International dance project with 14 partners across 11 European countries.
ROLE: Project Coordinator
ORGANISATION: Magna Vitae Trust for Leisure & Culture
WATCH: Auditions | Small Production | Big Production (below)
People Power Partnership
As Project Coordinator for the People Power Partnership (PPP) from January 2021, I managed a groundbreaking Creative Europe collaboration connecting 14 cultural and educational institutions across 11 European countries. This pan-European initiative, co-funded by Creative Europe and North East Lincolnshire Council, established a collaborative network for participative, multi-discipline street theatre with the aim of fostering cross-cultural artistic expression.
Project Scope & Diversity
The partnership encompassed remarkable geographic and socio-economic diversity:
- Four European capital cities: Lisbon, Prague, Riga, and Vilnius
- The metropolitan region of Turin (Venaria Reale)
- Three university cities: Sibiu, Girona, and Freiburg
- Five cities facing unique tourism/post-industrial challenges: Helsingør, Loulé, Varazdin, Alytus, and Grimsby
Key Responsibilities
In this role, I:
- Facilitated cross-cultural communications between partner organisations with diverse specialisations
- Coordinated knowledge exchange in areas including social work, creative production, and site-specific artistry
- Managed complex international logistics for collaborative performances and exchanges
- Represented Magna Vitae as the UK partner organisation in planning meetings and creative discussions
- Supported the development of evaluation methodologies to assess project impact including in-depth video documentaries
Notable Achievements
My work included coordinating several key project milestones:
- Organising the PPP dance auditions at Central Hall in Grimsby (November 2021), hosting Pan Optikum project leaders from Germany to scout UK dance talent
- Delivering the ‘Small Performance’ in Grimsby, a bespoke collaboration between local and international dancers (March 2022)
- Facilitating a weekend showcase of talented young local dancers, establishing the UK contingent for the international collaboration
- Delivering the UK Premiere of “FACE T(W)O” in Grimsby (July 2023)
- Hosting Pan Optikum and dance teams from Portugal, Croatia, Latvia, Germany, Denmark, and Romania
- Producing multiple nights of extraordinary free entertainment witnessed by thousands of attendees
This project demonstrated the power of international cultural collaboration, using artistic expression to bridge diverse backgrounds and create meaningful connections between young people across Europe. Through PPP, I helped establish lasting relationships between cultural institutions that continue to share knowledge and creative approaches beyond the scope of the initial project.