What Do I Do?
I find it tricky to describe my work and the flair I have as a theatre maker and the unique skills I can offer inside a rehearsal space. So let me use the words of other theatre makers I have had the absolute joy to collaborate with over many years, who articulate my very specific talents far better than I ever could.
Sir Gregory Doran, Director
I love working with Mike Ashcroft. He understands actors, and how to get them to move. He understands directors and what it is they think they want, and he makes the rehearsal room a fantastically collaborative fun space to be in.
Mike is an unsung hero, precisely because he sees his job as to serve the play. That makes him a great collaborator, that's why companies always love working with him.
It's a rare skill.
Paule Constable, Lighting Designer
Movement directors have to have many skills - choreographic knowhow; dramaturgical understanding; physical intuition...Mike has them all.
But most of all he has an extraordinary ability to release performers - to help them discover physical truths along with textual truths - to make their performances whole. I have seen him liberate performers - to help then relax and - more than anything else to help them inhabit their character.
And he is also huge fun. A rehearsal room with Mike in it is always a positive place. He is full of play and joy. A vital part of the process - however serious the themes - is to be able to have fun. Joy and fun create trust.
That is Mike's amazing skill - he is a master at creating trust.
Nina Sosanya, Actor
Mike is incredibly easy and creative to work alongside. I've seen him create something from nothing in five minutes, and meticulously craft complex choreography over months. His easy-going light touch means that people of all abilities respond and perform brilliantly.
He's imaginative, collaborative, quick and adaptive, grounded, patient and playful and also a highly skilled performer himself.
Daniella de Niese, Opera Soprano
Mike Ashcroft is not only a dazzlingly brilliant choreographer but a deeply imaginative problem solver. He instils confidence in everyone he works with and helps creative teams bring physical life to even the most intangible ideas and emotions.
Artists and creatives achieve more in his company and his calm and positive outlook is infectious.
Lloyd Newson, Artistic Director of DV8 Physical Theatre
It is extremely difficult finding performers/dancers who understood how to connect meaning to movement, can act, sing, as well as deliver text convincingly.
Mike proved to be excellent in all these fields and rose to all the challenges I threw at him.
Mike has an abundance of skills that are rare to find within the dance theatre world and I found him a joy to work with.
