Curating the Groove: Ruth Hardie on Event Programming for Human Connection

This summer, the Southbank Centre has once again transformed into a vibrant hub of artistic expression, hosting a mix of performances, installations, and community events. At the heart of this programme is Ruth Hardie, Head of Public Programming, whose curatorial vision shapes the Centre’s seasonal offerings. With a keen eye for innovation and inclusivity, Ruth helps orchestrate experiences that invite audiences to engage with art in meaningful ways. I sat down with her to explore the philosophy behind her work and the creative pulse driving one of London’s most iconic cultural institutions… and get some top tips for any of you eager event planners out there!

---

HD: ‘How did you get into the creative industries? What brought you here?’

RH: ‘I went to university and took a music degree. But I was really interested in music in community settings: more and more throughout my degree, I realised that it wasn't necessarily pure art that I was interested in, [but] how you can use art to connect people, to solve problems or to have conversations.'

‘I've been at Southbank for maybe 13 years. I've always worked in the Festival Programming team, now called the Public Programming team. I got much more into multi-art form, commissions and co-curation collaboration. I'm really interested in how we, as art centres, can offer ways for people to connect with each other through art and ideas.'

HD: ‘How do you plan events and festivals? Looking at the Southbank Centre's summer festival, Dance Your Way Home, did it just fall onto your desk, or is there more to it?’

RH: ‘[The festival] is a co-curated festival with Emma Warren, the author who wrote the book Dance Your Way Home. If you read that book, it's a really interesting exploration of the spaces that people dance in, and the magic that happens on the dance floor through space-time, history, and through individual stories and conversations. It became really clear quite quickly that the book isn't about dancing or being good at dance. It's about how music influences dance and dance influences music, and how we can be ourselves.'

‘So it started with this amazing book that had so much content in it that the festival, from that point on, almost created itself. We had a meeting with Emma to say we'd be really interested in working with her. We very much didn't want to track [the book] chapter-by-chapter, but we wanted the themes, the spirit, the politics of the book, to jump off the page and be explored by different audiences and in loads of different ways.'

‘We worked with her probably for about nine months now – probably longer. I think we had our first meeting early summer last year. From that point on, we had monthly meetings to talk about ideas. A lot of what we do is really co-curated: it's very much about democratising who makes decisions in our spaces. So we brought that element to it, we picked out the key things that really mattered to her and the key strands of programming and went from there.’

HD: ‘Yes, I’ve started to read the book. It's inspiring to think about the physicality of dancing, the actual dance floor and the space that it's in.’

RH: ‘It's a really amazing read. And I think so much came out of it around a dance floor as a space being nothing without the dance. We see this especially in the stories and the memories that are held in spaces not made for dance: like found spaces such as the street or illegal raves. There's a story in it. The book is really about storytelling, about documenting culture. And it's done through dance floors.’

HD: ‘Did you run a lot of events when you were a student?’

RH: ‘I set up a charity, actually, and I ran it. It was an outreach charity, so we did a mix of educational outreach events and then, like, big student events for fundraising.’

‘I did something, for example, called a 'Grade 1-athon' where every undergrad student had to learn Grade 1 on an instrument that wasn't their own. Then we put together a grade one orchestra, which was fun because these people who were really sound musicians suddenly sounded like rubbish.’

‘I set up a music outreach department for Cambridge University to connect the city to their university, and to connect their students to more practical skills beyond degrees. And then, as part of that, I started programming festivals. I found that festivals, for me, are the perfect version of art expression because it's a way to connect ideas and themes and bring together lots of people for things they might not expect.'

HD: ‘If you had to advise students who are interested in breaking into creative industries and running events, what would you say to them?’

RH: ‘Don't be given permission to do it, just do it. I think the best way to learn anything about running events is to run an event. And I think it's sometimes quite hard to break into, but Emma's book, actually, tells you that you can have an event wherever, whenever. Really carefully planning a house party is planning an event right? Don't be scared to take risks, obviously stay within the boundaries of the law, but don't be scared to take risks and don't be scared to get things wrong.’

‘I know it's not easy. Funding is really tricky, but you don't always need a lot of money. Another thing is to go to lots of events. The best way to learn what does and doesn't work, or is or isn't good, is to see stuff and really develop your taste in the arts. You don't want to get trapped by being told this was good or this was bad, you want to have an opinion on that yourself.’

HD: ‘Final question. Are you a dancer?’

RH: ‘Great question. Well, to quote a very intelligent woman, Emma Warren: "If you dance, you're a dancer, that's where we begin.” I love to dance, I love it. I will dance anywhere, wherever. One of the best things I've ever done was the Notting Hill Carnival. I love salsa music, I love Latin American music, actually, a different genre, but I love it! I spent a lot of time in South America; I like all those styles. Anything with a bit of rhythm, a bit of a groove to it.’