Eva Martinez is a performing arts curator, dramaturge and leadership coach, most recently Artistic Programmer and Head of Artist Development at Sadler’s Wells (2013-2020) where she curated a distinctive programme introducing new names and perspectives to the the-atre, supporting a new generation of dance artists often undervalued. She is French of Spanish heritage and has lived in the UK for the past 20 years. She was Dance and Per-formance programmer at Southbank Centre, London and worked at Dance4 (Nottingham, now FABRIC) and Trinity Laban, London earlier in her career. She is a sought-after collab-orator within an extended international network and is known for her inclusive, facilitative approach, championing experimentation, equity and social justice.

Notable collaborations include dramaturgy for Siobhan Davies, Candoco Dance Company Astrid Boons (Netherlands/Belgium), Alexandra Waierstall (Cyprus/Germany) and the UK Akshay Sharma , Ella Mesma and Akeim Toussaint Buck. She curated the Reckonings triple bill at Sadler’s Wells (2018) launching on the large scale Botis Seva (Far From the Norm), Alesandra Seutin (Vocab Dance) and Jules Cunningham; she curated Boris Charmatz at Tate Modern and at Sadler’s Wells for the first time, as well as initiated the partnership with Indian Classical festival Darbar & Akram Khan amongst many other new development for the theatre. And she co-directed Sadler’s Wells Summer University with Jonathan Burrows, piloting the current Rose Choreographic School.

Eva is a certified Relational Dynamics coach since 2012 and certified as an ICF coach with One of Many for women/female identifying leaders in 2021. She is a Clore Leadership Fel-low (2011/12), the chair of Pagrav Dance Company (Urja Desai Thakore) and a Trustee for FABRIC in the Midlands. Her working language is English and is she is fluent in Spanish and French. Preferred pronouns are she/her.

Image credit: Camilla Greenwell

John is a Birmingham based finance professional with a range of experience including corporate finance, audit and accounting and most recently was a partner with EY in their Birmingham office working with high growth and entrepreneurial businesses in the region.

Originally from Leeds, John lived in Nottingham for a number of years and has lived and worked in Birmingham for the last 35 years. John has lived in Harborne for the last 20 years and in addition to the arts enjoys golf, tennis and cricket.

Monique graduated from Northumbria University with a degree in Estate Management before qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor in 1998. She started her career working for Marston’s as an Estates Surveyor before moving to an area manager role looking after an estate of public houses.

She has worked for a number of property consultancies in Birmingham specialising in the hospitality sector and is now Risk Management Director for Alternative Markets at Colliers International Property Consultants.

Outside of work she has been the West Midlands Regional and then National Chair of the National Association of Women in Property and has been heavily involved in the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors being West Midlands Regional Chair and also sitting on Governing Council, the over sight and strategic planning body of the institution reporting into the Privy Council.  Monique has also been a Trustee of Queen Alexandra College, Harborne a National College and Charity for people with disabilities which offers courses for young people aged 16-25yrs as well as employment focused and supported living programmes.

Monique lives in Harborne and enjoys yoga, walking her dog and socialising with friends and family as well as going to the theatre and of course watching dance performances.

Pete Shenton has been working as a dance artist, comedy performer, deviser, writer, director, and teacher since 1994.  He is one half of the pioneering comedy dance theatre makers New Art Club, with whom he has been presenting groundbreaking performances nationally and internationally since 2001.  Their shows have been made for and performed in a huge variety of contexts and venues from small pubs, school playing fields, major international dance and comedy festivals, opera houses, football stadiums, and theatres.  Their work has been translated for performance into French and Mandarin.

He is a Senior Lecturer in Dance and Acting and is at De Montfort University. He is currently working on his PhD by Professional Experience, exploring the concepts of being and play in the context of the collaborative creative process and performance of New Art Club.

Pete is resident director and writer for Unanima Theatre, who devise and perform work based on the lived experience of the company members, all of whom have learning and or developmental disabilities.

He has worked on various theatre projects as a director/choreographer/movement director, including for Curve Theatre, Derby Theatres, Spark Arts, Bamboozle and Laurie Lorry. He works regularly as a mentor/artistic advisor/dramaturg with a wide variety of artists and companies, including recently with choreographers J Neve Harrington and Rita Marcalo and early years dance company Turned on its Head.

He lives in Leicester with his partner, two grown-up children, and their moderately well-trained dog. In his spare time, he likes to attend live music gigs and has the dubious pleasure of being a fan of Leicester City FC and Leicestershire County Cricket Club.

Richard is a Nottingham-based architect who is a co-founder and Practice Partner of Urban Fabric Architects, an award-winning practice with a particular interest and expertise in cultural, community, education and regeneration projects. He also teaches architecture to post-graduate students at the University of Nottingham.  He recently further qualified as an Accredited Conservation Architect, and has carried out conservation and refurbishment works on many heritage assets throughout the UK.

Through this time he has won many design awards, and has developed industry-wide recognition for his skills as an architect, design champion, conference speaker, writer, technical advisor, RIBA assessor, awards judge, and professional mentor. He designed the Academy of St Francis of Assisi in Liverpool, which was described by the Independent newspaper as ‘Britain’s Greenest School’ and Perthcelyn Primary School which was long-listed for the Stirling Prize.  He is a Design Review Expert Panellist for both Design:Midlands and the Design Commission for Wales.

He has a strong interest in environmental issues, and his design work is highly informed by extensive community engagement and a keen response to place. He has a particularly interest in post-war modern architecture, and is an active member of the 20^th Century Society.

Richard was born in London, and studied and practiced architecture in Cardiff, before moving to Nottingham in recent years.

Shirley Lundstram is Head of Development at The Lowry in Salford, bringing over 25 years of leadership experience across the arts, heritage, and local government sectors. She has spearheaded regional and national programmes that have supported creative organisations through significant challenges—including the Covid-19 pandemic—and has worked with major initiatives and organisations such as Leeds Dance Partnership, Northern Ballet, Salford City Council, BBC Philharmonic, and Cause4.

With a foundation in theatre and dance, Shirley is committed to mentoring and empowering the next generation of artists and cultural leaders through voluntary work. She is a Fellow of the RSA and her recent freelance consultancy work includes projects with Dance City, Initiative Arts – A Voice for Queer Stories, Handmade Productions, Manchester Museum Partnership, Manchester Youth Music Hub, and Mark Bruce Dance Company.