Rambert appoints Rebecca Hanna-Grindall as Chief Executive Officer

Rambert today announces the appointment of Rebecca Hanna-Grindall as Chief Executive, taking up the role on 18 January 2027.

Hanna-Grindall will join Artistic Director Benoit Swan Pouffer in leading Rambert into its second century. Her arrival comes ahead of the world premiere of It’s a Sin, the company’s major new production inspired by Russell T Davies’s acclaimed Channel 4 drama, opening in February 2027.

She succeeds Helen Shute, who steps down on 2 October 2026 after nearly a decade at Rambert to become Chief Executive of English National Opera.

Hanna-Grindall joins Rambert from Southbank Centre, where she has worked since 2011 and served as Director of Arts Planning and Producing since 2020. Her career spans more than 20 years at organisations including the Royal Court Theatre, the BBC, Fuel and Southbank Centre producing ambitious multidisciplinary work and large-scale cultural programmes.

At Southbank Centre, she helped shape and deliver an artistic programme amounting to over 1300 live events per year across the 11 acre site, combining creative ambition with long-term financial planning, risk management and governance. This includes the recent launches of Multitudes and Creative Intelligence festivals, free to access Open Doors programme, new artistic strategies and commissioning initiatives, and site wide take overs including We Should Have Never Walked on the Moon, Rambert and (LA)HORDE’s 2025 immersive dance installation. Her past producing credits include Meltdown, Unlimited, London Literature Festival, Women of the World and Africa Utopia, alongside performances, installations and immersive projects. Rebecca is also Chair of Ministry of Stories, an arts and education charity in Hackney that delivers free workshops to champion the writer in every child.

Between 3 October 2026 and 17 January 2027, Rambert will be led collectively by its Senior Executive Team: Helen Searl (Interim Executive Director), Anna Williams (Chief Operating Officer) and Benoit Swan Pouffer (Artistic Director), with Board oversight.

Of her appointment, Rebecca Hanna-Grindall says:

“I am delighted and honoured to be joining Rambert as Chief Executive. I have long admired its outstanding artistic achievements, pioneering productions, and commitment to public programmes, education, and community engagement. It is a privilege to join such talented creative and administrative teams as we shape the organisation’s next chapter. 

I am deeply grateful to Helen Shute, for her exceptional leadership and vision, and for all she and Benoit Swan Pouffer have done to strengthen the company. I look forward to working closely with Benoit, Chair Rafaël Biosse Duplan, the Board, and the whole Rambert team to build on Marie Rambert’s legacy, keeping her spirit of curiosity and reinvention alive for a new generation of artists and audiences.”

Rafaël Biosse Duplan, Chair of Rambert said:

“In Rebecca, I see a leader whose ambition is matched by judgement and resolve, qualities she has demonstrated at Southbank Centre. She will build on Helen’s achievements and champion Benoit’s artistic vision, bringing Rambert’s work to new audiences. We want Rambert to be fearless in its art and assured in its future. Rebecca shares that conviction, and I am delighted to welcome her.

On behalf of the board, I warmly thank Helen for her leadership and all she has given Rambert over nearly a decade. We wish her every success at English National Opera.”

Benoit Swan Pouffer, Artistic Director said:

“Rebecca understands both the scale of our artistic ambition and what it takes to make that ambition possible. I’m excited to work with her as we imagine what Rambert can be in its second century.”