General Manager

Reasonably settled into my role as Candoco’s General Manager, I can cautiously claim there is little, now, that surprises me.  From responding graciously to random phone calls, such as “GIVE ME YOUR ADDRESS!”, to convincing UK Borders Agency inspectors that “yes, this little office really is the only office Candoco operates from and there really aren’t hundreds of employees hiding in the cupboard,” the role is as varied as it is busy.

My path to Candoco has been equally varied. Following secondary education in the Netherlands and a degree in languages, I did an apprenticeship with Springs Dance Company, which awakened my love of contemporary dance. A couple of years later, in 2007, I graduated from Laban with a Postgraduate Certificate in Dance in Community and then, in 2010, finished a Postgraduate Certificate in Physical Theatre with Jasmin Vardimon Company at RHUL. For a while I practiced as a community dance artist alongside administrating arts projects. Candoco was already then an inspiration for my own dance practice and I feel privileged now to return the favour through my work as General Manager.

One of my first experiences of contemporary dance was watching Nederlands Dans Theater in Amsterdam and being stunned by the NDT dancers and Jiri Kylian’s choreography. Since then, other works that I have particularly enjoyed are Alvin Ailey’s ‘Revelations’, Pina Bausch’s ‘Café Muller’ and Jasmin Vardimon’s ‘Park’.

What never ceases to move me, though, is seeing young people achieve amazing things in dance. Besides of course being excited to see more of Candoco’s new and impressive works, I also look forward to seeing more of the beautiful work Cando2 produce.