Lisbon · International

I work with people, ideas and projects in motion.

I work with people, ideas and projects in motion.

Creative Strategist & Communications Specialist | Facilitator | Cultural Producer | Programme & Experience Design

Jaime Alexandra Mears

My work has always been about people.

My work has always been about people.

How we communicate beyond words. What makes a group come alive. Where trust comes from. How ideas gain momentum. How people learn through experience. And how something that doesn’t exist yet gets made.

Jaime facilitating a workshop with a group in a Lisbon rehearsal space

Improvisation Workshop · Solyanka Contemporary Art Gallery · Russia

Background

Different worlds. The same underlying practice.

For over twenty years, I’ve worked across creative practice, education, facilitation and cultural production. I make programmes and experiences that bring people together and turn possibility into action.

For over twenty years, I’ve worked across creative practice, education, facilitation and cultural production. I make programmes and experiences that bring people together and turn possibility into action.

Where I Work

Communication & Presence

Verbal and non-verbal communication: story, what happens between the words, body, tone, rhythm, listening. Then how we build presence, connection and complicity with an audience.

Verbal and non-verbal communication: story, what happens between the words, body, tone, rhythm, listening. Then how we build presence, connection and complicity with an audience.

Facilitation & Group Intelligence

I design participatory experiences for diverse groups, working with trust, energy, collaboration, resistance and the intelligence already present in the room.

I design participatory experiences for diverse groups, working with trust, energy, collaboration, resistance and the intelligence already present in the room.

Improvisation & Imaginative Capacity

I use improvisation to build responsiveness, expand possibility, disrupt habitual thinking and help people act creatively inside uncertainty.

I use improvisation to build responsiveness, expand possibility, disrupt habitual thinking and help people act creatively inside uncertainty.

Learning & Experience Design

I create workshops and learning journeys that people actively experience, not simply consume.

I create workshops and learning journeys that people actively experience, not simply consume.

Cultural Production & Making Things Happen

I take ideas from concept to reality, bringing together people, places, communication, logistics and creative decisions.

I take ideas from concept to reality, bringing together people, places, communication, logistics and creative decisions.

Selected Work

Evolution.new

Evolution.new

Core Facilitator · Guest Teacher · Educational Design Consultant

Immersive international learning programmes bringing together embodied practice, systems thinking, psychology and creative methodologies.

Immersive international learning programmes bringing together embodied practice, systems thinking, psychology and creative methodologies.

What I do: Facilitate programmes, teach, shape learning journeys and develop exercises and content around communication, creativity, group dynamics and change.

What I do: Facilitate programmes, teach, shape learning journeys and develop exercises and content around communication, creativity, group dynamics and change.

Secret Theatre Lisbon

Secret Theatre Lisbon

Founder · Cultural Producer · Creative Director

An intimate cultural project transforming unexpected Lisbon spaces into evenings of performance, encounter, hospitality and participation.

An intimate cultural project transforming unexpected Lisbon spaces into evenings of performance, encounter, hospitality and participation.

What I do: Conceive and curate each experience, bring together artists, venues and audiences, develop partnerships and communications, and produce the project from first idea to live event.

What I do: Conceive and curate each experience, bring together artists, venues and audiences, develop partnerships and communications, and produce the project from first idea to live event.

International Workshops

International Workshops

Workshop Designer · Facilitator · Producer

Selected collaborations

Evolution.new · Rote Nasen · Danske Hospitals Klovne · CliniClowns · NIDA · MONO BOX · Red Nose International. In Portugal Santa Casa · ESTAL · EMAE · Operação Nariz Vermelho

Evolution.new · Rote Nasen · Danske Hospitals Klovne · CliniClowns · NIDA · MONO BOX · Red Nose International. In Portugal Santa Casa · ESTAL · EMAE · Operação Nariz Vermelho

Bespoke workshops and professional-development programmes for artists, educators, healthcare professionals, and within the corporate organisations internationally.

Bespoke workshops and professional-development programmes for artists, educators, healthcare professionals, and within the corporate organisations internationally.

What I do: Design programmes around organisational objectives, liaise with partners before and after delivery, facilitate the work, evaluate outcomes and report back, while also managing the practical production around travel, schedules, venues, materials and logistics.

What I do: Design programmes around organisational objectives, liaise with partners before and after delivery, facilitate the work, evaluate outcomes and report back, while also managing the practical production around travel, schedules, venues, materials and logistics.

Independent Workshops delivered across Europe, Australia, Russia, Canada and the US.

Independent Workshops delivered across Europe, Australia, Russia, Canada and the US.

Some capabilities are difficult to learn from a textbook.

Reading the room

Making complexity accessible

Working with uncertainty

Creating participation

Connecting disparate worlds

Getting things into the world

Ruby Moon · Sydney Theatre Company · 2007 · Photo: Tracey Schramm

Creative Practice

Before any of this came professional theatre.

Trained at NIDA, École Philippe Gaulier and with SITI Company, I’ve worked with leading Australian theatre companies, including Sydney Theatre Company, and internationally as a performer, director, theatre educator and creative practitioner across productions, projects and workshops.

It trained me in sensitivity, flexibility, presence, resourcefulness and brute courage.

It trained me in sensitivity, flexibility, presence, resourcefulness and brute courage.

I’m interested in what happens between people.

How do groups think?

How do groups think?

What shuts creativity down?

What shuts creativity down?

What creates enough trust for people to take risks?

What creates enough trust for people to take risks?

How does hierarchy affect communication?

How does hierarchy affect communication?

What happens when certainty disappears?

What happens when certainty disappears?

How can learning become experience?

How can learning become experience?

Every Brilliant Thing, Mente de Cão Theatre Company

Every Brilliant Thing · Mente de Cão Theatre Company · Beth Freitas

Australian roots. Lisbon base. International practice.

Australian roots. Lisbon base. International practice.

Jaime began her professional life in Australia, is now based in Lisbon and works internationally with people, projects and organisations in motion.

Jaime began her professional life in Australia, is now based in Lisbon and works internationally with people, projects and organisations in motion.

Based in Lisbon · Working internationally · English + Portuguese

Selected Background

NIDA

NIDA

Bachelor of Dramatic Art

École Philippe Gaulier · Paris

École Philippe Gaulier · Paris

Two-year professional training

Churchill Fellow

Churchill Fellow

Evolution.new

Evolution.new

Core Facilitator · Educational Design Consultant

Secret Theatre Lisbon

Secret Theatre Lisbon

Founder · Cultural Producer

Accredited Professional Trainer

Accredited Professional Trainer

I’m drawn to the moment before the answer, when there’s still room to disrupt, invent and find another way through.


I’m interested in possibility, but I’m very good at making things real.


What are you trying to make happen?

What are you trying to make happen?

If you’re building something new, rethinking something old or bringing people together around an idea, I’d like to hear about it.

If you’re building something new, rethinking something old or bringing people together around an idea, I’d like to hear about it.

Let’s talk ↗

jaimemears@gmail.com

WhatsApp · +351 939 063 186

LinkedIn

Secret Theatre Lisbon

Substack