Following a worldwide search amongst leading names in dance, the Board of Dublin Dance Festival is delighted to announce the appointment of Julia Carruthers as the next Festival Director.  She will assume the role full-time from August 2011.

Ms. Carruthers’ wide-ranging experience has included work with leading arts organisations such as the Edinburgh International Festival, Michael Clark Company, Jonathan Burrows Group, Southbank Centre, and as Dance Officer at the Arts Council of England.  She was among Time Out magazine’s “London’s Top 100 ‘Movers, Shakers and Opinion Makers’” in 2006.

Dermot McLaughlin, Chair of the Board of Directors, says, “We are delighted that Julia is DDF’s new Director.  We are entering the next phase of growth of this marvellous celebration of dance.  In appointing Julia, following a global search for a replacement for Laurie Uprichard, we’ve found the person we were looking for.  We face challenges and we have to create opportunities.  We want to get more and more people involved in our Festival and in dance.  This is our task.  We are confident that Julia brings the skills, passion, know-how and determination to build on the foundations that Laurie and her predecessor Catherine Nunes have laid since the foundation of DDF.”

Ms. Carruthers is in Dublin for the current Dublin Dance Festival, running until 28th May, taking the opportunity to experience the Festival in full swing.  She says, “I’m really looking forward to being in Dublin and building on the successes of the Dublin Dance Festival.”

Outgoing Festival Director Laurie Uprichard says, “It’s been the most fantastic job in my career but it’s time that Dublin’s audiences see a different slice of the dance world – artists chosen by someone with a different imagination, another point of view and different strengths. DDF was founded on a solid base by Catherine Nunes and Marina Rafter and it can only continue to get more notable and more multi-faceted.”

Read the full press release here.