Profile: Elliot Callard - marketing executive, Rambert
Monday 05 August 2024
Management graduate Elliot Callard (2012) is marketing executive at one of the UK’s leading dance companies, Rambert.
Before joining them earlier this year Elliot worked across the creative and performing arts sector with roles at Secret Cinema, Universal Music Group, concert promoters FORM, Festival Republic and FACT, Liverpool.
Elliot’s currently working on Rambert’s latest production, the critically acclaimed Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Selby - which features Dance grad Aishwarya Raut (2017) as a cast member.
We caught up with him for a chat about the Peaky Blinders production, which arrives in Liverpool 17 September, and his career since leaving LIPA.
Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby and its combination of the Peaky story and Rambert's dancers sounds amazing. What can audiences expect?
If you’ve never been to see a dance show before, this is the perfect first show to come to!
It’s an incredible collaboration between Steven Knight who created the TV show and our Artistic Director, Benoit Swan Pouffer who has choreographed and directed the show. The skill and talent of our cast is unbelievable, there’s a full onstage live band playing music by Nick Cave, Radiohead, Anna Calvi and loads more Peaky favourites and the set and costumes are spectacular.
I’ve been reliably informed that every venue on the show’s first UK tour saw huge standing ovations and there’s so many fantastic reviews from the press and public. I really can’t wait for people to see it!
You joined Rambert in June - can you tell us about your role?
My role is Marketing Executive for Rambert, leading on marketing for Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby.
I work with our lovely UK and international venues to spread news about the show as far and wide as possible. Whether it’s making social media adverts, figuring out fun ways to turn each venue foyer into the Garrison Pub, putting together artwork, looking at daily ticket sales updates or working with designers to create the show programme, the role is super varied and it’s part of a great and passionate team.
You've worked in a lot of different sectors: music, events, theatre, festivals and now dance. What are the skills that have enabled you to work across the performing arts?
I think the main thing is having a real passion and knowledge for what I do. When I came to LIPA, I loved music and wanted to work in a venue or at festivals, but I very quickly realised that I didn’t want to pigeonhole myself into just one artform. I love comedy, music, theatre, cabaret, visual art, dance and everything in between and want to work in as wide a range of areas as possible.
I’ve worked in tiny companies and huge corporations and the thing that always makes me want to come back into work each morning is the incredible projects, shows and events I’ve been able to work on and the brilliant people I’ve been lucky enough to work with. I still love finishing work and going to a gig, seeing something at the theatre or finding some new music to listen to.
Everywhere I’ve ever worked has been somewhere I’ve loved as a fan before joining whether that was going to see films at FACT during my time at LIPA, first seeing Rambert perform at Latitude back in 2019 or going to festivals like Reading and Leeds for years and years when I was a teenager.
What was the most useful thing you learnt at LIPA?
I think the biggest thing I learned was how to collaborate. There were so many great modules working on shows, promoting and producing gigs, learning new skills and one creating confusing artworks based on triangles (I’ve forgotten why but I still remember it being fun!) They were all great opportunities to work with people from other courses as well as people from the Management course with different experiences and skills. I think even more than any one piece of knowledge, this experience is what I still find most useful.
Apart from Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby, are there any other projects you're working on?
My role is all Peaky, all the time, but Rambert have some super exciting plans coming up as we approach our centenary in 2026. Sign up to Rambert+ if you’d like to find out more and hopefully we’ll see lots of LIPA folks at The Empire in September or over at The Lowry in October.
Find out more about PeakyBliners: The Redemption of Thomas Selby
