A key figure in the performing arts, with a specialisation in dance, Assis Carreiro is an international cultural entrepreneur working for over four decades with individuals and organisations around the globe.

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Passion, energy, commitment and a thirst for developing and nurturing talent and innovative creative initiatives & partnerships have made her a respected key player in the national and international cultural scene.

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From 2012-2014, Assis was Artistic Director of Royal Ballet Flanders, where she rejuvenated the award-winning company, with a merger with the Flemish Opera and the development of new repertoire.

Assis was Artistic Director & Chief Executive of DanceEast from 2000–2012. She led the organisation through a period of reorganisation and expansion. Her legacy there is the iconic Jerwood DanceHouse on the Ipswich waterfront.

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Her career also spans recent experience in government as Cultural Strategist for the High Commission of Canada, London. There she produced the now annual Pitch Series at the Edinburgh Fringe for Canadian Artists and also created the New Conversations programme supporting Canadian and UK artists in partnership with the British Council, Farnham Maltings and Canada Council.  Assis has also served as Director of Culture for the Delegation du Quebec in London.

During 1998/99 Assis was dance programmer at DasTAT in Germany for William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt. From 1994-96, she was founding Artistic Director of DanceXchange in Birmingham and went on to work for Wayne McGregor|Random Dance and as Fund Raising Executive at The Place. Prior to moving to the UK in 1994, Assis was Director of Education, Community Outreach and Publications for the National Ballet of Canada .

Assis was born on the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores, Portugal, and raised in Canada and has lived in Europe since 1994. She studied ballet and dance for many years and holds a BA (Honours) from Canada’s York University and an MA (Distinction) from Surrey University in Guildford. 

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She holds an Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law from Suffolk College, University of East Anglia and is a Trustee of English National Ballet School and Eastern Angles Theatre Company in Suffolk.  

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In 2014  Assis was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours for her services to dance.

Assis lives with her husband in Mistley, England. Away from the desk, she spends a lot of time in theatres and art galleries and in the Pilates studio and loves to read and travel the globe. 

Ted Brandsen (Kortenhoef, 1959) has been artistic director of Dutch National Ballet since 2003. His leadership ushered in a new heyday for the company, which now ranks among the top leading ballet companies in the world. Brandsen’s initiatives include rejuvenating the full-length repertoire, introducing new world-class choreographers, distributing performances more widely throughout the Netherlands and increasing the company’s appearances at major international venues. In 2013, in collaboration with the National Ballet Academy, he initiated the foundation of the Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company, which bridges the gap between dance training and professional practice.

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Following a late start at the Scapino Dance Academy, Brandsen joined Dutch National Ballet as a dancer in 1981, where he stood out particularly in the works by contemporary choreographers. After creating various pieces for Dutch National Ballet’s annual choreographic workshop and for other companies, he stopped dancing in 1991 and started working as a freelance choreographer. His first ‘official’ work for Dutch National Ballet, Four Sections, was a great success in the same year. In the years that followed, he created work for several Dutch and international dance companies and festivals. In 1998, he was appointed artistic director of West Australian Ballet, where he created a great many ballets, including Carmen (2000, Australian Dance Award) and Pulcinella (2001).

In 2002, Brandsen was invited to return to Dutch National Ballet, initially in the position of assistant artistic director and in 2003 as artistic director. Since then, Brandsen has created Body (2004), Stealing Time (2006), Raï (2013), Replay (2014), Classical Symphony (2020) and other works, as well as the full-length productions Coppelia (2008) and Mata Hari (2016). Brandsen’s work is in the repertoire of many companies abroad. He is also in great demand as a jury member for awards like the prestigious Prix de Lausanne, the Fedora Prize for Ballet, the Dance Open and the international Benois de la Danse awards, which are also known as the ‘Oscars of dance’.

 

In 2014, Stichting Dansersfonds ’79 presented Brandsen with the Merit Award. Four years later, the Dansersfonds dedicated their twenty-first ballet gala to him, in recognition of his important work for Dutch National Ballet. In October 2019, the Mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema presented artistic director Ted Brandsen with the Amsterdam Prize for Art, in the category ‘Proven Quality’.

Susannah has over 25 years experience working in dance, beginning her career at Sadler's Wells and then at DanceEast, Jerwood DanceHouse for 20 years.

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She worked directly with Assis, who at that time was Artistic Director & Chief Executive, on the strategy and execution of the Capital Campaign for the multi-million pound appeal to build a new Dance House on the Ipswich Waterfront. 

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Susannah also project managed the Rural Retreats Programme, a series of international think tanks supporting dance leadership for existing and future Artistic Directors; three ChoreoLabs for The
National Centre for Choreography established at the DanceHouse; Britten Dances, a joint production with the Royal Ballet, Royal Ballet Flanders and Aldeburgh Music and Snape Dances, an international dance series at Snape Maltings Concert Hall.

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In more recent years, she was responsible for the delivery of DanceEast's  professional dance performances in and beyond the Dance House and for overseeing the professional development of dance artists including the Associate Artists’ Scheme.

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Since 2020, Susannah has been working as a Freelance Company Administrator and Project Manager for choreographers, designers and composers and supporting national and international arts projects, including work with Yorke Dance Project, Martha Graham Dance Company, English National Ballet, McNicol Ballet Collective and K2CO.

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Susannah is a graduate of UWE and lives with her family in Ipswich, Suffolk, England.  Aside from work and theatre trips, she loves travelling, long coastal walks, spin classes and yoga.