Team

  • Artistic Director

    Born in 1980, Alexander Whitley is an award-winning choreographer whose pioneering work with digital technology has placed him at the forefront of innovation in contemporary dance. His multi-disciplinary practice, focusing on the use of motion-tracking and interactive technology, spans stage, installation, film, and immersive platforms.

    Founding Alexander Whitley Dance Company in 2014, his productions, created in collaboration with studios such as Marshmallow Laser Feast, The Guardian VR and HTC Vive Arts, have toured theatres around the UK and internationally and have been presented at London Film Festival, SXSW, Mediale and Romaeuropa amongst others.

    Alexander has held associateships and affiliations with the UK’s most respected dance institutions including Sadler’s Wells Theatre, the Royal Ballet and Rambert and has created work for many of the UK’s leading companies. He is a founding member of New Movement Collective and a lecturer on the Design for Performance and Interaction Masters’ program at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.

    Alexander trained at the Royal Ballet School and began his career at Birmingham Royal Ballet before moving into contemporary dance, where he enjoyed a wide range of experiences working with companies including Rambert, Michael Clark Company, Sydney Dance Company and Wayne McGregor Random Dance. During this time he was twice nominated for Outstanding Performance in the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards. His choreography won him nominations for the 2012 Arts Foundation fellowship, the 2014 Sky Arts Southbank Awards and the 2015 Critics' Circle Awards.

    Alexander has developed a strong network of collaborators across numerous art forms, working with filmmakers, designers, digital artists and composers to create innovative and wide-ranging work that seeks to broaden the scope of dance and deepen an appreciation of movement across the many mediums it bears relevance to.

Our Team

  • Executive Director

    Stacie Lee Bennett-Worth is an Artist-Researcher and PhD scholarship candidate at De Montfort University (DMU) in the Institute of Creative Technologies (IoCT). Her PhD study focuses on the role of creative digital technologies in post-16 performing arts education and aims to find solutions to the national shortfall in digital performance capabilities of performers entering higher education and industry. As an artist Stacie’s work sits at the intersection of performance, film and installation. Her work has been exhibited in a variety of contexts including at Turner Contemporary with two collaborative installations commissioned as part of the Seaside: Photographed exhibition (2019), Big Screen Southend (2018) a tryptic of performance films titled Daphne in Three Movements, and The National Maritime Museum with a collaborative screen dance installation titled Who is the Land (2016) as part of the pioneering places exhibition. In 2018 Stacie produced a digital resource for Physical Acting with Professor’s Paul Allain and Frank Camilleri titled ‘Physical Actor Training: an online A-Z’ which was published by Methuen Drama Bloomsbury as part of Drama Online. Stacie joined AWDC in the role of Digital Education and Engagement Director in September 2022.

  • Creative Technologist

    Luca Biada, co-founder of the London-based digital design company Fenyce, is a programmer and developer creating participatory digital environments that provide immersive experiences for the arts and aims to push the boundaries of interactive experiences. Since 2005, Luca has been creating interactive installations and virtual dynamic spaces for different applications from cultural heritage sites to theatres.

    Work for Alexander Whitley Dance Company includes Overflow and Anti-Body (stage productions), Strange Stranger (installation), Digital Dance Studio (software app) and Celestial Motion (VR) dance experience in collaboration with The Guardian’s award-winning VR studio.

    Other projects include a 360 film for Italy’s Olympic bid, and the development of audience-wearable robotic structures for New Movement Collective.

Board of Trustees

  • Toby Coffey is an award winning Director and Producer with a strong background in storytelling with the use of emerging technologies.

    He was formerly Head of Digital Development at the National Theatre in London where he founded the Immersive Storytelling Studio in 2016. The Studio examined how Virtual, Mixed and Augmented Reality along with other emerging technologies could enhance the NT’s remit to be a pioneer of dramatic storytelling.

    The Studio’s portfolio of work has shown at the Venice, Sundance, Tribeca and London Film Festivals, IDFA, National Theatre, The Young Vic, MoMA and TATE Modern.

     Toby's undergraduate studies were in psychology, human computer interaction and AI and he has over 25 years expertise in the digital arena from creative, technical, production and social perspectives.

  • Tom works with artists, developers, designers, arts organisations and policy makers all over the world to curate and produce ambitious artworks and creative projects. He is interested in the enabling power of digital technology, and inspired by well considered, simple and effective ideas and artworks. He is deeply committed to the development of arts, culture and creative technology in the UK, and the North in particular.

    Clients and collaborators have included Arts Council England, British Council, Innovate UK, NESTA, Digital Economy and Future Cities Catapult, TodaysArt, Hyper Island, Unsound, Insomnia, National Football Museum, Centre for Contemporary Culture Barcelona, Art Science Museum, Singapore, and Sonar.

    Tom is a fellow of Salzburg Global Forum for Young Cultural Leaders and Clore’s Emerging Leaders programme. He’s also a type 1 diabetic, father of two and runner.

  • Emma is Design Lead at Nesta, integrating design and digital innovation practice into Nesta’s mission to to create better life outcomes for children from disadvantaged families.

    Emma is a creative innovator and strategic designer who worked for most of her career in the arts and cultural sector, directing, designing and producing professional, educational and community based initiatives across dance, performance, museums and film. She joined Nesta from The National Gallery where she led their innovation programme alongside running her own innovation practice working with organisations including Studio Wayne McGregor and Trinity Laban.

    Emma gained MA Digital Management (Distinction) from Hyper Island and also holds PG Cert Community Dance practice from Trinity Laban and BA (Hons) Economics.

  • Mahesh is a digital pioneer with 25 years of experience creating B2B SaaS and B2C entertainment services around the world.

    Mahesh is Co-founder and CPO at SMASH, the award-winning B2B IP marketplace for film and TV. SMASH has been awarded multiple Innovate UK grants, including most recently to research and test AI solutions for the creative industries. SMASH was also recently part of the University of Edinburgh Bayes Center AI Accelerator Programme, and won the media innovation prize at the Cannes NEXT festival.

    Mahesh is also Director of Content Partnerships at Nex, the award-winning new active play system or families that revolutionises game play through motion-capture technology. He has led licensing deals with major IP owners such as NBC Universal, Paramount, Hasbro and Mattel.

    Mahesh previously led the pre-school digital studio at eOne/Hasbro and has held product leadership positions at KidsKnowBest, Azoomee, Hopster and Cellcast. Mahesh provides strategic product advice for new and incumbent companies in the entertainment, gaming and early years education space.

    Mahesh is a regular contributor to and speaker at industry events, most recently at the Children’s Media Conference (Sheffield, 2024) where he appeared on a panel addressing ‘Practical AI for the Creative Industries’. He holds an MA in Design for Interactive Media (1996) from Middlesex University.

  • Born in East London, Hope is a full-time technical business analyst working at IBM; a top technology and consultancy firm. After graduating the University of Essex with a Bsc in Computer Science, Hope has been a consultant for public sector projects for the past 4 years; working with technical specialists and business leaders to deliver successful projects. Hope has also been an avid dancer for the past 12 years specialising in Hiphop and Hiphop theatre. She recently performed at Sadlers Wells at Breakin' Convention 2023 and 2024 and you can often see her supporting community events, battles and performances.