In Conversation with JAMIEL DEVERNAY-LAURENCE … (via Zoom)
Jamiel Devernay-Laurence is a dance entrepreneur and champion, producing dance for stage, screen, and beyond. He was a soloist of Scottish Ballet.
Photo credit: Headshot by Sian Trenberth. As a dancer courtesy of Scottish Ballet.
DATE : Monday 21 August 2023 at 7pm 🇬🇧
INTERVIEWER : DEBORAH WEISS, dance writer and former professional dancer
Jamiel Devernay-Laurence is a Producer of dance-based experiences for stage, screen, events, education & development. Through entrepreneurship, Jamiel brings his creations to life through his production house - JAMIEL LAURENCE CREATION - collaboratively platforming and curating the work of other artists and harnessing his professional network drawn from his experience as a Performer, Choreographer, Creative Director, Venue Director, and award-winning Filmmaker.
After a career as a soloist of Scottish Ballet (2009 – 2021) and having received several Scottish Ballet commissions for unusual gala events, celebration pieces, a national tour of Wee Hansel & Gretel and many of his own small independent productions, Jamiel turned his hand to emerging mobile capture technologies in 2018 to achieve ever more ambitious outcomes on screen. With a focus on Scottish youth culture, Jamiel created mobile works that punch well above their weight, and began receiving support from several technology corporations, going on to receive commissions from organizations and trusted brands including BBC ARTS, BBC Scotland, Google, Scottish Ballet, OneDanceUK, 3Tone Records, The Peter Darrell Trust, The John Byrne Award, Celtic Connections, Edinburgh Fringe, Dance International Glasgow, Ballet Ireland, The Queen’s Jubilee, Cardiff Castle, The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Dance School of Scotland, Rubicon Dance Company, Cardiff City Council and more.
Responding to the pandemic in 2020, Jamiel launched the #FundFreelanceDance crowdfunding initiative, raising over £13,000, providing services to over 1300 participants worldwide - returning dance artists and their supporting artists and services back to the studio safely, back to their craft and back working on paid engagements.
Jamiel became the Creative Director and inaugural choreographer for the 1-year dance company project at Rubicon Dance, Cardiff, in 2021, facilitating Welsh-trained graduate dancers achieving paying dance jobs in Wales for the first time. Under his tenure, Jamiel created the company's first highly acclaimed full-length production, The Nutcracker premiering in December 2021, a Nutcracker Bach schools tour delivered to over 780 primary and high school students, the company's first digital immersive audience experience, 16:1, and the inaugural TRIPLE BILL featuring a triple world premiere of new work marking the milestone for the Graduate Company project as a success.
In 2021, Jamiel produced the inaugural BALLET NIGHTS, introducing a new show concept and format to the existing UK audience for dance alongside fostering a new, East London audience being introduced to Classical Ballet, Neo-Classical and Contemporary dance for the first time.
Jamiel was appointed as Project Manager for the Lanterns Studio Theatre since its launch in 2011, and over the past decade has provided venue services to the biggest stage and production companies in the world, including The Really Useful Group, Disney, Cameron Mackintosh Productions, New Adventures, The National Theatre, Playful Productions, Jamie Wilson Productions, BBC, Michael Harrison Entertainment, Regent Park Open Air Theatre and more.
In November 2022, Jamiel independently produced his uniquely Welsh version The Nutcracker for Cardiff Castle’s first Spiegeltent festival – set in a giant city centre circus tent – which saw the cities first queues for a dance-based production since the pandemic.
In October 2022 he was appointed as the producer of the inaugural Messums Dance Film Festival 2023, Wiltshire
In January 2023, the JAMIEL LAURENCE CREATION production house officially set sail, launching with a class-leading intensive series, currently delivering new and exciting services for dancers at all stages of their careers.
In April 2023, Jamiel was appointed as the Executive Artistic Director of 3GEE’s productions and has been commissioned to deliver their first production – BALLET NIGHTS Winter Season 2023.
Dance film by Jamiel of ENB principal Aitor Arrieta and ENB soloist Henry Dowden … https://youtu.be/rLbzBWtmHrQ
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*** This event is FREE to LBC members ***
Non- members may join the Zoom interview by booking below.