Dance Umbrella has issued a statement announcing the death of Emma Gladstone OBE, its Artistic Director and Chief Executive from 2013 to 2021, on Monday 22 January, after a short illness.
As Artistic Director of the Rolex Arts Festival (Athens, 2023), Director of the Big Pulse Intensive (Creative Europe 2021–24) and former Artistic Director, BBC Young Dancer (2015, 2019 & 2022), Gladstone specialised in the professional development of artists and cultural workers. From 2013 to 2021, she was Artistic Director & Chief Executive of Dance Umbrella, London's long running international dance festival.
Freddie Opoku-Addaie, current Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Dance Umbrella, said, "Emma embodied a vital and informed outlook about what the non-verbal expression of dance can do for all humanity. Hold on, having read what I’ve written back to myself, I can hear Emma asking ‘what on earth do you mean, Freddie? Let’s get as close to the point as possible’. One of Emma’s superpowers was the readiness to share tools, impart lived experience and dive into the deep end to reach the desired goal with care. Not to dampen down, but rather to be able to take as many people with you as you can."
Alistair Spalding CBE, Artistic Director and Co-Chief Executive of Sadler’s Wells, added, "I knew Emma in many of her guises—beautiful dancer, programmer, advocate, leader, producer and friend. She was so dedicated to the art form she loved—always thoughtful, articulate and charming. She meant so much to all the people she touched in and outside the dance world. She was also definitely the best dressed woman in the arts!"