From Cuba, Carlos Acosta is the Founder & Chairman of the Acosta Dance Foundation. He has been described as the best male ballet dancer of his generation. He achieved the gold medal at the Prix deLausanne at 16. Since then, he has thrilled ballet audiences worldwide with his performances with leading ballet companies. He performed with the Royal Ballet in London until 2016, when he retired from classical ballet. He has set up his own dance company called Acosta Danza, which performs all around the globe. Since the creation of the Foundation in 2011, he has aimed to create a legacy for generations to come and a platform to be an international reference for dance. Carlos is a father and a husband. He loves returning to his natal Cuba whenever he needs to cut the greyness of the European winters.... READ MORE

Rupert Rohan is a lawyer with over 25 years of experience providing legal and commercial advice to individuals and organisations in the entertainment industry. He is Carlos Acosta’s manager. Rupert s also on the board, advises several other charities, and has run his own legal practice since 1997.... READ MORE

Raide is the Strategic Communication Manager at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He has worked on Brexit, the Agricultural Act and various briefs for the Parliament’s Environmnt, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) select committee. He works directly with ministers, policy teams and other government departments.

He has also worked at Adam & Eve DDB as a Marketing Producer on international marketing campaigns. He led the global launch and re-brand marketing campaign for the Google Pixel phone. He was also in charge of various other marketing campaigns such as John Lewis, Virgin Atlantic, Sony, ExxonMobil and Harvey Nichols. Before this, he worked at Hearst UK as Advertisement Production Manager responsible for advertising content for Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and many other magazines.

Raidel has a BA in Mathematics and is an expert in Google Analytics, Adobe Suite and behavioural analytics. He is passionate about strategies for marketing and communications.... READ MORE

Robert Davage acts as financial controller for a variety of businesses, with several of whom he has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship. Throughout his career, he has worked extensively in the ars and entertainment sector. As well as assisting clients in meeting their financial needs and obligations, he endeavours to ensure that they are run to the highest standards. He is married and a regular concert and theatregoer.... READ MORE

Miguel Altunaga trained at the National School of Art, which led to 6 years of performing as a principal dancer for the National Contemporary Dance Company. He joined Rambert in 2007 and has served inworks by Gary Stewart, Christopher Bruce, Itzik Galili, and many others. In 2021 he joined the Hofesh Shechter Company for the Double Murder tour. He has worked with the Akram Khan Company. As a choreographer and movement director, Miguel has created works for Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, Rambert, Phoenix Dance Theatre, Simply Red, Carlos Acosta and Acosta Danza. The Royal Ballet commissioned him to create Dark Eye for the Deloitte Ignite Festival in 2014 and for Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2021. Miguel won the Cuban Best Male Solo Award in 2002, and in 2003 was chosen by Carlos Acosta to perform in Tocororo, which toured internationally from 2003 to 2007. In 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018, he was nominated for Outstanding Male Performance and Best Dancer by the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards UK.... READ MORE

Fern’s expertise is in fundraising and development, having raised millions for various arts organisations over more than 20 years. She worked for a range of organisations – large and small, most rcently as Development Director for Birmingham Royal Ballet and with other major cultural institutions in the UK, including the Barbican and, in the USA, with the Orlando Ballet.

She is passionate about sharing her expertise in fundraising for the cultural sector with others through freelance training, consulting, mentoring, written blogs/resources, and published articles. She continues to mentor for the Chartered Institute of Fundraisers’ RAISE programme and Cause4’s Heritage Compass programme and is a regular trainer for Arts Funding and Philanthropy programme.

She has previously taught at the University of Chichester, devising their Arts Funding, Marketing and Administration module for third-year Related Arts students, and has been lecturing about Fundraising and Development for City, University of London’s MA in Media, Culture and Creative Industries department for the past 12 years. Along with being Chair of Viviana Durante Company, she also sits on the Board of Dance Mama, she also sits on the Creative Estuary’s Commissioning Group. Fern holds a MA in Arts Management from City University and is a full member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraisers.... READ MORE