Building connections with Artists

HARBOUR is The Guildhall Trust’s Live Artists Development Programme which offers a structured programme of support developed in partnership with leading local and regional artists or companies.

The programme provides tailored support to encourage the creative potential of practitioners, artists and companies across the city of Portsmouth and the southern region.

Available for artists at varying career levels, who are confident in their practice and artistic vision, the HARBOUR programme runs across 18 months including creative and critical business support, seed funding, artist residencies, peer learning and development, mentoring, networking and fostering partnerships.

Courtney McCarthy

Courtney McCarthy (She/They) is a Freelance Dance and Digital Artist from St. Albans Hertfordshire. Graduating in 2021 from The University of Chichester with a First Class Honours in Dance Performance, she has since danced professionally at venues such as The Place, Cambridge Junction and Summerhall in Edinburgh. Courtney also choreographed her first contemporary dance work with The Point, Eastleigh, as part of the graduate scheme ‘GradLab’ in 2021 which undertook a small tour to The University of Chichester, The Point, Rambert School and The Place as part of Resolutions Festival 2022.

Courtney is also a Digital Artist and has completed illustrated commissions for One Dance UK, Beth Veitch Dance and recently worked with Lila Dance as their Digital Illustrator for new dance theatre work ‘Fault Lines’ (touring in 2024).

Courtney fuses her choreographic and artistic skills and curiosities to produce visually dynamic work that explores how different art forms can live harmoniously in a shared space, within the Harbour Programme she aims to continue building relationships with artists from an array of backgrounds and specialities, produce high-quality dance work that is accessible for all, develop her practice to become more inclusive and create spaces with care and value at its heart.

Find out more about Courtney’s work: https://www.instagram.com/courtm_creative/ 

HurlyBurly Theatre

HurlyBurly Theatre makes playful, multisensory theatre shows for babies and their grown-ups with classical music at their heart. Our shows have toured nationally to theatres and festivals including the Royal Opera House, Chichester Festival Theatre, Polka, Z-arts, Hullabaloo, Half Moon, Pegasus and JustSo Festival as well as internationally for the first time this year at Ziguzajg Children’s Theatre Festival in Malta.

Our current show You are the Sun was inspired by early research & development time at Portsmouth Guildhall (particularly walks around Victoria Park) as well as sharing early performances with Portsmouth audiences. We look forward to co-creating projects with Portsmouth Guildhall and its community during our time on the HARBOUR artist development programme.

HurlyBurly was founded by Artistic Directors Sarah Forbes and Catherine Carter in 2016. We originally trained as classical singers and began to work together as HurlyBurly as very new parents with babes in arms. We make shows that we would have wanted to experience at that time  for ourselves – where babies can be themselves and so can their parents.

​We welcome everyone and work hard to make high quality performances that inspire people to develop a lifelong relationship with singing and music. We are proud to have performed at libraries, art centres, festivals, theatres and opera houses across the country.

Find out more about HurlyBurly Theatre’s work: http://www.hurlyburlytheatre.com/

Luke Brown

Luke Brown is a neurodiverse, male identifying, gay, independent, contemporary dance artist, choreographer, movement director, teacher and Artistic Director of Luke Brown Company. Luke is a Lecturer in Dance at the University of Chichester and Rehearsal Director for mapdance. Luke extends his love of working with performers through his role as Artist Development Producer at The Point, Eastleigh. As a choreographer Luke has been making work since 2012, creating Luke Brown Company in 2014. After graduating from London Studio Centre Luke has performed with Frantic Assembly in ‘FATHERLAND’, English National Opera’s and Phillip Glasses ‘The Perfect American’, Ben Wrights ‘Spectrum’, Junk Ensembles ‘Marble and Bread’, ZoieLogics ‘Echo’ ‘Murmur’ and ‘Stolen Wishes’, Glass House Dances ‘Us’ and Lila Dances ‘The Hotel Experience’ and ‘Faultlines’ to name a few.

As a choreographer Luke has been commissioned to create work for Candoco Dance Co’s youth project, a collaboration between Cando2 and Magpie Dance, English National Ballet’s Dance Journeys youth project, The Place, Laban and Dance East CAT Schemes, the University of Chichesters MA postgraduate company mapdance, Intoto Dance and the BalletBoyz. Luke has created work for mature 50+ based companies such as Dorset based Grace & Growl, Norwich based Cadenza Dance Company, The Place’s over 60’s dance group and Holy Trinity Sloane Squares Earthworks Company. Working with established companies and practitioners has enabled Luke to develop his practice and skills as a collaborative and empathetic creative.

Luke Brown Company loves to work collaboratively and has done so with a multitude of different groups of which Luke is extremely proud of. These include elder performers, dancers with disabilities and learning needs, young people with mental health needs, vulnerable young adults, all male groups, professional dance artists, actors, musicians, fine artists and puppeteers.

Luke has a keen interest in developing the next generation of young aspiring artists which led Luke to set up ORB Youth Dance Co in 2017 offering contemporary dance training and performance opportunities for young performers across Hampshire.

Find out more about Luke’s work: https://www.facebook.com/lukebrowncompany/

Thomas Buckley

Thomas is an artist who works with technology to make work about memory, the senses, archiving and ways we can connect through mixed reality. He feels human stories and memories are the antidote to immoral digital practices and believes we should include and champion those whose opinions aren’t prioritised at tech company board meetings. He is excited to work with Harbour and the Guildhall to explore new ways we can engage with social history; an evolved, reactive and responsible archive, a Memory Library.

An alumni fellow of The Royal Shakespeare Company, Thomas makes work exploring the potential of XR and emergent technologies in drawing out our humanity. Alongside leading projects that combine sensory practice and new media Thomas works with marginalised groups, putting their stories at the forefront of this new artform.

Thomas works with AR, VR, projection, theatre and immersive practices. They creative direct a porous studio of exciting makers and artists toward outcomes that are full of human stories.

Find out more about Thomas’ work: https://www.thomas-buckley.com/