Jamie Watton
Jamie Watton has been the Chief Executive and Artistic Director at South East Dance since January 2009. South East Dance is the national development agency for dance in the south east. Since joining, Jamie has led the organisation in new directions, working with partners to ensure a thriving ecology for dance in the region and firmly placing artists and audiences at the heart of all activity.
Prior to this, Jamie worked at Arts Council England as a Dance Officer from 2004 and as a Senior Officer, Dance Strategy from 2007. He also acted as Interim Cultural Coordinator 2012, contributing to the development of south east regional plans for the Olympic and Paralympic Games London 2012. As Senior Officer, Dance Strategy, his responsibilities included the development of the digital agenda for dance, overseeing Big Dance 2008 and maintaining an overview of national touring activity.
Jamie Watton graduated from LABAN and Transitions Dance Company in 1990. He established his own company in 1993 with whom he created nine touring works, two films in partnership with the BBC and a number of site specific events.
As a choreographer he has made work for companies including Candoco (UK), Compania Instaval (Portugal) and Panta Rei (Norway). As a dancer Jamie has collaborated with a range of choreographers including Matthew Bourne, Yolande Snaith and Javier de Frutos. His work with the wider community has gained considerable recognition and includes Tonic to the Nation, which secured a Paul Hamlyn Award for choreography, and The House of Delights, which received a Time Out Award for dance.
In 2001 Jamie began the transition from practitioner to manager, embarking on an MA in Arts Management at Anglia University, Cambridge. As project manager, he subsequently supported a range of independent dance companies before joining the management team at Greenwich Dance Agency in 2003.
