Rambert has appointed Southbank Centre senior leader Rebecca Hanna-Grindall as its new Chief Executive, succeeding Helen Shute as the dance company enters its second century.
Hanna-Grindall will take up the post in January 2027. Her appointment comes ahead of the world premiere of It’s a Sin, Rambert’s major new production inspired by Russell T Davies’s Channel 4 drama, which opens in February.
She joins Rambert after 15 years at Southbank Centre, where she has worked since 2011 and held her current role of Director of Arts Planning and Producing since 2020. Her career spans more than two decades and includes roles at the Royal Court Theatre, BBC and Fuel.
At Southbank Centre, Hanna-Grindall has helped shape a programme of more than 1,300 live events a year, as well as festivals, commissions and large-scale multidisciplinary projects. Her producing credits include Meltdown, Unlimited, London Literature Festival, Women of the World and Africa Utopia. She also worked on Rambert and (LA)HORDE’s 2025 immersive installation We Should Have Never Walked on the Moon.
Hanna-Grindall succeeds Helen Shute, who leaves on 2nd October after nearly a decade at Rambert to become Chief Executive of English National Opera. The company will be led collectively by its Senior Executive Team until Hanna-Grindall takes up her post.
“I’m delighted and honoured to be joining Rambert,” said Hanna-Grindall, who described the appointment as an opportunity to build on Marie Rambert’s legacy of “curiosity and reinvention”.
Artistic Director Benoit Swan Pouffer said he was “excited” to work with her as Rambert imagines its future in its second century.
