A Global Effort

Ascending is led and created by an international team of volunteers working together to give emerging artists a strong platform to make their voice heard. If you are interested in joining the Ascending team, please reach out via the Contact tab!

Aziza Kadyri

Aziza Kadyri is a performance artist and designer based in London, where she is working towards her MA in Performance Design at Central Saint Martins. Her main area of profession is costume design and experimental theatre practice. She has worked on productions at the Bolshoi Theatre, NCPA Beijing and other companies across Russia, China, Germany and the UK. After completing the Internship program at Prague Quadrennial 2019, Aziza started developing her first one-person show that reflects upon Central Asian cultural identity.

Brad Caleb Lee

Project Leader

bradcaleblee.com

Brad Caleb Lee is an international award winning visual dramaturge, assistant director, producer, editor and he was the Programs Coordinator for Prague Quadrennial 2019. His collaborators include Chicago Fringe Opera, Summer Theatre of New Canaan, Prague Shakespeare Company, Filament Theatre, Bros do Prose, Welsh National Opera, The Richard Burton Theatre Company, Monomoy Theatre, and ELANFrantoio. He holds an MA from The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, BA & BSC from The University of Alabama, and membership in USITT, SBTD, & OISTAT.

Sandra Nikac

Sandra Nikač is a Belgrade based theatre designer who specialises in puppetry. Her theatre works include puppet, set and costume design primarily in theatre for young audiences. She has a MA in theatre design from Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and is currently attending Doctoral Academic Studies in Scene Design at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad. She writes for “Threads” puppetry magazine, and has published articles in “Scena” theatre arts review.

Jyles Rodgers

Jyles Rodgers is a freelance Scenic Designer who recently graduated from Wake Forest University with a double major in Theatre and Studio Art. After working with the Prague Quadrennial, Jyles moved to Seattle in June to design for the Seattle Opera. In September she will be getting her Masters degree from UCL's Bartlett School of Architecture.

Lulu Tam

Lulu Tam is a visiting lecturer at the Central School of Speech and Drama and a teaching fellow at Salford University. She was a finalist of the Linbury Prize, the winner of Taking the Stage supported by the British Council Ukraine in 2015, a selected designer at World Stage Design 2017, and the winner of the Naomi Wilkinson Award for Stage Design 2022. 

Lily Wieland

Lily Wieland is a freelance stage manager and writer based in the United States. She recently graduated from Wake Forest University with a double major in Theatre and English. She received further training from Berkshire Theatre Group as well as the London Symphony Orchestra’s Orchestral Stage Management Course. Currently, she maintains a blog with a focus in stage management education and sustainable theatre practices.

Our team is also supported by a group of advisors that serve as a valuable resources, helping us navigate the different challenges of launching a project of ASCENDING's scale.

Tanja Beer

tanjabeer.com

Eco-designer, community artist and Senior Lecturer in Design at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University

Patrick Du Wors

patrickduwors.com

Multidisciplinary designer, curator of PQ Studio, and professor at The University of Victoria

Helen K. Jeffery

Writer, publisher, and digital creative


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