GDIF 2024 Partners

About Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision.

About Royal Greenwich Festivals
Royal Greenwich Festivals is an annual series of events celebrating the cultural vibrancy of Royal Greenwich and providing some of the best and most varied entertainment in the capital every summer. Including free theatre, music, dance, family performances and live displays, the festivals programme is funded by the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

About the London Borough of Newham
Dynamic, diverse, and determined; Newham stands apart.  Our vibrant borough thrives on the incredible talents and creativity of our people. We know many face deep-rooted inequalities and challenges. That’s why we’re determined to seize opportunity and face up to challenge as we deliver our purpose of Building a Fairer Newham. We want everyone in our borough to thrive and have healthy, happy, and fulfilled lives. We’ll make this happen by delivering our four-year plan developed with residents and business, voluntary sector and community partners. We’ll create safer and cleaner neighbourhoods, act on the climate emergency, and improve the air that we breathe. We’ll empower our young people to realise their potential and improve our neighbourhoods with people powered plans.  We’re building homes that our people can afford and investing to support businesses to generate employment opportunities for all.  With our communities, partners, and businesses, we are creating a sustainable place to live.  We are Newham.

About Peabody
More than 160 years after it was established, Peabody is one of the oldest not-for-profit housing associations in the UK. The Peabody Group is responsible for more than 108,000 homes, with around 220,000 residents across London and the Home Counties. We also have around 17,000 care and support customers. Our purpose is to help people flourish, and we are getting closer to residents by taking a local approach. We are committed to delivering a responsive and easily accessible repairs service and investing in our existing homes so they are safe and well maintained. Our retrofit projects will make thousands of our homes more energy efficient. We work with councils and communities to promote economic inclusion, tackle inequality and poverty, and prioritise wellbeing. Our rents were £621m lower than the market in 2022/23. With an average rent of £127 per week in London and the south-east, we offer significant value for residents and communities. We are also committed to building much-needed affordable homes.

About Greenwich Peninsula
Greenwich Peninsula is fast becoming the capital’s most boldly modern landscape. With 17,487 new homes, 12,000 new jobs and 48 acres of open public space emerging over the coming years. Here a community of thousands of pioneers live in new riverside homes, work in a cutting-edge Design District and enjoy The Tide, the neighbourhood’s elevated, riverside walkway and public art trail that celebrates art, design and wellbeing – all wrapped by the river Thames. This is new London: a destination for modern urban living.

About the University of East London
The University of East London has been pioneering futures for 126 years, since its beginnings in 1898 during the second industrial revolution when it was founded as “the people’s university” through to today in the fourth and into the fifth industrial revolution. Located in the borough of Newham, one of the world’s most multi-cultural areas, the University’s 36,000-plus students are a microcosm of this diversity, representing over 160 different nationalities. With campuses in Stratford and in Docklands, it is at the heart of the industrial and creative shift east. The University has long been committed to offering those who face barriers to higher education the chance to succeed, with many open access programmes, scholarships and refugee and asylum-seeker courses. 2024 is UEL’s ‘Year of Science’, featuring a series of exciting events showcasing ground-breaking research and activity in areas such as sustainability, health and early years.

About Good Chance
In a world of entrenching polarisation, Good Chance creates ground-breaking, heart-thumping ‘theatre that shakes hands with the world’ (Sunday Times) with displaced artists centre stage. Founded by playwrights Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, Good Chance established its first temporary Theatre of Hope, an 11-metre geodesic dome, in the heart of the ‘Jungle’ refugee and migrant camp in Calais in 2015, promoting freedom of expression, creativity and dignity for everyone. Good Chance now creates powerful and provoking work including The Jungle, The Walk with Little Amal, Kyoto, and radical acts of solidarity like Fly With Me. Their work sparks new connections and conversations across divides, through surprise and spectacle. They connect communities through art and explore the big issues of our time, including migration and the climate crisis, to make real change possible. Central to all of this is the development of displaced artists, to become an integral part of the UK’s creative ecosystem.

About Gecko
Gecko is an award-winning and internationally-acclaimed physical theatre company, led by Artistic Director Amit Lahav. Founded in 2001, the company has created 8 critically-acclaimed shows, 2 associate shows and 2 films. We create work through collaboration, experimentation and play that deepens human connection through physical, visual, visceral and ambitious performance and participation. In everything we do, we want to create the opportunity for people to connect to our work and to each other. We create performance that explores contemporary themes relevant to the society in which we live, performance that is inspiring and provocative. We blend choreography, sound, lighting and set design to create our worlds and use breath, emotion, multiple languages and metaphor to tell our stories. Our audience engages with our work in various ways (visually, sonically and emotionally) giving it a broad appeal across diverse age groups, nationalities and backgrounds. This approach encourages our audience to deepen their connection with the company and each other, and to create and share their own interpretation of our work.

About East Bank
East Bank is the UK’s newest cultural quarter at the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The place where everything happens entertainment, inspiration and discovery and open to everyone who visits, lives and works in East London. It is a unique collaboration between cultural institutions, world leading universities and the people of the Growth Boroughs. East Bank is comprised of V&A East; Sadler’s Wells East; London College of Fashion, UAL; UCL East (University College London) and the new BBC Music Studios. The scheme, driven with significant backing and funding from the Mayor of London and support from HM Government and the four Growth Boroughs, will provide skills and jobs for local people, bring over 10,000 students to the site, and attract thousands of visitors from London and beyond. East Bank will help cement the capital’s reputation as a world leader in culture, education and innovation creating 2,500 jobs, £1.5 billion of economic benefit and 600 new homes.

Foundation for Future London
Foundation for Future London is an independent charity established to connect the local communities of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with the new East Bank and its globally renowned arts, culture and educational partners to ensure equitable opportunities and fair regeneration in East London. They do this through a genuine commitment to an innovative participatory grant-making approach, capacity-building objectives and sustainable development. Since launching in 2015, the Foundation for Future London has connected people, places and institutions, from street markets and homeless shelters to galleries and auditoriums. The Foundation for Future London is dedicated to creating new creative employment and transformative life chances for people living, working, and studying in East London.

About Stratford Cross
Stratford Cross is an emerging cultural and creative workplace destination by Lendlease, an international real estate and investment group with core expertise in shaping cities and creating strong and connected communities. Nestled between 560 acres of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the creative institutions of the East Bank – the UK’s newest cultural quarter – world-class sporting facilities including the London Stadium, and a vast array of shopping, dining and entertainment, Stratford Cross offers something new to explore every day.

About Lendlease
Lendlease is a globally integrated real estate group with operations in Australia, Asia, Europe and the United States. We create places where communities thrive. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Lendlease has approximately 7,800 employees globally. Our core capabilities are reflected in our operating segments of Investments, Development and Construction. The combination of these three segments provides us with a sustainable competitive advantage in delivering innovative integrated solutions for our customers.

About Sadler’s Wells   
Sadler’s Wells is a world-leading dance organisation. We strive to make and share dance that inspires us all. Our acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, Bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap. We commission, produce and present more dance than any other organisation in the world. Since 2005, we have helped to bring more than 200 new dance works to the stage, embracing both the popular and the unknown. Our acclaimed productions tour the world. Since 2005 we’ve produced 64 new full-length works and performed to audiences of more than two million, touring to 51 countries. Each year, over half a million people visit our three London theatres – Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Lilian Baylis Studio and Peacock Theatre. Millions more attend our touring productions nationally and internationally or explore our digital platforms, including Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage.

About Sadler’s Wells East
In 2024 we’re opening a fourth London venue in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Sadler’s Wells East will house a 550-seat mid-scale theatre, as well as facilities for the new Rose Choreographic School and the hip hop theatre training centre, Academy Breakin’ Convention. Sadler’s Wells East joins the rich cultural heritage of Stratford, opening in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as part of the East Bank development alongside the BBC, UAL’s London College of Fashion, UCL and the V&A. Sadler’s Wells East will support artist development and training, and the creation of new work. It will build the infrastructure for dance and make it accessible to more people. Sadler’s Wells East will house a flexible theatre presenting a wide variety of dance performances. Community will be at the heart of Sadler’s Wells East with a large open foyer that can be used by everyone as a meeting or performance space. There will also be dance studios and world-class dance facilities for dancemakers to train, create and rehearse productions.

About Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a world-renowned destination nestled in the heart of east London. This iconic Park stands as a testament to the city’s rich history, hosting the unforgettable London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Today, it continues to captivate visitors with its beautiful open spaces and world-class venues, and a myriad of London’s best restaurants, sport and cultural offerings.

About Actors Touring Company
Actors Touring Company is a portable portal to the world. Through our work, we connect global artistic voices to local communities. Actors Touring Company (ATC) is a “portable portal to the world” We are a touring theatre company with an unrivalled track record in the commissioning, producing and touring of contemporary international plays. Our work explores ideas of intersectionality, identity and belonging – opening up conversations across borders both geographic and cultural.  Since 1980, we’ve pioneered the touring of new global plays, often in world premiere translations of plays from Australia, Norway, Iran, Israel, and the US – bringing global stories to audiences from Glasgow to Plymouth and Keswick to Ipswich. 

About Berkely Group
Berkeley Group builds homes and neighbourhoods across London, Birmingham and the South of England. Our passion and purpose is to build quality homes, strengthen communities, and make a lasting positive difference to people’s lives. We specialise in brownfield regeneration, working together with our partners to revive underused land and create unique, sustainable and nature-rich places where communities thrive and people of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy a great quality of life.

About Without Walls
Without Walls is a network of over 35 organisations presenting the best outdoor arts to people in towns and cities across England. Since its formation in 2007, Without Walls has developed and toured over 200 new shows both in the UK and internationally across 22 countries. Without Walls is supported by Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation.

Global Disability Innovation Hub and the UK aid funded AT2030 programme
AT2030 tests ‘what works’ to improve access to life-changing Assistive Technology (AT) for all. Led by Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub) and funded by UK aid, we’ve reached 35 million people in 40+ countries working with over 70 global partners to drive a lifetime of potential. The GDI Hub accelerates ideas into impact for a more just world – for disabled people, and all people. We are a world leading Academic Research and Practice Centre at UCL (University College London) and are the first WHO Global Collaborating Centre on Assistive Technology (AT). GDI Hub develops homegrown technologies alongside new knowledge and research, and is a legacy of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

About Global Streets
Global Streets is a national network of partners lead by FESTIVAL.ORG that co-creates and presents international outdoor arts events with communities living and working in places which are underserved by the arts. We are focused on working with local people to deliver free, spectacular international productions which lift people’s spirits and bring communities together.

About Legs On The Wall
In 1984 a small collective of Sydney street performers took on the name of a warm up exercise and created a new physical theatre company. From these origins on Gadigal Country (the traditional name of Central/Eastern Sydney), Legs On The Wall has grown to become the internationally-renowned powerhouse it is today, with a reputation built on sharing vital contemporary stories through spectacularly daring public art. Legs’ performances incorporate the lyricism of dance and the enchantment of circus with the expressive heft of the theatre. Routinely reimagining what’s possible in the conventional auditorium, Legs’ works break through the walls of cultural institutions and language barriers, bringing excitement, wonder, humour and gravitas to public spaces. A values-led approach to creative storytelling can be traced across Legs’ four-decade history, and THAW – an urgent call to act on climate change together – is the company’s current flagship work in this tradition. As leaders in aerial performance and physical theatre practice, Legs On The Wall continue to kick against gravity, connecting with audiences from all walks of life with thought-provoking and adrenaline-inducing works built with ingenuity, bravado, and integrity. Legs On The Wall’s presentation of THAW has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body and proudly funded by the NSW Government.

The Québec Government Office in London
‘Opened in 1962, the Québec Government Office in London (DGQL) represents the Québec government in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Nordic Countries. We work to support Québec culture and businesses to thrive and develop their activities, and promote the interests of Québec towards Governments and institutions in the territories covered by DGQL. The principal mandate of the Department for Culture is the market development for Québec’s artists and cultural industries across all artistic sectors in the territories covered by DGQL through collaboration with local partners and institutions.

About Discover Children’s Story Centre
Based in Stratford, East London, Discover Children’s Story Centre is a place for children and their families to play, learn and make up stories together. At the heart of the centre are magical Story Worlds and a Story Garden – creative play spaces which inspire imaginations. Changing once a year, Discover’s interactive exhibitions immerse families in the world of their favourite authors, from Dapo Adeola to Michael Rosen, Julia Donaldson and Dr. Seuss. Throughout the year they host much-loved and up-and-coming authors, illustrators, poets, musicians, artists and storytellers to run family workshops and events. They also work with schools, libraries and in the local community. Over 100,000 people visit Discover every year.

About University College London
Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, UCL is London’s leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 16,000 staff and 50,000 students from over 150 different countries. We are a diverse community with the freedom and courage to challenge, to question and to think differently. Through a progressive approach to teaching and research, our world leading academics, curious students and outstanding staff continually pursue excellence, break boundaries and make an impact on real world problems.

About East London Dance
East London Dance is here to champion and grow east London’s dance scene.  Our doors are open to all. Through our projects, classes, courses and events, we are here for everyone with an interest in expressing themselves through dance. From those with a simple passion for movement, to the creative leaders who go on to form professional dance companies.

Special thanks to

Patrons

We are extremely grateful to our patrons for their continued generosity and support: Tony Hales, Lew Hodges, Maggi Knights, Felicity Lane, Jean Lebrecht, Antony McBride, Geoffrey Pine and Richard White, and Dr Maxine Room CBE.

GDIF Volunteers

Greenwich+Docklands International Festival is made possible by the generosity and energy of those who volunteer their time to help us make magic happen each Summer. We are hugely grateful for their contribution.