Ruth Holdsworth  |  Interim Chief Executive

Ruth Holdsworth has been working in the arts for 20 years, and has a background in supporting radical performance and inter-disciplinary practices, spanning live art, theatre and dance across live and digital platforms. Most recently she has been Senior Producer at Chinese Arts Now, and prior to this worked for organisations including MAYK, Theatre Bristol, London International Festival of Theatre and Artsadmin. She has worked freelance with numerous artists and companies including Corali Dance Company, Thick & Tight, Impermanence Dance Theatre, Whiskey Chow, Sylvia Rimat, Liz Clarke, Tom Marshman, and Robin Deacon. 

She has worked as producer, curator and writer, and holds a PhD with Arnolfini and University of Bristol in ‘Curating Risk’, with a focus on the post-civil war practice of Lebanese artists. She is currently producing Queering Now with Whiskey Chow and Chinese Arts Now, a digital exhibition amplifying the marginalised voices of Chinese/Asian diaspora, featuring 16 Sino queer artists.

Jessica Richards  |  Operations Manager & Producer: Participation

After completing a BA (Hons) in Dance and Culture at the University of Surrey, and MA in Choreography at Trinity Laban, Jessica's passion to develop dance and participation for all continues to grow. Jessica is an experienced Creative Producer and Project Manager with a specific focus on participation and engagement in the Arts. She has assisted and developed innovative outreach programmes, created unique learning activities and has considerable experience leading participatory dance projects, performances and events across the UK and internationally working for South East Dance, Magpie Dance and Candoco Dance Company.

Jessica has significant inclusive expertise in creative teaching and learning, and is a champion for the power the arts has to transform lives, inspire young people and nurture young people’s creativity and development.

Es Morgan  |  Producer: Membership

Es (they/she) is an artist, performer, and producer whose practices draw from interests in dance, live art, writing and facilitation. They have been an artist-Member of CDS since 2015, and have worked as part of the staff team since 2018. Across all of their roles they seek to advocate for the transformative potential of artist-led models, as well as greater accountability, transparency, and justice for marginalised artists. 

Es’ performance works have been presented at venues such as Wellcome Collection, The Place, Yorkshire Dance, The Yard Theatre, Trans Pride Brighton, Vivid Project, Birmingham, & La Fete du Slip, Switzerland. Collaboration is at the heart of Es’ practice - they are a studio artist at VSSL Studio and they have co-led participatory, curatorial and discursive projects in collaboration with artists such as Charlie Ashwell, Eleanor Sikorski, Joseph Morgan Schofield and Sara Sassanelli. 

Renée Bellamy  |  Operations and Marketing Coordinator
Renée Bellamy is an interdisciplinary artist, facilitator and producer whose practice is driven by a curiosity in movement (of images, of bodies), community and documentation. She primarily works with choreography, dance, film and photography.

Renée joined CDS as a staff member in 2022. In her role as Operations Coordinator, she supports the Operations Manager in day-to-day management of Chisenhale Dance Space's studios and premises including administration.

Sam Burkett  |  Classes Coordinator

Sam (they/them) is a choreographer, performer, and dance educator who works primarily in contemporary dance, physical theatre, and comedy. They have been an artist-Member at CDS since 2019, and joined the staff team in 2022. Their choreography has been shown across the UK and in the US including at the 2018 Houston Fringe Festival (USA) where their solo, Crop Tops won the Best of Anything Goes Award.

As a dance educator, Sam works with a huge range of people from professional dancers to children to actors, teaching workshops and classes in contemporary dance technique, physical theatre, and their own research around improv comedy and dance. They are passionate about disability justice in education, and they have extensive experience working with disabled children and young people as a performing arts instructor in schools and in other arts settings.

Michael Picknett  |  Lead Technician

Michael Picknett is a composer, technician and performer specialising in music for dance, stage and film. As a composer, Michael's work explores tactility and presence in performance, and this is reflected in his sound design – often using sounds on the edge of perception, or creating moving sound through multi-speaker set-ups. 

As a technician he has worked extensively in the UK and Belgium, creating and relighting works for theatre makers, as well as running shows for scratch nights. He is the lead technician for TripSpace as well as Chisenhale. He is also a specialist in audio for film. Especially cleaning audio, composition and mixing. 

He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama gaining both a masters and a doctorate in music composition. More information can be found at: www.michaelpicknett.com

Noemi Gunea  |  Venue Assistant

Noemi Gunea is a neurodiverse Romanian performance artist based in London. She makes up half of performance duo Cheap Thrills, with whom she has shown work at the British Museum, Royal Academy of Arts, Camden People's Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre and BBC Audio Drama Awards. Her solo work has been shown at the Tate Exchange and Crypt Gallery. She has been a CDS Member since 2019, and joined the staff team as a weekend Venue Assistant in 2021.

Eve Veglio-Huner  |  Project Producer, Encounter Bow

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