Yorkshire Dance is pleased to announce that João Maio is joining our team as Artist Development Producer. João is a Leeds-based contemporary dance artist and creative producer.

As Artist Development Producer, João draws from his experience in different roles across dance productions and independent artist development settings.

João trained as a dancer at Balleteatro Professional School, Porto (2009-12) and at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance (2012-15). He has previously danced with companies including Carlos Pons Guerra’s DeNada Dance Theatre, Rosie Kay Dance Company and Lizzie J Klotz and performed in festivals such as Homotopia, Birmingham International Dance Festival, Manchester International Festival and Internationale Tanzmesse. He also worked as Rehearsal Director in Gracefool Collective’s “This is not a wedding” and Phoebe Ophelia’s “Betty Brown Bags”.

After completing the MA in Dance & Creative Enterprise at NSCD (2018), João began to work as a Creative Producer both independently and for Leeds-based community development organisation, Open Source Arts. In these roles he has supported a variety of artists and companies including Akeim Toussaint Buck, Gracefool Collective, Marianne Tuckman, Madeline Shann, Phoebe Ophelia and Linden Dance Company. He has successfully secured and managed over £300k from Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants.

João is committed to enhancing and furthering his understanding of the national dance ecology so alongside his role at Yorkshire Dance. João will continue to work on independent projects and take up strategic roles in the sector, for example his current roles as Independent Board Member at Leeds Dance Partnership and co-Director at ProDance Leeds.

João takes over from Tanya Steinhauser as Artist Development Producer and will be working with our Dance Partners, providing one-to-one artist advice and working with the artistic team on No Dress Code Scratch Night and the Encounters Festival series.

Image credit: Aldona Lis