Our Team

A white tattooed man with brown hair and his arms crossed smiling at the camera

ROBBY GRAHAM

Robby is a director, choreographer, writer, and technologist, and Artistic Director of Southpaw Dance Company.

Since 2013, multi award-winning Southpaw Dance Company have created powerful, joyous performances, from small scale solo work to large scale outdoor spectaculars, combining absolute artistic integrity with engaging narratives which inspire and excite audiences. Infinitely versatile and virtuosic, Southpaw’s work is inspiring, thought-provoking, engaging, and full of joie de danse.

Southpaw have developed large scale performances with partners such as Hull City of Culture, LeftCoast Blackpool, Castlemaine State Festival (Australia), Freedom Festival, Cultural Spring and South Middlesbrough Council to celebrate events such as the opening of the National Centre for the Written Word, Hull City of Culture, the opening event for Castlemaine State Festival, and most recently, the opening event for Brent: London Borough of Culture 2020.

Southpaw Dance Company works under the artistic direction and unique vision of award-winning Choreographer and Director Robby Graham. Robby creates epic visual spectacle and dynamic physical storytelling sequences in which movement, music, and dialogue are seamlessly integrated.

Robby has created work across a wide number of contexts, both outdoor and in traditional theatre contexts, across the UK, Europe, South America, and Australia, and in partnership with such organisations as the National Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, Live Theatre Newcastle, Greenwich Docklands Festival and others. Robby was Choreographer and Movement Director for Marianne Elliott’s acclaimed production of Angels in America at the National Theatre.

Robby also choreographed Pericles, the National Theatre’s first Public Acts performance incorporating over 200 community cast members from all over London, as well as choreographing the large scale adaptation of Johnathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing for Greenwich Docklands Festival. Most recently Robby directed and choreographed Leave To Remain at the Lyric Hammersmith.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

A young white woman with brown hair and hazel eyes smiling into the camera

KATE PILBEAM

Kate trained on the CAT program in Newcastle and then completed the BA(Hons) Professional Dance Practice course at Dance City, Newcastle.

She has worked for Matthew Bourne’s Re:Bourne production of “Lord of the Flies” in 2014and went on to join Tavaziva as an apprentice in January 2016 for the spring tour of “Africarmen”.
She continued her studies at the post-graduate company Verve 17, and performed works on tour created by Carlos Pons Guerra, Matthias Sperling and James Cousins.

Kate has worked with Southpaw on numerous projects, “RUSH” (2017 and 2018) and “Erimus” (2018) as a dancer and dance captain, also as rehearsal and tour director on “Carousel” (2018) and “Icarus” (2018).

Kate moved to Italy in 2019 and worked with Compagnia Iris for “Su i nostri viso silvani” and Free Event for F1 “Ferrari1000” at Mugello. She had her first solo creation for Pilbeam Dance in 2020, which was featured at WAM Festival 2021.

In more recent years, she returned to work with Southpaw on “RUSH” Leicester 2022 and “This Is Us: The power of Performance” for the Rugby League World Cup . Kate has now taken on the role as Creative Coordinator at Southpaw.

CREATIVE CO-ORDINATOR

A brown haired white woman looking at something under a lamp

LORNA FULTON

Lorna Fulton is a cultural leader and programme director with over 30 years’ experience in leading organisations to deliver high profile cultural programmes and festivals. This has included leading the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad in the North East, Festival Director for SO Festival, Skegness, Creative Director of Creative Partnerships Durham/Sunderland, Head of Middlesbrough Town Hall, Creative Producer of Enchanted Parks and Co-Artistic Director of Durham Brass Festival.

Most recently, Lorna was CEO/Creative Director of Art Reach, an arts charity in Leicester, leading long term business and artistic plans with a vision to deliver festivals and programmes which bring together partners, artists and communities to explore contemporary social issues.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

CREATIVE COLLABORATORS

  • KATY FULLER/PINWHEEL PRODUCTIONS

    CREATIVE PRODUCER OUTDOOR

    Katy is Director of Pinwheel Productions, who produce Southpaw’s large scale outdoor productions.

  • Young white woman with brown hair looking into the camera seriously

    RACHEL BIRCH/MOVING ART MANAGEMENT

    PRODUCER INDOOR

    Rachel is director of Moving Art Management who produce Southpaw’s indoor touring work such as Speakeasy.

  • A young white man with brown hair looks into the camera

    PAUL TRICKETT ANIMATION

    ANIMATOR

    Paul Trickett is an artist and creative technologist living and working in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. He has skills in the fields of 3D and 2D animation & VFX.

  • White man with glasses smiles into the distance in front of trees

    RUPERT STAMP/STAMP IMMERSIVE

    IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGIST

    Rupert has collaborated with Southpaw to produce their very own Augmented Reality App allowing users to watch 3D performances from Southpaw Productions in your homes, as well as prototyping a new type of show mixing AR and live performance in ACEDIA here

  • black futuristic logo reading PROTO

    TOM SCARBOROUGH/ PROTO

    ADVANCED MEDIA PRODUCTION

    Located in Gateshead, North East England, PROTO is the first digital production facility of its kind in Europe. We partner with animators, film makers and games developers to help them create exciting and meaningful digital content. We offer 3Dcharacter, motion and audio capture in one unique place.

  • blue logo with N inside two diagonal lines

    NOVAK

    DIGITAL MEDIA DESIGN

    NOVAK is an innovative creative studio specialising in digital media design and production tailored for expansive immersive experiences, with a portfolio spanning across museums, galleries, visitor attractions, and serves as focal points for numerous cultural events and brand experiences.

    NOVAK’s work has been commissioned by the likes of Bloomberg, Trinity College Dublin, Tyne and Wear Museum & Archives, Google, MTV, BBC Studios, Virgin Media, and has featured at internationally renowned festivals including Edinburgh International Festival, Lumiere, Brighton Festival and Light Night Leeds.here

  • white man with a moustache and goatee stares into the camera

    JOHN RAINSFORTH

    LIGHTING DESIGNER

    John is a graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama 2011, now specialising in lighting design for theatre and dance. 

    Some of John’s recent credits include;

    “Nutcracker on Ice” Italy, “Aladdin” Croydon, “Cinderella: A Fairytale” Northern Stage, “Speakeasy” UK Tour, “Peter Pan On Ice” UAE Tour, “Swan Lake on Ice” Italy, “Some Enchanted Evening” Barn Theatre & Tour “Brotherhood” Alphabetti Theatre, and “Soapbox Racer” Alphabetti Theatre. 

     In 2023, John was honoured to be nominated for Broadway World’s Best Lighting Design for his work on Reading Rep’s “Shakespeare’s R&J.” 

  • White blonde haired woman with hazel eyes looks into the camera

    REBECCA BROWER

    DESIGNER

    Rebecca is an award-winning UK based Production and Stage Designer working in Live Events, Theatre, Immersive Theatre and Ceremonies. In 2012 Rebecca was on the design team for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games leading her to continue to collaborate with some of the biggest Live Event companies in the world. Rebecca specializes in designing for Immersive Theatre only recently opening Peaky Blinders: The Rise to five star reviews in the heart of London in collaboration with the BBC. Rebecca studied Theatre Design at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. At the end of 2022 Rebecca designed the touring Ceremony ‘This is Us’ for The Rugby League World Cup 2021.

  • Brown person with dark hair and brown eyes looks into camera

    ROMA YAGNIK

    FILM COMPOSER

    Roma Yagnik is an award-winning UK based composer working in film (feature and short form), animation, advertising, television and theatre. Her diverse client list includes BBC, Sky/ SATV, EMI, Universal Music, Unicef, PLAN International, Tottenham Hotspur, Tate Britain and the British Library as well as some of the brightest independent film talent around. 

    ​Scoring to picture is Roma's greatest love however she also enjoys writing for some great libraries including SATV, Universal Production Music, EMI and Cavendish Music with music regularly featured on channels including UK Terrestrials, HBO, Sky Atlantic, FX, Amazon Prime Video, NBC, TBS, Discovery Channel and National Geographic. 

    ​

DANCERS

  • white woman with a sharp brown bob looks into camera

    ALICIA MEEHAN

    COMPANY DANCER

    Alicia Meehan is a Dance Artist living and working in Newcastle, as a choreographer, performer and movement director. After completing her BA in Performance, she gained an MA in Creative Practise at Laban in 2013. Since then, Alicia has developed her artistry through national touring, festivals and performances on stage and screen. To date she has been involved in projects at Live Theatre, Southpaw Dance, Company K, Company of Others, Joelene English, Paradox Pictures, Lo-Giudice Rory Studios, Creative Seed and Curious LGBTQ+I festival amongst others. ⁣

  • a brown woman with curly hair and brown eyes looks into camera

    DANIELLA MAY

    COMPANY DANCER

    Daniella May, originally from Leeds, gained her degree from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. She has toured nationally and internationally working with companies such as: Zoo Nation, on their production Message In A Bottle, Idris Elba’s and Kwame Kwei-Armah’s production ‘Tree’ and Stomp on their West End production. As well as Company K, Grounded Movement, Uchenna Dance, Tavaziva Dance and Southpaw Dance Company on many of their productions. Daniella is looking forward to be performing and touring Speakeasy.⁣

  • brown man with curly black hair, brown eyes and moustache looks into camera

    GAVIN L VINCENT

    COMPANY DANCER

    Gavin Vincent is a dance and movement artist with a strong foundation in breaking and martial arts, coupled with skills in stage & screen combat, technical rigging and aerial wire work techniques. He most recently worked in a principal role within the ZooNation/Sadler’s Wells production Message In A Bottle, and with Wired Aerial Theatre in performative and technical roles for the Bregenz Festival Production of Rigoletto and ME vs ME. He’s also worked on Apologue 2047 at the Beijing Opera House, GQ magazine, MOBO’s, Avant Garde Dance and worked on commercial productions with companies such as EGG Films, and Cirque Bijou.

  • a white man with brown hair and eyes with a hoop earring looks into camera

    CHRISTIAN PAUL

    COMPANY DANCER

    Christian Paul, born in 1994, is a professional dancer and performer.
    He specialized in urban dances like popping, waving and locking and did his contemporary study at the Folkwang University of Arts in Germany.
    He worked as a guest at the Tanztheater Wuppertal (Pina Bausch Company) and has worked as a freelancer in many different projects.

  • black man with black hair tied up, brown eyes and a beard is smiling at the camera

    DZIKAMAI W MUDAMBURI

    COMPANY DANCER

    Dzikamai Mudamburi, born in Zimbabwe and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, is a 24 year old dance artist and performer with a background in Hip Hop dance. Dzikamai has recently completed his MA with The Collective, Dance City Training Academy’s second cohort, which included training in Physical theatre, Contemporary and Ballet technique, also working closely with Mischief Company, Alleyne Dance and Southpaw Company. Dzikamai has also worked closely with Patrick Ziza Dance, and has performed and taught internationally with Southern California based performing arts company, The Young Americans. ⁣

  • white blonde haired woman with blue eyes and makeup on is smiling at the camera

    LISA ROBINSON

    COMPANY DANCER

    Lisa Marie Robinson, who grew up in the small town of Newton Aycliffe, is a contemporary dance artist. 

    Lisa began her training at DanceCity CAT in Newcastle and continued her training gaining her BA Degree in Ballet and Contemporary Dance at Rambert School, London. 

    During Lisa's MA (Contemporary Dance) as part of Emergence; Joss Arnott’s postgraduate company, she worked with Flockworks, Anthony Missen and Joss Arnott in a national tour. She's also worked alongside Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures (Youth Cast), Shobana Jeyasingh, Alleyne Dance, and Darren Ellis. 

  • a non binary dancer with brown hair and blue eyes is looking at the camera

    ZE KING

    COMPANY APPRENTICE

    ZE is a contemporary dance artist who works across performance, creation and access consultancy. After their BA(Contemporary Dance) at LCDS they've danced for choreographers such as Anders Duckworth and Alexandra Most recently they choreographed 'KITSCH' in collaboration with BA1 students at The Place following their recent run of works, ‘Anti/thesis I-III’, in collaboration with composer Alex Groves (@alexgroves_).

    Alongside this ZE consults on access and dismantling neurotypical ways of working to create inclusive yet innovative spaces within dance and dance education (LCDS, Truefitt Collective)

  • white woman with red hair and grey blue eyes is smiling at the camera

    JENNIE FRASER

    COMPANY APPRENTICE

    Jennie graduated from The Scottish School of Contemporary Dance before continuing her MA through Northern School of Contemporary Dance. She has worked with choreographers such as Mathew Hawkins, Thomas Small and, John Ross and had her graduate solo further developed by Scottish Dance Theatre and Dundee Rep. Jennie has a keen interest in storytelling and collaborating across artforms.