festival to showcase work and exchange knowledge towards fostering connective cultures of interdisciplinarity and inclusion. Alex holds an MA and PhD from the University of Glasgow, specialising in intercultural cross-fertilisations and translations within the arts.
Paul Gallagher (Sound Engineer – BREWBAND)
Based in Glasgow, Paul cut his teeth learning sound at the legendary Glasgow Barfly before it was closed in the late 00’s. As well as working as a freelance sound engineer Paul engineers at Glenwood Studio, a recording facility in Castlemilk Youth Complex, Glasgow. The studio is operated as a Social Enterprise and Brewband recently recorded the music from their shows here.
Andy Hamer (Lighting Designer – For Now, I am…)
Training: BA Hons in Fine Art, Sculpture, Cheltenham College and The École des Beaux-Arts, Lyon.
MA Scenography, Central St Martins and at the avant-garde Czech Theatre & Opera Design School, Prague
Hamer has established a distinctive style of working mostly within the genres of contemporary dance and site specific performance, creating architectural forms in space using light and projection.
Hamers practice stretches across a range of formats, and supports projects in the role of Scenographer, lighting designer and production management. Past work has included working with classical music, ballet, contemporary dance, theatre, contemporary circus theatre, inclusive dance companies, disabled dance companies, site specific and intergenerational work as well as youth theatre, children’s theatre and intergenerational work.
Some of these companies and choreographers have included: Louise Kateraga’s – Foot in Hand, (Place Prize semi finalist) commissions for The Royal Ballet; The BBC Elstree Concert Band; Adesola Akinleye, Hiromi Ishikawa; Chisato Minamimura; Daniel Vice; Sherman Cymru; National Theatre Wales; Citrus Arts; Sound Affairs, Oily Cart; Theatre Ffynnon; Bombastic; Sean Tuan John and an ongoing working practice with Sweetshop Revolution.
Hamer has previously worked with Marc Brew on a number of projects including the well reviewed work Fusional Fragments with Dame Evlyn Glenie
Jamie Wardrop (Visual Projections – For Now, I am…)
Jamie Wardrop’s arts practice encompasses music, theatre, film and digital animation. He trained as an actor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
He work primarily using the techniques of a VJ or live video artist in diverse settings.
His VJ work includes the critically acclaimed design for Beats by Kieran Hurley. Beats won Best New Play at the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland in 2012 and Jamie went on to tour with the production to major UK venues in 2013. In 2014 he created outdoor video and sound installations for Electric Glen in Rouken Glen Park, Glasgow. As a composer and video designer he was part of Macbheatha – a Gaelic translation of Shakespeare’s classic as part of Made In Scotland’s programme at the fringe. He is a resident VJ for Soma Record’s Pressure at the Arches, Glasgow where he VJs for some of the biggest names in techno. He was commissioned to create a live visual set for Glasgow band errors at The Arches Referendum Party utilising source material from the Scottish Screen Archive.
Claire McCue (Composer – For Now, I am…)
Born in Glasgow, Claire studied composition at Masters level, with Rory Boyle, at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, thanks to two generous scholarships from RCS. She graduated in 2011 with MMus Composition, with distinction, and was also awarded 3 prizes. During her final year, Claire composed a piece for PLUG 2011 at BBC Hear & Now, which was conducted by Ilan Volkov and received a BBC Radio Three broadcast. In 2012 she won the West End Chamber Music Festival composition competition and compositions have been performed by, amongst others, The Fidelio Trio, Red Note Ensemble, Musiclab, Alba Brass, The Astrid Quartet, Flercussion, Flutes En Route and Northern lights. Recent commissions & performances include a piece for The Astrid quartet with guest RSNO principal trombone Davur Juul Magnussen for the Made-In-Scotland Edinburgh Festival Series, a song for soprano and voice for the composers concert at the International Kodaly Institute Symposium in Hungary, a Capella piece for children’s choir in Ohio and a commission for SATB with solo clarinet for Old St.Paul’s church in Edinburgh. Claire has worked on composition/choreography collaborations with dancers at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Dance School of Scotland. Forthcoming performances include a collaboration with London-based visual artist Rachel Gadsden, a short film and cellist for DaDaFest International, Liverpool. Claire previously composed the music for Cube Of Curiosity with Marc Brew.
Ruth Mills (Rehearsal Director – For Now, I am…)
Ruth Mills is one of Scotland’s leading dancers and an award winning choreographer and movement director, with over twenty years experience in contemporary dance. She trained at London contemporary dance school and has toured extensively both nationally and internationally. Ruth is well known for her commitment to making dance and theatre an accessible, liberating and transformative experience for all. Ruth is on a mission to get the whole world dancing.
Rebecca Evans (Dancer – (i)land, Nocturne)
Rebecca began her dance training with Rochester City Ballet in Upstate New York. She then went on to complete a BFA in Dance at University of Iowa and a Post Graduate Degree in Dance from Laban Centre. For the last ten years Rebecca has been performing in London and Internationally with IJAD Dance Company, Ffin Dance, and Korean National Contemporary Dance Company. In 2011 Rebecca participated in Dancelines with Wayne McGregor. Rebecca is also a Founding Member of Arts Collective Europe and Artistic Director of Pell Ensemble. She is looking forward entering her 5th season with Marc Brew Company.
Artistic Director of Pell Ensemble: http://pellensemble.com
Founding Member of Arts Collective Europe: http://www.artscollectiveeurope.com/
Aaron Vickers (Dancer – (i)land)
Aaron started dancing at the age of 19 with all male youth dance company FuzzyLogic and Hampshire Youth Dance Company. He then went on to complete his dance training at Laban. During his time at Laban he performed works by many choreographers including Kerry Nichols, Marina Collard, Zoe Dimitrou and re-created works by Rudolf Laban. After completing his degree at Laban he then went on to complete his Ma in Dance Performance at Laban and tour internationally with Transitions Dance Company, performing works by Angela woodhouse, Cameron McMillan and Colin Poole, and worked with filmmaker Lucy Cash. Since training Aaron has gone on to work with Jean Abreu, Ashley Warren, ZoieLogic Dance Theatre on their tour of “ECHO”, Anthony Lo-Giudice and most recently James Cousins on the successful production of “Jealousy”. Aaron has taught extensively throughout his career both in education and to professionals and is currently teaching at The Place on their evening, youth and CAT satellite programs.
