National Dance Forum 2013 Speakers | Presenters | Facilitators Biographies

NATIONAL DANCE FORUM 2013 SPEAKERS | PRESENTERS | FACILITATORS BIOGRAPHIES

JEFF KHAN | NDF FACILITATOR Jeff Khan is a curator and writer working across performance, dance and the visual arts, with a particular interest in interdisciplinary projects and site-specific and socially-engaged practices. He is currently Co-Director/CEO of Performance Space, Sydney. With Co-Director Bec Dean, Jeff leads Performance Space’s artistic and creative development programs, which span performance, dance, visual arts, participatory events and interdisciplinary and intercultural collaborations. From 2006- 2010 Jeff was Artistic Director of Next Wave, overseeing the development and delivery of the 2008 Next Wave Festival: CLOSER TOGETHER and the 2010 Next Wave Festival: NO RISK TOO GREAT, as well as Next Wave’s Kickstart development program and numerous special projects. Previously, Jeff has held roles Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, PICA and John Curtin Gallery, and in 2002 undertook an internship at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. He was a member of the Australia Council Dance Board from 2008-2011, and is currently a Board Member of Chunky Move and PACT Centre for Emerging Artists.

JANENNE WILLIS | NDF GUEST CO-FACILITATOR Janenne is a wave rider, in every sense of the term.

As founder of Undercurrent, she enables organisations to surf the waves of change. While as Chair of Next Wave she supports the future of Australian art.

Janenne is a strategist, change agent and a seasoned facilitator. She’s a fellow of the Williamson Community Leadership Program, a recipient of a Leadership Victoria commendation for Community Leadership and an MBA.

And as a respected thought-leader in innovation, Janenne has made a few waves of her own. Not least, enabling cultural transformation within notoriously conservative industries. And what does she do in her spare time? Take one guess. @undercurrentvox | au.linkedin.com/in/janenne/ | www.undercurrent.com.au

KEYNOTE ARTIST-IN-CONVERSATION # 1 DALISA PIGRAM Dalisa was born and raised in Broome North Western Australia and comes from the Yawuru people of Broome and Bardi people of the Dampier Peninsular in the Kimberley region. After school, Dalisa completed the Advanced Certificate in Aboriginal Musical Theatre Course accredited by Edith Cowan University in Perth W.A. and has performed and travelled with Corrugation Road and the cabaret version of Bran Nue Dae, both musicals written by Jimmy Chi.

Dalisa is a founding member and was appointed Co-Artistic Director of Marrugeku in 2009. She has been a co-devising performer on all productions. She has toured extensively with the company all over the world and Australia with shows Mimi, Crying Baby, Burning Daylight (co conceived, assistant

1 choreographer and cultural liaison) and Buru (conceived, choreographed and co-directed) for which in 2012 travelled on Marrugeku’s inaugural tour and cultural exchange program to North America. Dalisa has toured with Stalker’s Blood Vessel and Incognita (co devisor) and has co curated Marrugeku’s trilogy of International Indigenous Cultural Laboratories with Rachael Swain.

Dalisa hopes to strengthen her culture through performing arts and teaching language in schools in her community. She is particularly interested in exploring methods in devised processes that combine different forms of movement to create exciting new approaches to performance. Dalisa received the Kullarri NAIDOC Festival Award for Performing Artist of the Year in 2008. In 2010 she was recipient of the Australia Council’s OYEA initiative with which she researched and developed her solo Gudirr Gudirr for which premieres at Dance Massive 2013.

DAVID PLEDGER David Pledger is an intermedia artist working within and between performing, visual and media arts. His work has been presented and exhibited in theatres, galleries museums, a car-park, a stable, a cattleyard, a film studio, an army and navy club, a suburban house, and in public spaces in Europe, Asia and Australia in the context of arts and film festivals, visual arts and performing arts programs. When developing projects he begins with ideas that then determine the artistic mediums of exploration. He has built an extensive cross-disciplinary dramaturgy from his initial practice - live performance - in which a central platform is consulting with and involving in art-making processes artists across artforms and experts from social and academic fields. He tends to build projects of scale and on an international level. His current performance projects include the sport-art public space project Training Squad and the music-dance mobile laboratory Ampersand in which he has led the development of a new system for reading music and movement in which composition and improvisation have the same creative source. He is the founding artistic director of the interdisicplinary arts group, not yet it's difficult (NYID).

David also works as a cultural operator in a curatorial capacity, as an artist’s advocate and as an adviser and consultant to arts organizations in and out of Australia. His primary focus has been to create new initiatives for artists working in the contemporary field.

KEYNOTE ARTIST-IN-CONVERSATION # 2 Garry Stewart in conversation with Anne Thompson

GARRY STEWART Artistic Director – Australian Dance Theatre

Following a career as a dancer for various Australian companies and subsequently as an independent choreographer based in Sydney, Australia, Garry Stewart was appointed as the Artistic Director of Australian Dance Theatre in late 1999.

The hallmark of Garry Stewart’s choreography has been to explore the body through extremes of velocity and power as well as collaborating with artists working in other media such as robotics, photography, architecture and video. His repertoire of main stage works for ADT has been the foundation upon which the company has been able to rapidly grow its significant international

2 reputation. Birdbrain, The Age of Unbeauty, Nothing, HELD, Devolution, G, Be Your Self, Worldhood and Proximity are tremendously varied in their respective conceptual underpinnings and dance vocabulary.

In 2006 he collaborated with theatre director Nigel Jamieson to make the multi award winning Honour Bound which chronicled the incarceration of Australian citizen David Hicks in Guantanomo Bay.

In 2010 he created a video installation work titled Collision Course for over 100 dancers and sport people in Perth, Western Australia.

Garry’s growing influence on the international scene has led to invitations to create new work for international companies such as Rambert Dance Company, Ballet de l’Opera National du Rhin and the Royal Ballet of Flanders. He is currently making a new work for The Australian Ballet based on the architecture of the new Australian Parliament House for the Centenary of Canberra.

Garry has studied Communications at the University of Technology, Sydney. He continues to explore technological domains and is currently Thinker in Residence (2012/13) at Deakin University, working with their Motion.Lab to develop new ways of using animation & 3D technology for live dance performance.

ANNE THOMPSON Anne Thompson has been a contemporary dancer, choreographer, tertiary level teacher, journal editor, academic, reviewer with Real Time, dramaturge and director, primarily in visual and physical theatre, with independent artists and small companies (Terrapin, Snuff Puppets, My Darling Patricia). She was a founding member of Dance Works and one of the founding editors of the theoretical journal, Writings On Dance. She has had an ongoing relationship with Garry Stewart and Daniel Jaber from ADT as a dramaturge. In 2001 she co-founded the Eleventh Hour Theatre project in Melbourne with William Henderson. The company has focused on juxtaposing poetic and dramatic language in theatre performances and reframing classic texts. In 2008 they presented their award winning version of Beckett’s End Game in the Melbourne International Festival and in 2010 they presented their award winning version of Shakespeare’s King John in the Adelaide International Festival. In 2008 was appointed Director of the Drama Centre (an actor and director training program) at Flinders University. She teaches directing in the program.

SATURDAY 16TH MARCH

BLAKDANCE FIRST NATIONS DANCE PANEL CHAIR |MARILYN MILLER B.Bus Marilyn has worked in a variety of capacities since being sole female co-founder, Dancer/Choreographer of Australia's first Indigenous mainstream Company, Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre - the Company, ranging from Actor, Dancer, Dance teacher, Choreographer, Artistic Director, and Arts Administrator.

She has choreographed for Dance, Theatre, and Television, had a video installation of Contemporary Indigenous Welcome Dances residing in the First Peoples Gallery, Australian National Museum, and along with the rest of her family has been honoured in the Queensland Museum – Dandiiri Maiwar exhibition.

Marilyn was an Australia Day Ambassador (2002), and in 2008 directed the historic Opening of 42nd Parliament – Welcome to Country.

She was Australia’s National Indigenous Dance Coordinator 2007-2009, and CEO of one of Australia’s newest Arts organisations, BlakDance Australia Ltd 2010-2011.

Marilyn has been Chair of the NSW Ministry for the Arts Dance committee, as well as peer assessor for Arts Qld, Australia Council-Dance, and Brisbane City Council. Recently Marilyn was Artistic Director and curatorial panel member for the Festival of Pacific Arts 2012 – Australian Delegation. She was also recently appointed co-Deputy Chair of Ausdance National.

Marilyn produced, directed and co-choreographed her new work PopWhistleCrack in Cairns early 2012 at the Centre of Contemporary Arts. Currently she is Festival Director for the Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival 2013.

SPEAKERS ERIC AVERY Eric Avery (Born 15/05/1989) is an independent emerging contemporary dancer and musician/violinist currently based in Sydney, NSW. As a child he learned Indigenous dance then moved onto physical theatre when he was 13 (Butoh, Sizuki, Viewpoints) and then classical ballet and contemporary dance when he was 16. Eric is Indigenous Australian and belongs to the Yuin, Ngiyampaa and Gumbangirri tribes of NSW of which he is also a custodian of Ngiyampaa Wangaypuwaan traditional songs and dances from his Father’s line.

Eric has danced for choreographers and companies such as Opera Australia, Francis Rings, Deon Hastie, Narelle Benjamin, Mikuni Yanaihara (NIBROLL dance collective, Yokohama), Jacob Boheme (Idja Dance Theatre), Soo Yuen, Vicki Van Hout, Tammi Gissell and Jasmine Gulash.

In 2012 Eric completed a mentorship program with the Australian Ballet. His mentor was Helen Cameron and coaches Noelle Shader and Paula Baird-Colt. His mentorship encompassed Teaching dance and dance creation/design with Helen Cameron. He also was able to experience the Kinetic Sensory Studies with Helen Cameron. He also had coaches Noelle Shader (Ballet Technique) and Paula Baird-Colt (Body/Mind Care). His time with the Australian Ballet also led him to teach Kinetic Sensory Dance workshops around the east coast of Australia with the Australian Ballet Education Ensemble

Now Eric is currently in a 1st stage development of Vicki Van Hout's Longrass.

Choreographically Eric has been developing a solo exploring the voice as an impetus for movement creation in reference to Ngiyampaa language patterns.

TAMMI GISSELL Tammi Gissell descends from the Muruwari nation of North-Western NSW – quite literally the Back o’ Bourke.

She is a dancer, teacher, choreographer, poetess and performance theory scholar.

She holds a Bachelor of Performance: Theory and Practice (Honours) from the University of Western Sydney (UWS); for which she was inducted into the Golden Key International Honour Society in 2004, and graduated Deans' Medallist and Reconciliation Scholar in 2005. Her Honours Degree research into sacred gesture and posture & the formation of body identity made the UWS Deans’ Honour Roll again in 2006.

From 2007 – 2011 she was Course Coordinator at the National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA Dance College). In 2011, she held residency at the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts (ACPA) and was commissioned to write for the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.

Tammi has lectured widely, including the University of Newcastle, Queensland University of Technology, the Victorian College of the Arts and has presented research to the World Dance Alliance.

Feather + Tar: a cabaret of sorrows premiered at Blakdance 2012, followed with choreographic commissions for OCHRE Dance Company (W.A) and Canberra Dance Theatre for the National Gallery in 2013. Tammi will be presenting highlights from two new works at Dance Massive 2013.

GARY LANG Gary Lang is a Larrakia man. He trained at the National Aboriginal and Islander Dance School (NAISDA) and has toured nationally and internationally with some of Australia's premier dance companies, the Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Dancenorth and Tracks Inc.

Gary is a dynamic dancer, choreographer and performer and a much loved and revered figure in the NT dance community. He strives actively to maintain a strong cultural identity, acting as an ambassador for his culture through his practice. In 2012 Gary received a Fellowship from the Australia Council for the Arts Dance Board to focus on the development of his choreographic practice. He has remained based in Darwin however this opportunity has allowed him to pursue skills development nationally and internationally.

RITA PRYCE Rita Pryce was born and raised in the Torres Strait Islands. Her family is the Kulkalgal people of the Central region and their family totem is Gaw, a small messenger bird of the reef. Rita is currently based in Cairns and always looks forward to visiting her people back home in the Islands, where she is well respected. She is also accepted by Aboriginal families in communities around Australia such as Ramingining (NT), where she was adopted and given the name Gunantharr (a small crane). She has been doing Traditional Torres Strait Island Dance from as far back as she can remember and has grown to learn and respect other dance styles, Indigenous and Non- Indigenous. Rita endeavors to share her experiences through non-verbal storytelling and describes her style of choreography as

‘lyrical’. Rita came to live in Cairns after returning from Sydney and six years ago brought together a performing group after realizing the potential in Far North Queensland, and it was then that Baiwa Dance Company came to life. The stories she chooses to stage resonate not only with her own people but also with audiences from all over Australia and the world. Rita travelled to England (UK) for 3 weeks in late 2012 as part of the British Council’s Accelerate Leadership Program. Her experience there has inspired her to establish a centre for the maintenance of Torres Strait Island Dance, Art, Cultural Practices and Knowledge.

She believes that one of her responsibilities is to utilize her cultural knowledge and play a part in educating audiences of the issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in today’s society, by way of traditional and contemporary art forms.

'WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS IT TO MAKE SENSE OF THIS?' CHAIR | ELIZABETH WALSH Elizabeth Walsh’s work and knowledge span the performing and visual arts from small to medium size companies to majorcenters for the creative arts and international multi art form festivals.

Formerly the Artistic Director of Ten Days on the Island (2007, 2009 & 2011), she was also the orginsations Executive Producer and CEO (2000 -2005) establishing the new festival in Tasmania. Previously, Elizabeth has been Program Manager of the Sydney Festival and Sydney Opera House Trust and former Director of Footscray Community Arts Centre and member of the MRPG working as the producer of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus.

Elizabeth is currently the Chair of the Dance Board of the Australia Council having served as a Board Member (2008- 2012), Board Member of Terrapin Puppet Theatre (2012- ), Former member of the Steering Committee of the Theatre Council of Tasmania having been the convener and inaugural Chair of the Council (2010 - 2012), member of the Artistic Advisory Panel for Tasmania Performs (2012)

SPEAKERS LEE CHRISTOFIS Lee Christofis has been the Curator of Dance at the National Library of Australia since 2006 and until 2010 the Library’s senior researcher on Our Cultural Revolution - the Ballets Russes in Australia, an ARC project, Lee curated a related exhibition in 2008 and wrote three chapters for The Ballets Russes in Australia and Beyond– 1936-1940 (Wakefield, 2010). A former Queensland Ballet dancer, Lee has been a dance critic and commentator for ABC arts programs since 1981. Key works for Classic FM include two series, Stravinsky’s Ballets and The Astonishing Ballets Russes, and interviews with choreographers Lin Hwai-min, Glen Tetley and Jiri Kylian, composers Ross Edwards and Richard Mills, ballerina Irina Baronova and conductor Markus Stenz. Lee has written for 24 Hours, Dance Australia, Brolga, the Australian Book Review, Tanz Forum, Melbourne Festival and The Australian Ballet. From 1994 to 2006 he was the Melbourne dancer critic and features writer for The Australian.

Recent publications include Shaping the Landscape (Routledge), Luminous: Celebrating 50 years of The Australian Ballet; Artistic Vibrancy in The Australian, Queensland and West Australian Ballets,

Bangarra Dance Theatre and Sydney Dance Company (The Australia Council), which was later expanded and published in Australasian Drama Studies, December 2011.

MAIJA ERÄNEN Special guest from the Dance Massive international delegation Maija Eränen works as a producer at Zodiak – Center for New Dance in Helsinki. Zodiak is a progressive dance organisation and the most significant production house of contemporary dance in Finland. Prior to Zodiak, Maija has worked years in the contemporary circus field in artistic companies Circo Aereo and Race Horse Company as well as at ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival, which presents site-specific works made for public space.

RAEWYN HILL Raewyn Hill was appointed Artistic Director of Dancenorth, Australia in 2010.

Raewyn has held several prestigious positions in dance throughout the world, including Cite Des Arts (Paris), Baryshnikov Arts Centre (New York), Juilliard (New York), Bolshoi Ballet Academy (Moscow), Beijing Dance Academy (China), The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (China), The Hong Kong Arts Festival (China).

Her work has been presented by festivals and venues worldwide, including New Zealand Arts Festivals: Auckland, Nelson, Christchurch, Taupo and Dunedin; Brisbane ArtsFestival (Australia), Sydney Opera House (Australia), Ten Days on the Island (Tasmania), Hong Kong Arts Festival (China), Peter Sharpe Theatre (New York), COCA (Australia), Bolshoi Theatre (Russia), Baryshnikov Arts Centre (New York).

Raewyn has created three critically acclaimed works for Dancenorth including, the cry (2010), Black Crows (2010) and MASS (2011), receiving a 2012 Helpmann Award nomination for Best Ballet or Dance Work for her creation MASS.

MARION POTTS Marion is Malthouse Theatre’s Artistic Director. She has worked with many of the country’s finest theatre companies and was most recently Bell Shakespeare’s Associate Artistic Director, creating its development arm Mind’s Eye. Marion was Resident Director for Sydney Theatre Company from 1995-1999. She curated the 2003 National Playwrights’ Conference, was a chairperson of World Interplay and a member of the Theatre Board of the Australia Council. Marion received the Helpmann Award for Best Direction of a Play in 2006. For Malthouse Theatre, Marion has directed Wild Surmise, Blood Wedding, Meow Meow’s Little Match Girl and its return season at the Southbank Centre in London, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, Sappho...in 9 fragments, Venus & Adonis (with Bell Shakespeare). Other theatre directing credits include Bell Shakespeare: King Lear, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, Othello. Sydney Theatre Company: The Wonderful World of Dissocia, Playgrounds, Volpone, Don Juan, Life After George, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Crucible, Navigating, Del Del, Closer, The Herbal Bed, What Is The Matter With Mary Jane?, Pygmalion, Where Are We Now?, The Café Latte Kid, The Blessing, Two Weeks With The Queen (Touring Production). Melbourne Theatre Company: Grace. State Theatre Company of South Australia: Equus, The Torrents, Gary’s House, A Number, The Goat or Who Is Sylvia? Queensland Theatre Company: Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset.

JAKE SHACKLETON Jake studied piano performance at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music from 2000- 2003. After coming to the realisation that a career as a classical musician was unlikely, he pursued a series of jobs ranging from an usher at numerous performing arts venues around Melbourne, to working as an oncology pharmacy technician at a number of public hospitals. He has worked at the Melbourne Zoo, a two week short-lived stint at Vue de Monde, and too many call centres to mention. In 2011 Jake graduated with Bachelor degrees in Environmental Science and Business Management from RMIT. Since early 2011 Jake has worked in the role of Environmental Engineer for the Port of Melbourne Corporation, where he works on diverse projects ranging from managing the risks of Climate Change, to ensuring environmental compliance within the maritime sector. In 2012 Jake was thrilled to join the the US tour cast of Lucy Guerin Inc's "Untrained", performing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Next Wave Festival, and at the Mondavi Centre, Davis, California. He will tour with the show again later this year to the Dublin Dance Festival, and Southbank Centre, London. Jake credits Lee Serle as his greatest contemporary dance influence, and for putting up with him through all the twist-and turns of his working life.

DRAMATURGY, OUTSIDE EYE OR FEEDBACK? FACILITATOR |JANENNE WILLIS See above (page 1) for biography

PROVOCATEURS MARTIN DEL AMO Martin Del Amo is a Sydney-based dancer and choreographer. He is best known for his full-length solos, fusing idiosyncratic movement and intimate storytelling. These include It’s a Jungle Out There (2009), Never Been This Far Away From Home (2007) and Under Attack(2005), all of which received significant critical acclaim. In recent years, Martin has extended his practice to choreographing group works and solos for others including Anatomy of an Afternoon (Sydney Opera House, 2012 Sydney Festival) and Mountains Never Meet (Riverside Parramatta, 2011). Martin regularly teaches for a wide range of arts organisations and companies and has extensively worked as mentor and consultant on projects initiated by young and emerging artists. He also writes and regularly contributes to RealTime magazine. Martin has been nominated for a Helpmann Award (Best Dance Work or Ballet 2012) and two Australian Dance Awards – Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance (2010) and Best Male Dancer (2005). His work has toured nationally and internationally (UK, Japan, Brazil). He is supported by Managing and Producing Services (MAPS) NSW, a joint initiative supported by the Australia Council and Arts NSW. MAPS NSW is managed by Performing Lines

RACHAEL SWAIN Rachael Swain is a founding member and co artistic director (with Dalisa Pigram) of Marrugeku (1994-present). Rachael directs Marrugeku’s productions, created in situ in remote Indigenous communities, including Mimi (1996), Crying Baby (2000), Burning Daylight (2006) and Buru, co directed with Dalisa Pigram (2010). Rachael is also a director of Stalker Theatre in Sydney, her large scale dance, circus and multimedia productions have included Blood Vessel (1998), Incognita, co

8 directed with Koen Augustijnen (2003) and the Chinese Australian martial arts and dance theatre thriller Shanghai Lady Killer (2010).

Rachael has a 50% practice/ 50% theory PhD, from Melbourne University researching dramaturgy in Indigenous dance theatre and a practice based MA in Advanced Theatre and Dance Research from Das Arts, Amsterdam. Following her commitment to practice lead research Rachael has curated Stalker’s trilogy of Dance Dramaturgy Laboratories in Sydney (2010-2014) and together with Dalisa Pigram has curated Marrugeku’s International Indigenous Choreographic Labs. The labs exploring new choreographic pathways to contemporary intercultural and Indigenous dance have taken place in Sydney, Broome and Auckland. IICL4 will be in Toronto in 2014. Rachael is currently the dramaturge and creative producer for Marrugeku’s Gudirr Gudirr premiering at Dance Massive.

INDUSTRY PREVIEW SCREENING – VIRTUOSI SUE HEALEY Sue Healey is a choreographer, educator, installation artist and filmmaker based in Sydney. Experimenting with form and perception, Healey creates dance for diverse spaces; theatres, galleries and for film; as a commissioned choreographer and for her own companies.

Works made in Sydney include 3 collections: Niche series (2002-04), In Time series (2005-07) and The Curiosities series (2008-12). These encompass 18 works across live performance, dance film, gallery installations and international collaborations. They have won awards nationally and internationally and the major works from each series have been presented by Sydney Opera House and have toured to Melbourne, Canberra, New Zealand and Japan.

Her feature-length film Virtuosi premiered in September 2012 in New Zealand and is Competition at International Festival of Films on Art in Montreal and will screen at Dance on Camera Festival, Lincoln Centre, New York, the Auckland Arts Festival and 10 Days on the Island Festival, Tasmania. Virtuosi - 3 channel installation will also be premiered at 10 Days on the Island Festival in March 2013.

'WHAT ROLE DOES DANCE EDUCATION PLAY IN SHAPING AUSTRALIAN CULTURE FOR TOMORROW?’ CHAIR |JEFF MEINERS Jeff Meiners is a lecturer and researcher at the University of South Australia’s Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences. He has taught extensively in schools, universities, as leader of a dance education team in London initiating youth dance initiatives, and as Outreach Manager with Ausdance NSW, working with artists, teachers and community workers to support dance development in metropolitan and rural regions. Work includes partnerships with Ausdance National as a key member of the National Advocates for Arts Education, government and education departments, projects in England, Portugal, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Taiwan, and as movement director for children’s theatre. Jeff was Community Representative for the Australia Council’s Dance Board (2002-7), winner of the 2009 Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Services to Dance Education and was 2010 dance writer for the Arts Shape paper for the new

Australian national curriculum. Jeff chaired Arts SA’s Independent Makers and Presenters Panel (2011-13) and was a member of the committee planning the 2012 daCi / WDA Global Summit ‘Dance, Young People & Change’ at Taipei National University for the Arts. Jeff’s doctoral research focuses on factors impacting upon the construction and realization of an inclusive Australian primary school dance curriculum.

SPEAKERS JANICE DEANS Dip Teaching Early Childhood | Graduate Diploma Movement and Dance | Graduate Diploma Visual and Performing Arts | MEd PhD (ongoing)

Jan Deans is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Melbourne Australia and Director of the Early Learning Centre, which is the research and demonstration preschool attached to the Melbourne Graduate School of Education within the university. She is also the Professional Partnership Coordinator for the Master of Teaching (EC) program, working with Teacher Candidates and Mentor Teachers across five networks in inner city Melbourne. She is a long time advocate for the development of innovative and exemplary early childhood pedagogy and is particularly committed to children’s expressive learning through the arts, in particular young children’s meaning making through dance. Jan has worked both locally and internationally in early childhood, primary, tertiary, and special education settings over a long career that has spanned forty years. She has broadly based expertise in relation to early childhood education and service delivery and her recent research interests include learning through dance (PhD ongoing), social emotional competence, art and story as a vehicle for cross-cultural learning and children’s learning through music. She has been the recipient of a number of research grants and awards and has published widely. In 1997 she established Boorai -The Children's Art Gallery that is now involved in projects with children and teachers in all parts of the world.

ASSOC. PROF. JENNY KINDER Throughout her career, Jenny Kinder has been devoted to the education and training of young dance artists and to the development of Australian contemporary choreography. Born in Melbourne, Jenny’s early training was with Shirley McKechnie, performing in McKechnie’s Contemporary Dance Theatre 1963-1972.

Jenny’s career in the tertiary sector began at Rusden State College, now Deakin University, in 1975. She transferred to the Department of Drama and Dance in 1978 to work again with McKechnie, and contribute to the development of Australia’s first dance major in a Bachelor of Education. At the invitation of Dame Margaret Scott, she also taught Graham technique at The Australian Ballet School 1979-81.

She was founding Artistic Director of Tasdance, Australia's first Dance-in-Education company,1981- 1994. Tasdance became renowned for its highly innovative repertoire, unique School Residency Program and regional community performances.

In Perth 1995-1999, Jenny taught at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Appointed as Head, School of Dance at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2000 Jenny has championed Australian choreographic practice through support for emerging and established

10 choreographers and the development of the next generation of dance artists. She is a recipient of the Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance Education (2005).

SUE MULLANE Sue Mullane (B.Ed, Grad Dip Movement Dance, M.Ed. (Dance) is an experienced special educator and dance-movement therapist. She has worked with a focus on trauma and disability with adults and children in many settings in NSW and Victoria. Sue's early involvement with dance in education in Wollongong, NSW included a role as inaugural Regional Dance Consultant K-12 (1990). A 'Teacher Service Fellowship' in 1992 assisted Sue to investigate dance therapy research and practice. She completed the Graduate Diploma of Movement and Dance (University of Melbourne) and worked with the therapeutic use of movement with special needs adults and children in community and educational settings. Her five-year collaboration with Sarah McGregor developing group movement programs for women at South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault (SECASA), Melbourne, was documented in her M.Ed research project. Sue currently works as a movement specialist in a special developmental school in Melbourne. Her professional interests include articulating the contribution dance can make to the positive growth and development of children with disabilities. With Kim Dunphy, Sue is contributing a chapter on the importance of dance for special needs children in A Handbook on Dance and Wellbeing to be published by Oxford University Press, UK (2013).

GERARD VELTRE Over the last 15 years Gerard Veltre has worked with diverse groups of young people and their communities around Australia to foster an inclusive culture of dance and theatre that champions artistic expression. These communities include remote Aboriginal communities and young people in prisons.

Gerard Veltre’s professional artistic work and collaborations reflect the diversity of his ‘grass roots’ experiences. Some notable past works includes the award winning hip-hop dance theatre show ‘Melbourne Breaks’ featuring some of Australia’s best break-dancers and the ‘Sound of Silence’ Australia’s first full-length dance piece made with all deaf dancers.

Gerard is currently Artistic Director of ‘Phunktional’ a company dedicated to making entertaining art that creatively explores issues about conflict and social justice to promote wellbeing and sustainability. www.phunktional.org.au.

BEYOND HYBRIDITY: CURRENT AUSTRALIA / ASIA PACIFIC DANCE PRACTICES CHAIR | ASSOC. PROF. CHERYL STOCK Cheryl Stock is Associate Professor in Dance and coordinator of the Doctorate of Creative Industries at QUT, a research doctorate that privileges professional practice. She lectures in Australian, Asian, intercultural, site-specific and interactive dance as well as in research methods, and has a leading role in research training in the Faculty. Cheryl publishes widely in all these areas. As Secretary General of World Dance Alliance she is committed to supporting opportunities for dance makers and performers as well as scholars to share practices across the Asia-Pacific region in particular. Cheryl has enjoyed a long career as a dancer, choreographer and director prior to undertaking an academic career. Founding Artistic Director of Dance North, Cheryl has created over 50 dance and theatre

11 works including 20 cultural exchanges, many of which were in Vietnam resulting in her PhD 'Making Intercultural Dance in Vietnam'. Cheryl is the recipient of an Australian Dance Awards Lifetime Achievement Award. www.accentedbody.com. Publications can be sourced at http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Stock,_Cheryl.html

SPEAKERS JULIA MAGEAU GRAY Growing up in an environment which encouraged performance and a sense of pride of one’s heritage, Gray has spent her career spreading this ethos to the members of Sunameke, the performance group she co-founded in Adelaide in 1997. From its origins as a four-piece, Sunameke has since grown and changed in number and line-up and has spawned many productions which have been showcased in both Australia and New Zealand. Alongside her role as Artistic Director of Sunameke, Gray has enjoyed other career highlights working with various other companies including Tracks Dance Theatre, Drum Drum, NRL Education and Welfare, and Moko Ink. Tours of the Pacific Islands and the United States have exposed Gray to the global market on varying levels and continue to form the way she works today.

ANNALOUISE PAUL Annalouise Paul is an independent choreographer, dancer and actor who has worked extensively in theatre, radio, opera, music videos, film and television in London, Los Angeles and Australia. She trained in contemporary dance at Laban Centre, London and from key flamenco maestros in Seville and Madrid. She danced for Bill T. Jones Co, Aletta Collins, Antonio Vargas, Karole Armitage and commercially for Michael Jackson, Los Angeles Opera, Australian Dance Awards, Sydney Festival and was assistant choreographer on True Lies.

Annalouise has been creating intercultural dance theatre since 1988 exploring cultural identity and transformation, traditional forms and live music. Theatre of Rhythm and Dance was launched in 2011 with Game On, a duet for Indian tabla and contemporary dance at the Sydney Opera House. Game On toured India in Interface Festival in 2012 supported by Arts NSW and AusIndia Council, DFAT. Other works Isabel, Yourbloodyfather, Demokratia, Sevillanas were supported by Australia Council, Arts NSW, Critical Path, Arts On Tour, ConnectEd and Greater London Arts. In 2013, Mother Tongue is in creative development at Bundanon Trust; a new solo work Self Portrait and a new Kathak-Flamenco collaboration in Kolkata. Annalouise plays a vital role in Australia’s culturally diverse arts sector as founder of Groundswell Arts NSW for the advocacy and advancement of multicultural arts practice.

ADE SUHARTO Ade Suharto (Dancer/Choreographer) is a dance graduate from the University of Adelaide and studied classical Javanese dance in Solo with the support of a Darmasiswa Scholarship from the Indonesian Government. Ade has worked with prominent artists in the Asia-Pacific region, including choreographers Boi Sakti, Hartati, Eko Supriyanto, Julia Mage’au Gray and theatre director WS Rendra. Ade performed her debut solo work, Rumah/Home at the Sydney Opera House and in 2005 was awarded the Dame Ruby Litchfield Scholarship to study the hybrid training methodology of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre in Taiwan. Ade joined Lemi Ponifasio’s MAU dance company (NZ), performing at the 2010 Sydney Festival and European venues including Théâtre de la Ville in Paris.

She premiered her first full-length dance/music work In Lieu, in collaboration with South Australian composer, David Kotlowy in 2011. ‘In Lieu’ was co-commissioned by the Adelaide Festival Centre’s Oz Asia Festival 2011 and for her performance, Ade was noted as ‘Dancer to Watch’ in Dance Australia magazine’s annual Critics’ Survey in that year. During Ade’s 2012 Asialink Residency, Ade spent an intensive period with solo master dancer, Mugiyono Kasido. She also completed the first- stage development of a new dance/music collaboration, Ontosoroh, with vocalist/composer, Peni Candra Rini. Most recently, Ade was awarded the 2012 Arts SA Triennial Project Grant (2013-2015) for the development and presentation of Ontosoroh. www.youtube.com/userAdeSuharto

TONY YAP Tony's background is in the visual arts, physical theatre and dance. He is committed to the creation of an individual dance theatre language informed by three interconnecting forms: psycho-physical; Asian shamanistic trance; and butoh. Tony is returning to Indonesia this year to deepen his understanding of these traditional forms. He will undertake masterclasses with R.Ay Sri Kadarjati Ywandjana to incorporate philosophical ideas into his own dance practice. He continues to facilitate workshops to investigate the bridging of existing traditional/contemporary dichotomies; and psycho- physical ‘raw’ trance practices. www.tonyyapcompany.com

SUNDAY 17TH MARCH

A LIFETIME'S COLLABORATION: TRACKS DANCE COMPANY

PRESENTERS STEVE JAMPIJINPA PATRICK (LAJAMANU) A Warlpiri man, born and raised in Lajamanu, Steve is a key advisor to Tracks on Indigenous issues as they relate to Warlpiri people. He first worked with Tracks in 1995 and has since assisted on projects including as a key artist on Ngapa-One Country Two Cultures and the Milpirri project. Steve conceived the Milpirri concept and is seen as a role model in his community and amongst Warlpiri people both old and young.

He is currently the first Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous Awardee, at the Australian National University in Canberra.

DAVID MCMICKEN Co Artistic Director of Tracks Dance Company (founding member) completed a B.Ed in dance, theatre, and education at Rusden State College, Melbourne, 1980. He also studied music and literature. He danced with Jacqui Carrol's Dance Group Adelaide, and was a founding member of Tasdance. He was Director of St Martins Youth Dance Company and founded Storm in a Teacup Dance Theatre, supporting independent movement and film artists. He taught dance and theatre in schools, National Theatre Drama School, Victorian College for the Arts, and Rusden. He has worked in the Northern Territory since 1991. David enjoys exploring fundamental questions about being a contemporary Australian, questions of race, age, place and culture.

TIM NEWTH Co-Artistic Director of Tracks Dance Company ( (founding member) excels at uniting the visual with the physical. His is passionate about space and by placing movement and visual imagery within it, to find meaning. Born into a life of sheep and football in rural Victoria, Tim trained as a visual artist. In the 1980’s he started working with dancers and choreographers and directing large-scale community events in Victoria and Tasmania. Moving to Darwin in 1988, he maintained working relationships Danceworks, Tasdance, Stompin and Dance North. The Territory introduced Tim to an Australia he had not yet experienced, exposing him to Indigenous Australia, and an Australia that was clearly a part of Asia. Now home, this is the place, community and culture that inspire his artistry.

BETWEEN US: CONNECTIONS WITHIN AND BEYOND THE INDEPENDENT DANCE SECTOR CHAIR |BRIAN LUCAS Brian Lucas is a Brisbane-based performer, choreographer, director, teacher, writer and Arts- advocate. Trained in both dance and theatre, he has a national reputation for creating and performing provocative, powerful and intelligent works that bridge the divide between the two forms.

In addition to his substantial solo practice, Brian has worked with many of Australia’s most well- known performance-makers and presenters including Chunky Move, Finucane + Smith, La Boite Theatre, NORPA, Pentimento Productions, Michelle Heaven, KAGE Theatre, ChamberMade Opera, Circa, Dance North, Motherboard Productions, The Queensland Ballet, Queensland Theatre Company, QL2 Centre for Youth Dance and Expressions Dance Company.

In 2013, Brian will be teaching and creating at ACPA (The Aboriginal Centre of Performing Arts), and SouthBank Institute of Technology, as well as working on projects with Contact Inc and Backbone, and acting as a mentor for a number of young and emerging artists. He will also be presenting a season of his acclaimed solo piece “Performance Anxiety” at Performance Space in Sydney, and continuing his collaboration with artists from Odyssey Dance Theatre in Singapore.

Brian is currently the National President of Ausdance.

SPEAKERS KRISTINA CHAN Over the past 14 years Kristina has performed throughout Australia, Canada, UK, USA, Asia, Israel and Europe working with Australian Companies, Choreographers and Directors: Force Majeure, Kate Champion, Australian Dance Theatre, Garry Stewart, Chunky Move, Australian Ballet, Gideon Obarzanek, Lucy Guerin Inc, Stephanie Lake, Sydney Theatre Company, Theatre of Image, West Australian Opera, Opera Queensland, State Opera South Australia, Tasdance, Michelle Mahrer and Bernadette Walong, Narelle Benjamin, Anton and Tanja Liedtke.

Currently Kristina is exploring her own choreogrphic work. In 2011 she presented a short solo work Carnivorous at Solo Festival of Dance and Lost and Found as a part of iOU Dance at UNSW and then presented in Spring Dance Festival 2012 at the Sydney Opera House. iOU Dance is a performance

14 initiative for a small group of Sydney based Independent dance artists. In September 2012, Kristina premiered her 1st full length work Kingdom Mourning for 3rd year students at Adelaide College of the Arts.

Kristina has been awarded the Helpmann Award 2011 ‘Best Female Dancer in a Dance or Physical Theatre Production’ for Narelle Benjamin’s In Glass and two Australian Dance Awards 'Outstanding performance by a Female Dancer’ for both of Tanja Liedtke’s full length works: 2006 for Twelfth Floor and 2008 for construct.

SAMANTHA CHESTER Samantha Chester has worked in the arts community for the past 18 years in a range of capacities she holds a BA in Dance from Nepean, a Post-Graduate in Arts Management from UTS and a postgraduate in Movement Studies NIDA. She has performed nationally and internationally. She is currently Head of Movement at the Actors Centre Australia and has taught movement and directed at NIDA, ACTT, Ashfield Youth Arts, University of Notre Dame, Shopfront Theatre for Contemporary Arts, AICM, Ensemble Theatre and for the Department of Education NSW.

She has worked for the Australia Council for the Arts in both the Dance and Community Partnership Boards as well as Regional Arts NSW as the Assistant Funding Officer

Her movement/ choreographic work includes The Men’s Room NIDA (2005), Pool No Water Darlinghurst Theatre (2008) Monster Forming (2008) Thursday Child, Monkey Baa (2009) Trace NIDA (2009) R&J Riverside Theatre (2008/2010), Orestia STC (2010) Our Town STC (2010) Three Sisters (Cry Havoc 2010) Cut (Company B 2011), The Coming World (Darlinghurst Theatre, 2011) Titus Andronicus (Cry Havoc 2011) Miss Julie (Darlinghurst Theatre 2012) and Everything appears Normal (Show On season Carriage Works 2012)

In 2004 she received the Mike Walsh fellowship from NIDA and the Dame Joan Sutherland Award to travel to New York to study with American director Anne Bogart and the SITI company. She has worked with the Wallabies Rugby Union team and is the co-founder of Queen Street Studio.

PAEA LEACH Paea is a performer, teacher and choreographer. Her practice is a rigorous combination of working with choreographers, imagining and producing her own works, improvising and daily writing practice. She is interested in the slippage between movement that is physically virtuosic and the realness of standing still and just being a person.

Since graduating from WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts) in Western Australia, she has worked with Chunky Move in Melbourne, Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide, Perth Theatre Co in Perth, PVC in Germany and Eastman with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in Belgium. She has been funded to create her own work and undertaken a cluster of dance and theatre works. She has performed and taught nationally and internationally.

Paea has made works for WAAPA, independent dance seasons, LINK dance co, Company Loaded among others. She presented a collaborative programme of solos (2004 - 2006) and has recently furthered her interest in collaborative works via the economy of loss (2011) with Sam Fox and Jo Pollitt and Quiet beast (2012) an improvised duet with Jo Pollitt, writer Marcella Polain and musicain

15 mace Francis at Venn art gallery, Perth. She was the recipient of an Asialink Grant in 2011, spending three months with dancers in Cambodia creating thin white line and recently completed a new work Immerse at Fontys Academy, Holland. She returned to Australia to recommence working with Chunky Move under the direction of Anouk Van Dijk.

BYRON PERRY A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts in 1995, Byron has toured extensively developing and performing roles with Douglas Wright, Leigh Warren, Chunky Move, Paul Selwyn Norton, Lucy Guerin, Ballet Lab, DV8 Physical Theatre, Force Majeure, Antony Hamilton Projects and KAGE Physical Theatre. In 2006 he received an Australian Dance Award for 'outstanding performance by a male dancer' and won ‘Best Male Dancer’ at the Greenroom Awards for his years work. During 2010 and 2011 he worked as associate director with both Force Majeure and Lucy Guerin Inc. In 2011 he was awarded the inaugural Harold Mitchell fellowship for professional development in direction and choreography.

His choreographic work includes, 'Punctuated Equilibrium' and 'The Hayflick Limit' for Chunky Move, 'Hest²' for the Victorian College of the Arts, 'Breaks of Asia' for The Studio at the Sydney Opera House, 'A Volume Problem' for Tasdance and ‘Goggle Box’ for which he was nominated for a Greenroom Award for best original choreography. In 2009 he was commissioned by Chunky Move to create ‘I Like This’ for their Next Move program with co-director Antony Hamilton, which toured nationally and internationally throughout 2011. In October 2011 he premiered a sold out season of a new work, ‘Double Think’ in the Melbourne International Arts Festival. In 2012 he presented ‘One Show Only’, a collaboration between the Singapore based company Frontier Danceland and Arts House in Melbourne.

Byron’s work reflects the diversity of his experience with projects ranging from abstract dance and light sculpture, to physical theatre and dance on film. His fascination with photography, visual art and design align with a personal interest in low-tech performer operated supporting elements to deliver unexpected theatrical experiences. Recent collaborations have seen him working with playwright Rita Kalnejais on a new work as part of the Sydney Theatre Companies Rough Drafts program and choreographing on BMX riders for Melbourne Bike Fest. In 2013 he will choreograph a new work on Tasdance, co-create a dance film with long time collaborator Antony Hamilton and begin his appointment as the Associate Director for Sydney based physical theatre company Force Majeure, with plans to develop two new works with the company.

JO POLLITT Jo Pollitt is a dancer, choreographer and writer whose practice is grounded in performance improvisation and creative arts research.

As the director of the response project - initiated in 2000, Jo works with dancers/ performers as authorities in revealing traces of lived experience and physical imagination. Jo has worked with various companies and artists including Tasdance, Terrapin, Jennifer Monson and Rosalind Crisp, and holds a Masters in Creative Arts. As a choreographer, Jo has created & co-created many works including Re-render for Chrissie Parrott at His Majesty’s Theatre (Perth, 2009), Check Point Solo for Rhiannon Newton (Judson Church, New York, and Under the Radar Festival, Brisbane, 2011) and Quiet Beast with Paea Leach (Venn Gallery, Perth, 2012).

Jo lectures at WAAPA, works as a dramaturg and mentor, fronts the writing/dancing project co- works with Paea Leach and is the Creative Director of BIG Kids Magazine with artist Lilly Blue.

JADE DEWI TYAS TUNGGAL Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal is a Javanese/Australian contemporary dance artist, choreographer and creative collaborator passionate about resonant body, voice and light connections with nature and ritual performance. Her work and practice represents a rich example of creating contemporary mixed media dance/theatre in a cultural context from a cultural source.

Awarded Dux of Sydney’s Newtown High School of the Performing Arts 1995 Jade was granted full scholarship to Miami's New World School of the Arts and graduated from Florida University with a Bachelor of Dance Honours 1999. With a Melbourne University scholarship she achieved High Distinction for her Masters of Choreography at Victorian College of the Arts 2010.

In 2012 her new dance work Opal Vapour, premiered in Malthouse’s Helium season and won Melbourne Fringe Festival Best Dance Award. In 2013 Opal Vapour, created in collaboration with Ria Soemardjo and Paula van Beek, will tour Australia with Performing Lines as part of Mobile States. www.opalvapour.com.au

In 2004 she attained a Darmasiswa scholarship and studied Indonesian dance and music at Yogyakarta University of the Arts. At Impuls Tanz Vienna 2006 she was a European Union scholarship recipient and also collaborated with artists from Dasarts, Amsterdam. During 2010 she sustained her European artistic connections with a tour to Kling & Bang, Iceland; Performing Artists Forum, France; and Arlequi, Spain.

In Australia Jade has worked with many diverse choreographers and companies including; Bernadette Warlong, Jason Pitt, Vivienne Rogis, Stephen Page, Antony Hamilton, Amelia McQueen, Jacob Boheme, Nikki Ashby, Martin del Amo, Taurus Ashley, Chunky Move, The Body Cartography Project, Gong Tronic, Victorian Opera and Mirramu Dance Company.

During 2012 Jade travelled to Yirrkala with Mirramu Dance Company to begin in the creation of The Morning Star, with Aboriginal artists, Albert David, Banula Marika, Nakulma, Dkjakapurra and Janet Munyarryun. This work will premiere at the National Art Gallery of Australia in March 2013. Currently Jade is in Bangalore choreographing a new solo sword dance Avantika, which will premiere in the Attakkalari India Biennial 2013.

WHAT IS DANCE DOING IN AUSTRALIA? AND WHAT IS AUSTRALIAN DANCE DOING IN THE WORLD? FACILITATOR | JANENNE WILLIS See above (page 1) for biography

PROVOCATEURS PHILLIP ADAMS Artistic Director BalletLab

Phillip Adams' career in dance and performance spans over 25 years, contributing to the richness of the performing arts for his outstanding ability as a dancer and now, as one of Australia’s most stimulating choreographers and educators.

Having spent a decade performing and working in USA and Europe, Adams returned to Australia in 1997 and established his company Phillip Adams BalletLab. Through BalletLab Adams, has been surprising and enthralling audiances with his exploration into the possibilities of contemporary dance and performance, creating some of Australia’s most provocative and resonant dance and performance works.

Adams’ works encompass a diversity of artistic forms and media, often in collaboration with significant artistic partners and organisations,that boldly scrutinise contemporary societal concerns across politics, culture and sexuality. These works have proven to be immensely appealing to audiences worldwide whose interests span performance, dance, theatre, design, architecture, visual arts and cinema .They have been critical successes, winning many awards over this time.

BalletLab tours nationally and international to a range of venues, museums and festivals, most recently as company in residency at the Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois. BalletLab will premiere there latest work And All Things Return To Nature Tomorrow March 15th at the Lawler Studio Southbank Theatre as part of the l'oreal fashion festival cultural program.

GIE BAGUET Special guest from the Dance Massive international delegation Gie Baguet is the founder and general manager of Frans Brood Productions, based in Gent, Belgium.

For 30 years (March 1983 – March 2013) he and his team have represented international theatre and contemporary dance companies. Frans Brood Productions organises their tours and places them at festivals and the most beautiful venues in the world. The companies concerned have included les ballets C de la B (Alain Platel, Kaori Ito & Koen Augustijnen), Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Peeping Tom, Germaine Acogny, Erna Omarsdottir, Ronaldo and Sharon Fridman.

For 20 years Gie Baguet has also been responsible for introducing several Australian companies in Europe and for coordinating their European tours, including Australian Dance Theatre (already 8 European tours in 11 European countries), Marrugeku, Stalker Theatre Company, Strange Fruit, 5 Angry Men, Cantina and many more.

Australian Dance Theatre is now touring in Europe with Proximity (January – March 2013) and for 2013-2014 Frans Brood Productions is preparing a second ‘Proximity’ tour and 2 European tours with Marrugeku & ‘Gudirr Gudirr’. This is his 20th visit to Australia.

MICHAEL WHAITES Michael Whaites has had a career in the arts for over twenty-seven years, as Performer, Choreographer, Artistic Director, Teacher, and Board/Advisory Body Members, working extensively across Australia, USA and Europe.

His current position is Artistic Director of LINK Dance Company, Postgraduate Dance WAAPA, held since 2006. This position requires curating seasons with national and international Choreographers and Directors. He also lectures in Contemporary Technique, Improvisation and Composition in the undergraduate program at WAAPA.

As a Choreographer/Director, Michael has created works with LINK, One Extra Dance, Dance North, Australian Dance Theatre, Leigh Warren and Dancers, Adelaide College of Arts, Restless Dance Theatre, In the Company of Men (NY), and as Associate Director for Kim Carpenter’s Theatre of Image.

As a company member, Michael has performed with Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal, Twyla Tharp, Australian Dance Theatre and Dance North, and independently with Irene Hultman, One Extra Dance, Company in Space, Helen Herbertson, Sue Peacock, Julie-Ann Long, Wendy Houston, Hans Van den Broeck, Strut Dance and Didier Theron.

Michael was Rehearsal Director for Tanztheater Wuppertal in 2001, and has taught widely for companies in Australia, USA, Europe and the UK. In film, Michael has worked as Performer, Director and Assistant to the Choreographer.