Supporting the development of a bold new narrative ballet through strategic crowdfunding and campaign mentorship.
Joseph Poulton is a London-based dancer and choreographer currently developing Eliza! A Bloomin’ New Ballet. This brand-new production reinvents the classic story of Pygmalion through the lens of class, self-determination, and reinvention.
To bring this vision to life, Joseph chose to run a crowdfunding campaign to fund the initial Research & Development (R&D) phase. As his first major public-facing choreographic project of this scale, the challenge was not just raising funds, but building a new audience from scratch.
Joseph approached Moving Art Management for strategic mentorship. Rather than simply delivering a campaign, we empowered Joseph with the tools to lead his own growth through a crowdfunding strategy and campaign guidance that can be used now, and for future crowd funders.
This resulted in:
Successfully raising the crowdfunding target in 10 weeks to enable the initial R&D phase.
The subsequent workshop performance was a resounding success, receiving positive feedback from both public audiences and industry guests.
Following the success of the R&D, Joseph secured National Lottery funding from Arts Council England to develop the piece into a fully staged workshop performance later in 2026.
Teresa Guerreiro, Dance Writer, attended the workshop and described it as: “A very theatrical show, with its vibrant choreography and skilful story-telling, Eliza A Bloomin’ New Ballet immediately immerses the audience in a long ago Covent Garden in the shadow of its famous Royal Opera House.”
Joseph Poulton said of his work with MAM: "Your advice around strategy – particularly with the crowdfunding – and your overall support during the process were invaluable.”
“I truly felt guided and supported at every stage, which made a huge difference in helping me realise the project. I genuinely couldn’t have achieved what I did without your help along the way."
Performance photo credits: Dom Eden Owen