We are delighted to announce the arrival of Matthew Topliss as our Head of Artistic Management.

Born in Boston, Lincolnshire, but has lived in West Yorkshire since a young age, Matthew trained at the Academy of Northern Ballet, and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance (Centre for Advanced Training program), before perusing vocational training in Glasgow at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he graduated with a BA in Modern Ballet in 2012.

Upon graduation, he joined Northern Ballet in 2012 and was promoted to Soloist in 2016. In 2021, Matthew joined Phoenix Dance Theatre for the 40 Years of Phoenix tour. He has also previously worked with Scottish Ballet, and Scottish Opera. Throughout hie career, Matthew has taught for varies companies and vocational schools across the UK, such as Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, Fabula Collective, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Phoenix Youth Academy, Northern Ballet Academy, and KS Dance.

In 2023, Matthew staged Cathy Marston’s “Jane Eyre” for the Hamburg Ballet. He also worked with the London Children’s Ballet as Rehearsal Director for their production of “Snow White” which involved 50 young artists aged 9-16, and premiered at the Peacock Theatre, London.

During his career, he has worked with many different choreographers such as David Nixon CBE, Cathy Marston, Mthuthuzeli November, Morgann Runacre-Temple, Ashley Page OBE, Alethia Antonia, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Sarah Golding, Dixon Mbi, Darshan Singh Bhuller, Amaury Lebrun, Lar Lubovitch, Dane Hurst, Kenneth Tindall, Massimo Moricone, Jonathan Watkins, Drew McOnie, and Daniel de Andrade.”

“I’m excited to have Matt joining us as Head of Artistic Management. He has offered an immense amount of support to the company and wider team since the beginning of my journey with Phoenix. I look forward to what we will discover as we move forward into this next phase.” – Artistic Director, Marcus Jarrell Willis