When you set up Adventures in Motion Pictures you were dancing in, producing and running the company. How on earth did you cope?

Well, I didn’t dance very well.

I only went to study dance after I’d done a History degree. I thought I was much too old to dance, but went to the Laban centre and did a post-grad course. I enjoyed performing there so much that I went back into it at 24.

When did you feel that you’d made the leap (sorry) from dancer to producer?

Not until I stopped dancing, when I was 37. With any kind of freelance living you have to do lots of different sorts of jobs, so I had been doing bits of programming and producing for years. 

When I stopped dancing I applied for what my mother would call my first “proper job” as Associate Director at The Place. I was 37 and suddenly programming 49 companies a year.

What skills as a dancer have you brought to your producer role?

Self-motivation, dedication and collaboration. Dancers are generally very motivated, they apply themselves to things seriously and they aren’t afraid of hard work.

You’ve worked with lots of interesting creative people. What advice do you have for working collaboratively? 

I would recommend you always have research time before you start any big project. The Most Incredible Thing with the Pet Shop Boys was two years in the planning. You need some time in the studio – not only to see if people can work aesthetically together, but to see if they even just get on.

Another thing, which may sound mundane, is sorting out titles and roles from the beginning.

For The Most Incredible Thing you brought together the Pet Shop boys and choreographer Javier de Frutos. Is it a large part of your job bringing people together like that?

Yes, I call it cultural dating. I used to do a meal where I’d invite different people to come together. It’s a nice way to get fresh blood in to the art form.

You’ve done a lot of work “off-site” at Latitude, but also at the Southbank and Glastonbury. What challenges does that throw up?

The main thing is weather. The Latitude stage is outside so I spend most of the weekend worrying about the safety of the performers. You can’t rely on having a flat, warm space to warm up in, dressing rooms that have got running water, lights and privacy, loos near the stage – those basic things that you take for granted in the theatre.

Do you approach your programming differently for a festival?

At one point we were talking about having the blues as a theme for this year’s festival, but that’s now gone – although we’ve kept one of the pieces. The main thing is to choose different bits of work – I want to show our range to people who don’t know who we are or what we do.

There’s ballet, contemporary, hip-hop and a bit of FELA!, which is coming to Sadler’s Wells after Latitude. I can be ambitious because the audiences are so receptive.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you started out?

My first thing would be, always do your budgets with a production manager. Another is work with people you like – it’s too stressy not to. The third would be don’t take no as an answer on things that matter, and be generous on things that don’t.