Natalie Allen is an exceptional dancer, having achieved recognition and accolades throughout her illustrious 15years’ career. She has engaged in fruitful collaborations and showcased her talent on both national and international stages, working with esteemed choreographers and companies from Australia and beyond. Noteworthy highlights in her career include 2013 Green Room Award for Best Female Dancer in Rafael Bonachea’s ‘2One Another’, her portrayal of Lady Macbeth in Punchdrunk's ‘Sleep No More’ in Shanghai in 2019, and her highly acclaimed solo performance, ‘JULIA’, co-created with Sally Richardson premiering at The State Theatre Centre WA in 2021.

Moreover, Natalie has proven herself as a talented choreographer, with her own creations gracing stages in Perth, throughout Western Australia, Taipei, Adelaide, Jakarta, Singapore, and Sydney.

From a reckless leap into the unknown 25 years ago, Frantic Assembly has developed into one of the UK's most successful and best loved theatre companies.

Frantic's ambition is that we continue to learn and remain committed to making brave and bold theatre. At times it is physically dynamic and brutal. At others it's proudly tender and fragile.

But Frantic Assembly has always been about more than just the work on stage.

It is about the ethos of collaboration, of empowerment, of that constant desire to improve. It is about telling stories in a voice we don't always hear and about finding talent in places we don't always look.

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Artist Jacinda Bayne is an "emotive colourist" renowned for her vivid, highly collectible landscape paintings. Her striking oils evoke a sense of place, transporting the viewer back to a special time or place in their lives.

Her unique process involves layering thin glazes of oil paint. Using watercolours in the landscape for inspiration complements this process in her studio.

Jacinda teaches workshops on how to find one's unique voice within their work, solve problems, and allow the image to take shape through careful consideration of colour, composition, and intention. Jacinda graduated from Otago Art School in New Zealand in 1997 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in painting. She then spent a few years traveling with studios in Scotland and New Zealand before settling in Western Australia and working full-time as a professional artist since 2007.

Her style has evolved over the years and through 17 solo exhibitions, but her process and love of the landscape have remained, making her artworks unique and recognisable.

Career highlights include multiple successful solo exhibitions at Linton & Kay Galleries, Studio Gallery, and Anderson Contemporary in New York City, to name a few. Jacinda has also participated in several notable group shows, won significant art awards, and appeared as a finalist in art prize exhibitions.

Some of her most memorable work has come from her residencies in China and onboard the luxurious True North vessel in the Kimberley. Her love of travel, particularly around WA over the past few years, has inspired much of her recent work. Collaborating with Aboriginal children and fellow artist Tessa Mackay at the Mowanjum Community still strongly influences her practice.

Jacinda now works from her Studio at PS ArtSpace in Fremantle.

A.J. Betts is a West Australian author of young adult fiction. ​Her books include the duology Hive and Rogue (Pan Macmillan, 2018/2019), Zac & Mia (Text Publishing, 2013), Wavelength (Fremantle Press, 2010), and Shutterspeed (Fremantle Press, 2008). In 2023, she was the HotHouse Company Writer in Residence.

Rachael is Director of Creative Moves WA; a company delivering creative dance workshops and programs for schools and community organisations. Rachael has a special interest in teaching creative process and utilising Dance as a tool for cross-curricular learning.

Naya Chorale is a group of 40 singers created to perform high quality A Cappella repertoire that uplifts singers and audiences alike. Performing a powerful mix of traditional, contemporary, and home grown repertoire, Naya brings energy, passion and attitude to their music.

"Absolutely inspirational", "utterly thrilling" and "you've redefined choral music" are just some of the testimonials that Naya has received from its audience. The West Australian had the following to say about Naya Chorale's debut concert: "If you combined cathedral crispness with barbershop blending and gospel dynamism, then you would come near to what this group is about."

Their quality of singing and dramatic performances have led to them being invited to headline at voice festivals, and to sing as part of a mass choir in Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Erin Coates is a visual artist in Boorloo Perth who works across film, sculpture and drawing. Her practice draws from her background as a climber and freediver, and her artworks examine our relationships with the natural world, our physical thresholds and the nature of transformed bodies – both human and non-human. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia, Canada, and has shown in exhibitions in Australia and abroad as well as in international film festivals.

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Dr Daniel Connell is a socially engaged artist who uses portraiture as a mode of enquiry into representation and power in intersubjective, cross-cultural relationships. Much of his work is as a member of the Dari’aa Collective. He is also a lecturer in drawing, painting and theory at Adelaide Central School of Art, one of Australia’s top ranked creative colleges.  

Jack is an emerging film director who works for Sandbox Productions in Perth, Western Australia. Described by many as a dynamo, Jack’s devotion to his craft and unwavering work ethic has led him to direct numerous commercials for television and a vast array of short films. He is passionate about finding innovative ways to immerse viewers in a new world.

Bangarra Dance Theatre are a company of professional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performers. They are storytellers. They are fire makers.

As one of Australia’s leading performing arts companies, Bangarra Dance Theatre shares Aboriginal culture with Communities and audiences across Australia and the world.

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A creative performance artist & educator, Alee graduated from WAAPA with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts in 2004. In 2005 she graduated with a Diploma of Secondary Education majoring in Drama from Edith Cowan University. She discovered a true passion for Commedia dell'arte and in 2009 was invited to train with one of the great Commedia Masters, Antonio Fava. Upon her return to Perth in 2010, she founded her own theatre company IntotheMask Theatre that provides exciting drama experiences for students and teachers in Western Australia.

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Sharyn Egan is a painter, weaver, and sculptor. As a member of the Stolen Generation, much of her artwork is a commentary on her life as a Nyoongar woman and the associated trauma, emotions and deep sense of loss and displacement experienced by Aboriginal people. Egan was removed from her family at age three and placed in New Norcia Mission until the age of 13. She was never reunited with her parents.

Egan re-entered education at the age of 37 when she enrolled to study for a Diploma in Visual Arts at Claremont Art School. Egan then gained an associate degree in Contemporary Aboriginal Art, and a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Curtin University. Since then, she has gone on to achieve a post graduate qualification in Cultural Tourism and Training and Assessment.

Her woven works include traditionally styled contemporary forms and baskets as well as sculptural forms often based on flora and fauna that has totemic significance for the Nyoongar people. She works predominately in oils, ochres, resins and traditional and contemporary fibres.

Based in Fremantle, Egan’s works are held in the collections of the National Museum of Australia and the Berndit Museum of Anthropology, as well as numerous private collections around Australia. She has been awarded prominent public art commissions including Perth Stadium, Elizabeth Quay and Yagan Square.

The College is delighted to host Sharyn as our artist-in-residence in 2024.

All Saints’ College and WAAPA alumni Linton Elethios is a freelance contemporary dance artist, soft tissue therapist and yoga teacher. His work involves processes in creation, performance, and teaching. These symbiotic skills have nurtured a career both nationally and internationally which he continues to cultivate with local Perth artists, companies, and academies.  

Scott Elstermann is a multi-award-winning dancer and choreographer. He is the first Australian and youngest-ever international recipient of the Pina Bausch Fellowship for Dance & Choreography. Scott graduated as Dux from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and has since gone on to perform for the Merce Cunningham Trust (USA), Requardt &Rosenberg (UK), Lucy Guerin Inc., Stephanie Lake, Shona Erskine and Brooke Leeder.

His choreographic work has won numerous awards including ‘Outstanding New Work’ and ‘Outstanding Choreography’ at the Performing Arts WA Awards. He has been commissioned by the West Australian Opera, Freeze Frame Opera, WA Youth Orchestra, Breaksea and LINK Dance Company. In 2023, Scott was one of two choreographers selected from a worldwide callout to create his work 'Mosaic’ for La Biennale di Venezia under the mentorship and direction of Wayne McGregor.

Scott has received many other accolades including 2024 Western Australian of the Year finalist, 2020 Western Australian Young Achiever of the Year (Arts & Culture) and ‘Best Performer’ at the Performing Arts WA Awards.

Susan Flavell has 30 years experience making, teaching and exhibiting art, with a particular focus on sculpture. She has mastered a wide range of techniques, from traditional mediums including painting, drawing, casting, ceramics and embroidery, to the incorporation of found objects and her trademark use of cardboard to create large-scale sculptural forms with powerful emotional resonance. Her work explores the environment, the unconscious, the fantastic, monstrous and mythical, as well as humanity’s fraught and complex relationship with animals and nature.

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Noongar and Wongiman, activist and hip-hop artist Joshua Eggington, performing under the name Flewnt, is empowering and educating Indigenous youth and the wider Australian community on culture and truth-telling through hip-hop music. His anthemic song ‘Kya Kyana,’ a celebration of Noongar culture, put Flewnt on the musical map, and resulted in him winning the 2018/2019WA Naidoc Music Awards for Best Song and Best Hip-Hop Song.

A licensed child and adolescent clinical psychologist by training, Dr. Elliot Gann aka Phillipdrummond is a long-time beat maker and Executive Director of the nonprofit Today’s Future Sound (TFS), who has been working with TFS in Bay Area schools and community settings, and across the globe using HipHop beat making and culture as a mental health, educational, social justice, and cross-cultural intervention. He is organized beat battles, beat ciphers, and beat showcases as well as performed in over 25 countries across six continents and toward Australia nationally on seven occasions, as well as releasing two compilation albums with all Australian rappers and singers.

Tara Gower is a Yawuru woman from Broome with Filipino, Irish and Spanish bloodlines. Tara recently returned home to Broome after a successful career with Bangarra Dance Theatre for 15 years as a professional dancer. She has led successful creative showcases during NAIDOC week, A Taste Of Broome Festival, WAAPA's music collaboration and Shinju Matsuri Festival of The Pearl. This year Tara's dance crew, Burrb Wanggarraju Nurlu, supported by Yawuru elder Aunty Di Appleby, continues to bring opportunities to emerging dance and music artists who are eager to rekindle and sense of culture through Contemporary Indigenous expression -empowering our leaders of tomorrow.

Last year Tara won an award for best new movement director from Performing Arts WA, after choreographing the latest version of Jimmy Chi's musical Bran Nue Dae in 2020, produced by Opera Australia.

In 2022, Tara was acknowledged by her community at the NAIDOC awards and won the Performing Arts category for contributing to the growth of creative industries. 

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Throughout his long career as a dedicated, creative and productive professional photographer, Jon has shown devotion and understanding for all commercial or personal projects he has been involved in.

Jon sees photography as more than a creative process to record images; it is one of lifestyle. His passion is to work with both performing artists and visual artists in producing images that are more representative of new and innovative artistic direction in terms of integrity and creative intent rather than only photographic documentation.

He is currently working on two long term projects; to produce a collection of images of women in contemporary Australian society, titled ‘EVEolution Photography Project’ and ‘<665+/2020> infrared project’ to explore and produce a collection of fine art images using modified digital cameras to capture the Infrared wavelength.

Emma Haines is a recent graduate from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and is working professionally in the music theatre and arts industries.

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Emma Hearne Mills is a dancer, choreographer and teacher from Perth. Since 2021, Emma has trained with The Society Dance Academy where she travelled interstate with the Mega Crew to compete in Danchella; a national Hip Hop competition, where the team placed 3rd. In 2022, she has spent time in Sydney engaged in the Show Business Course with The Dream Dance Company, directed by Marko Panzic.

Storm  Helmore is a contemporary dancer, performer, maker, and teacher, as well as a  mother and lover of cheese platters. Since graduating from WAAPA in 2011  Storm has built her career working predominantly in the independent sector,  performing extensively in Perth and around Australia. Storm has danced for companies including Co3, Strut Dance and Buzz Dance Theatre, as well as with numerous independent choreographers – most recently in Rachel Ogle’s sold-out season of And The Earth Will Swallow Them Whole, presented by Perth Festival in 2022.

Sean Hollands is a Director and Movement Director. He is the Co-Artistic Director of Fable Workshop, Co-Director of Children’s Theatre Digital, a Theatre Practitioner for Frantic Assembly, and Associate of the National Youth Theatre of GB. In 2019 he was the Movement Director for the Olivier nominated production of Warheads. He was the recipient of the Bryan Forbes Director award in 2016 with the NYT. Directing Credits include: DNA (Southwark Playhouse, NYT Studios, and Ambassadors Theatre), The Moment Before An Explosion (The Ovalhouse), START (Mountview), Orange Juice (Tristan Bates Theatre), Little Shop of Horrors (Orchard Theatre). Movement credits include: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (UK Tour 21-22), Punk Rock (Stratford East), All The Beds I Have Slept In (UK Tour), One Minute (The Barn Theatre).

Led by double bassist Kate Pass, the Kohesia Ensemble combines the sounds of Persian flute (ney), percussion (daf) lute (saz) and oud with jazz instruments for a truly unique listening experience. This award-winning ensemble has released 2 albums, and performed at an array of festivals including National Folk Festival (ACT), Illawarra Folk Festival (NSW), Fairbridge Festival, Perth International Jazz Festival, Margaret River Guitar Festival, Nannup Music Festival and Nanga Folk Festival. Kohesia  Ensemble includes a stellar line-up of Australian and Iranian musicians:  Daniel Susnjar, Ricki Malet, Esfandiar Shahmir, Reza Mirzaei, Chris Foster, Mike Zolker, and Marc Osborne.

Brooke Leeder is from Perth and a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts. She has performed with Stephanie Lake, Luke George, Phillip Adams Balletlab, Phillippa Clarke, Buzz Dance Theatre, Company Complesso and previously performed in Tenebrae et Lux and Midsummer Nights Dream (As You Like it) with the Perth Festival in 2013 and 2014. She has also danced with companies in Germany, London and the Trisha Brown Dance Company in New York. Her choreographic works Mechanic, Dancers Speak Volumes, Unravel and three – the experiment series from 2014 to 2017. Brooke has also created new works for Taipei’s Kandu International Arts Festival in Taiwan, Co3 Australia, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and John Curtin College of the Arts.

In 2018, Brooke created her Perth-based collective, Brooke Leeder & Dancers, to take contemporary dance into unconventional performance spaces. Structural Dependency was performed in the large gallery space of PSAS in Fremantle, RADAR, presented by the Fremantle Biennale 2019, was performed inside the B Shed in Fremantle, with the open working port a stunning live backdrop to the experience. In 2020, she was one of five WA Artists to create a new work within the grand new building of the WA Museum Boorla Bardip, and her dance film Structural was presented at the Museums Launch Event in November.

In 2021, Brooke presented Structural Dependency for the Perth Festival, she produced and created the new independent initiative In Good Company and begun the first creative Development of her new work, Nocturnal, at the Fremantle Arts Centre. Her latest work and second commission for the Fremantle Biennale, A Blessed Curse, was a collaboration with Composer Azariah Felton and poetry and spoken word Indigenous Artist, Maitland Schnaars, with the open harbour and Old Fremantle Traffic Bridge the back drop and stunning setting for the work.

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Bernadette Lewis is a dance artist living in Boorloo/Perth working across performance, choreography, improvisation, teaching and community engagement. A WAAPA and LINK Dance graduate, she is also producer and lead mentor of Hidden Movements, an experimental performance platform for emerging dancers in WA.

Tori Longdon studied choral conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, where she was awarded a distinction and the Thomas Armstrong prize. She is now the Principal Conductor of the Covent Garden Chorus, Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Training Choir and coached the choirs for the Coronation Concert of King Charles III at Windsor Castle in May 2023. She is the co-founder of the Stay At Home Choir, an international community of more than 29,000 choral singers which she leads together with Swingles baritone Jamie Wright.

Tori is currently a conductor for Songs Of Praise on BBC1, as well as an adjudicator for ‘Young Choir Of The Year’ and ‘Young Chorister Of The Year’. She appeared on BBC2 as a judge on two series’ of the ‘The Choir’. As a broadcaster, she has interviewed some of classical music’s most famous names, including Marin Alsop, John Rutter, Sir Karl Jenkins, Sofi Jeannin and Christopher Tin. She travels the world leading workshops, adjudicating competitions and working with young conductors, most recently in Australia, Finland and Austria. She has written several articles for ClassicFM’s online magazine, lectured for the Artist Development postgraduate course at the Royal Academy of Music, and for the musicianship course at the Junior Guildhall Conservatoire.

Professional choirs under her direction have sung in venues such as Wembley Arena, St. John’s Smith Square and Southwark Cathedral and performed for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and President Xi Jinping of China.

Mathas (aka Tom Mathieson) has somewhat cartoonishly rapped on stages around Australia for yonks. He chooses subjects for his stories that are often uncomfortable reflections on Australian society, made accessible by his signature comedic, character-filled performance style. A multi award-winning visual artist, poet, producer and performer, Mathas has a long history of illuminating stages around the country.

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Perth pianist and composer Harry Mitchell leads multiple improvisation-based groups around Perth and Australia. He has released thirteen diverse recordings over the last 6 years and is an active contributor to the Australian jazz landscape as a sideman as well as a band leader. 

Ben is an award-winning film-sound practitioner and composer. He teaches at Murdoch University in Western Australia. His credits span across TV, Film and Music releases. 

Yuhki Murayama is a photographer and educator with more than a decade of professional experience I have developed a niche as a high-level arts, athletics and lifestyle photographer in Perth. He works with a diverse range of businesses and companies to create content uniquely in alignment with their brand and values.

Sam Nerida is a performance maker and producer, working between creative learning, community engagement and contemporary performance spaces. Sam’s recent creative work includes writing  new work for WA Youth Theatre Company, performing in Black Swan State Theatre  Company & The Blue Room Theatre's production of TOAST, and touring their play See You Next Tuesday to regional WA. They currently work for Perth Festival, AWESOME Arts and WA Youth Theatre Company, and are the Secretary of the Board of The Blue Room Theatre.

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Jo Omodei is an independent dance artist based in Boorloo/Perth. Jo graduated from WAAPA in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with First Class Honours, where she was awarded joint recipient of the Palisade Award for Most Outstanding Dance Graduate. Jo performed in Co3’s Archives of Humanity as part of 2021 Perth Festival and worked in 2021 as a Co3 and WA Ballet Teaching Artist. In 2022, Jo performed in Scott Elstermann’s Rite and Revolution in collaboration with WA Youth Orchestra and Pursuit by Enneagon Movement as part of Fringe World Perth’s Season State of Play.

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Kimberley Parkin is a Boorloo based movement artist, dance teacher and the driving force behind the project-based company Parkin Projects. As a self-producing choreographer, Kimberley has honed her choreographic voice through collaborations with STRUT Dance, FRINGE WORLD FESTIVAL, and Co3: Contemporary Dance. In 2021, she launched Parkin Projects, establishing her leadership with the acclaimed production 'Cry Baby' at The Rechabite. The show garnered four Performing Arts WA nominations and secured touring at Sydney Dance Company's INDance 2023. 'Killjoy', her subsequent creation, was developed and presented through STRUT’s SEED Residencies, GROUNDWORKS, and Co3's IN. HOUSE season between 2022 to 2023.Recently, Kimberley co-created 'Resurgence', a mass community dance-rock fusion, for Junction Arts Festival 2023. She has performed professionally through FRINGE WORLD FESTIVAL, Monkey Brain Theatre, STRUT Dance and The Stephanie Lake Company.is an independent artist based in Boorloo, and graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Her discipline is rooted in contemporary dance and physical theatre. Kimberley has performed professionally through FRINGE Festival, The Blue Room Theatre and Stephanie Lake’s Colossus as part of Perth Festival 2020 in collaboration with STRUT Dance. Kimberley formed the self-led project-based company Parkin Projects in 2020. Her debut work, Cry Baby was featured in The State Theatre Centre of WA’s State of Play program as part of FRINGE World Festival 2021.

WAM Award winning bassist Kate Pass has performed at an array of festivals and events in Asia, USA, Europe and Australia with highlights including performing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, WOMADelaide, Singapore Jazz Festival, Penang Island Jazz Festival and Ghent Festival in Belgium. Kate is the leader of “Kohesia  Ensemble” – a band that features Australian and Iranian musicians and explores elements of Persian music in a jazz context. 

Lucy  Peach is a period preacher, author, and folksinger. She’s educated and empowered thousands with her theatre performances, workshops, and book, using science stories and songs to shift the period narrative in our culture from one of shame to one of pride.

Her TED talk – The Power of the Period – received over 50 000 views, while her insightful and refreshing take on the period has seen her as a featured guest  at The Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2018 and Perth's Disrupted festival 2021, and numerous podcasts such as Mia Freedman’s No Filter, Nicole Jardim’s The Period Party, Dr.  Mariza Snyder’s Essentially You and many more.

Simon joined Frantic Assembly in 2008 as a practitioner after assisting Steven Hoggett on the movement direction for 365 with the National Theatre of Scotland, and is proud to have been part of the company ever since, sharing the Frantic Method through workshops and projects across the world. In January 2017 he became Associate Director (Learn & Train) where he helped to develop the company’s Learn & Train programme, training new practitioners and artists, and leading on Frantic’s MA with Coventry University. In 2017 Simon directed a version of Frantic’s Othello for the National Youth Theatre, and co-directed Sometimes Thinking for the company in 2019.

Alongside his work with Frantic, Simon works as a freelance director and movement director for companies including the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre of Scotland, Soho Theatre, Unicorn Theatre, The Donmar Warehouse, West Yorkshire Playhouse, and in the West End. He trained as a director on the Birkbeck Theatre Directing MFA, the National Theatre Studio Course, and as resident director at The Library Theatre Manchester.

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Ramith Ramesh is a Kutiyattam practitioner, theatre actor, drummer and poet from Kerala. He has been active in the arts for 17 years. As a Kutiyattam and Chakyarkoothu performer, Ramith has presented over 250 performances across India, France and Singapore, including at major national festivals such as Nila Dance and Music Festival, Shimoga Festival, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy Festival, Parinithy Festival and Yoga Parv. He has taught Kutiyattam in several theatre companies in India, and has been a judge on the panel for Kerala’s state arts festivals for five years.

Justin Randall is an award-winning Graphic Novelist and VR artist from Perth, Western Australia, best known for his supernatural thriller series Changing Ways, interior artwork and novel covers for 30 Days of Night and cover art for the Silent Hill comics. His clients include Simon & Schuster, IDW, Gestalt Publishing, and Image Comics. He is currently working on his new title Cavity, interiors for Talgard and the First Nations Indigiverse comic series, Dark Heart.

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Tessa Redman (she/her) is a freelance performance artist, working in both Aotearoa and Boorloo. She is an alumni of the New Zealand School of Dance and École Philippe Gaulier, and is now working and researching romantic sentiment within experimental physical performance. Tessa’s work holds an emphasis on play, whilst focusing on theatricality, comedy, and the pure, unadulterated joy of dance.

Elise Reitze-Swensen is a composer, music producer and percussionist, who creates intricate dance music as part of electronic duo ‘Feels’. Elise’s career highlights have included performing at the CHOGM opening ceremony, Australian music festivals ‘Listen Out’, ‘Falls Festival’, ‘Laneway Festival’ and ‘Perth International Arts Festival’, receiving awards for West Australian Music’s ‘Best Electronic Producer 2017 and 2018 as well as ‘Best Live Electronic Act’ and ‘Label of The Year’ for her record label ‘WOMPP’ in 2018.

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Elise is passionate about inspiring female, trans and non-binary music makers to produce music for themselves and in turn, help improve the representation of women in electronic music.

Jessica Russell is a director, producer, and maker with a focus on the integration of movement into contemporary works and a passion for the collaborative creative process. Based in Boorloo, she holds a Bachelor in Performing Arts from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and a Masters in Screen Studies (Directing & Cinematography) from the WA Screen Academy. Traversing both film and theatre, Jessica now specialises in documenting live theatre works, delivering high-quality, multicam broadcasts for both independent and mainstage companies.

Melaney Ryan is the founder of MRIAC and the developer of Mahat Meditation and Integrated Therapeutic Alignment (ITA) energy medicine. Melaney Ryan has over 35 years of clinical experience and has been able to discern the intricate relationships between the physical body, the energy systems and the mind.

Daisy Sanders is a dance and theatre artist who has worked across Australia and across the world. She is passionate about how the performing art scan help us build strong communities, listen to our bodies, and learn to rest more deeply.

Helen Shanahan is a folk singer/songwriter from Perth, Western Australia. Her songs ride the joys and sorrows of love and life and draw the listener into an

articulate and heartfelt world of story, melody and guitar, through her eyes. Helen graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA)

majoring in voice. She recently performed backing vocals for Tim Minchin and supported Missy Higgins at the Fremantle Prison. Her sophomore album ‘Canvas’ was

released in March 2022, recorded remotely with Brad Jones (Nashville) and described as “poetic and damn near perfect” (Jeff Jenkins, STACK Magazine).

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Toby is an experienced 3D artist, animator and multimedia creator. His work has appeared in festivals, videos, museums and interactive exhibitions. He also worked in the fields of engineering, architecture and infrastructure utilizing the latest in game technology to create 3D visualizations and virtual reality experiences.

Sonya is a performer, dramaturg, director, producer and arts activist who made her professional debut in the 90s. An alumni of both the University of Melbourne (BA Hons, English & Cultural Studies) and the WA Academy of Performing Arts (BA – Music Theatre), her work encompasses a wide range of projects and disciplines, from screen to stage, radical new plays to reimagining ‘classics’ and creating immersive experiences for children and their adults.

Savannah is a Nyul Nyul woman from Winawaal Country near the Beagle Bay Community with ties to Nyikina, Bardi, Bunuba and Kija Country. Her father played a vital role in cultivating her creativity and passion for art by sharing his cultural knowledge with her, ensuring she understood culturally appropriate ways to paint and tell the stories of where she comes from. As the inaugural  HotHouse Company NAIDOC Artist in Residence, Savannah spent a week working in the College’s art studios, during which time she completed the stunning commissioned work, ‘Trust your journey, trust your guides.’

Paul’s experience of over 40 years as an internationally renowned piano technician-artisan, as well as his research into the preservation of historical keyboard instruments throughout the UK and Europe in 2018 - thanks to a Churchill Fellowship - has provided him with an understanding of the state of this diminishing craft. Paul works with HotHouse Company to offer unique opportunities for students to engage with rare and restored classical instruments.

Zee Zunnur is a movement artist who was a long-time dancer with Hofesh Shechter Company (UK). As she threads through her practice in the contemporary realms, she stays rooted and connected to her Malay heritage and folk training in Malay dance. Other than touring internationally as a performer and teacher with Hofesh Shechter Company, she has been invited as a guest artist, performed and choreographed for T.H.E. Dance Company, T.H.E. (Second) Dance Company, M1CONTACT Contemporary Dance Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Ignition Dance Festival, Esplanade da:ns Festival Singapore, Singapore Biennale and more.

In Australia, she has worked with the Pre-Professional Year in Sydney Dance Company, STRUT Dance, Co3 Australia, Mitch Harvey Company, James Vu Anh Pham, Juliet Burnett, Brooke Leeder, Rachel Ogle, WAAPA, Fremantle Biennale, and recently co-choreographed a work alongside Marrugeku presenting it at Sydney Festival and Perth Festival 2024. Most recently was a work she choreographed for the LINK Dance Company of WAAPA.

Photo Credit: HarryLivingstone

Claudia comes from a diverse dance background interwoven with physical theatre aerial work, puppetry, and film. She lectures at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts where she continues to choreograph for both the Dance & Musical Theatre Departments.

She has choreographed, conducted master classes, directed and produced for universities, WAAPA, Theatre Companies, PIAF and various events throughout Australia.

Some of these include: Associate Producer Crossfire in the Artrage Northbridge Festivals 05, 06. Director of STEPS Youth Dance Company & facilitator, choreographer for the Nth West program for Australian Theatre for Young People.

Broome WA community project Worn Art ‘08-‘11; Freo Shuffle, Fremantle Festival’s street Dance project ‘09 & ‘10, and Artistic Director of the Australian Youth Dance Festival ‘09, which was nominated in Australian Dance Awards ’10 for services to youth and community.

She has choreographed and rehearsal directed for Buzz Dance Theatre, movement director and choreographer for Barking Gecko Theatre Co, Black Swan State Theatre Co, HotBed Ensemble, Melbourne Theatre Co. and most recently Yirra Yaakin Aboriginal Theatre Inc PIAF season 2011.

Over the past 27 years, she’s performed, toured extensively both nationally and internationally with dance and theatre companies including: Chrissie Parrott Dance Company & performance Co, ‘skadada’, Sydney Theatre Company, West Australian Opera.

In collaboration with Leigh Warren’s ADT & CPDC. Foundation Jean-Pierre Perrault of Canada, Fieldworks Performance Group, Shadow Industries Theatre, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, Media Lab France (with Motion Capture technology) Thwack Dance Company (Garry Stewart) Co Loaded, Legs On The Wall of Sydney (physical theatre circus and dance) Steamworks Arts Productions, Black Swan State Theatre Co and as guest artist for the European tour Age of Unbeauty ’06-07 with Australian Dance Theatre.

ranch Street Theatre Company Plasticine Volants working extensively with them for almost 2 years devising and performing work and with independents Didier Theron of France & Sue Peacock Perth dance independent.

As a dance independent Claudia has produced and performed in her solo work ‘Point of Entry’ for PIAF ’02, ‘4by2 A series of Encounters’ in ’04, Twisting the straight line for STRUT as part of the Tama Ma season. In 2012 Claudia launched her collective Company Complesso with her full-length work ‘In This’ at The State Theatre Perth. She’s since produced a series of short solos and duos for the Summer Nights program for Perth Fringe World titles Nick’d & Dusty’d with The King and Something’s got to give in 2014.

Three times nominated ‘Most Outstanding Female Performer’ for the Australian Dance Awards, she was joint winner of ‘Most Outstanding Female performer for the WA Dance Awards for her roles in Sue Peacock’s Hoofers & Steamworks Drover’s Wives which toured to China. Claudia has served as a member of the Dance Board for The Australia Council ’07-’10 and is Co Vice President for Ausdance National.

She continues to be a dance advocate and educator from universities to remote communities, choreographer, and creative producer. She is a co-venuemanager to her studio in North Perth ‘The Chapel Space’ which caters for community and professional needs.

Natalie is a British born dancer with a career spanning 25 years; working within dance, physical theatre and opera. She has performed with internationally acclaimed choreographers, directors and companies including: Gecko, New Adventures: Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Wayne McGregor Company, Retina Dance and Candoco Dance Company. Moving to Sydney in 2011 Natalie’s primary focus has been teaching, though recently reigniting her passion for theatre she has been working with Liz Lea as rehearsal director and in studio dramaturge on her solo show RED.

Natalie’s work for Sydney Dance Company includes: leading workshops for the Pre Professional Year Course, teaching artist on the DancED team currently leading workshops nationally and has been the lead teaching artist for Mulkadee Youth Arts Festival in Townsville three years running. Natalie also leads workshops for the school holiday programs and youth term classes and recently lead on the Make Your Move pilot program for adults with mobility restrictions who want to dance; this was successful, so the program is running throughout boroughs in Sydney. In 2016 Natalie also had the pleasure of working with Antony Hamilton as rehearsal director for Sydney Dance Company’s performance for primary school students, Crazy Times.

Natalie has a passion for teaching and developing young artists, always looking to play, challenge and inspire while using her knowledge of physical theatre, contemporary technique, creative and choreographic skills. Dance schools she currently teaches for include; Classical Ballet121, Brent Street, DanceBAN: Ballet Academy Northside, Ev & Bow and Dance102. Also mentoring on the Escalate program in Canberra for Ausdance ACT.

In the beginning of 2018 Natalie has run a dance and visual art program Kids Explore for children aged 2-6 for Front Up at the Hub, and has started lecturing the first year composition module at ACPE: Australian College of Physical Education’s performing arts program.

Taufiq Badal is the artistic director and choreographer of one of Perth’s leading dance groups, “Those Guys Dance Crew”. Since the group’s debut in 2014, Taufiq has been able to attain first place in well renowned urban hip hop competitions in WA (Battlegrounds, Elite Asia, Jump Off). Over the years Taufiq has developed a raw and unique style that has been taught at a multitude of studios and educational institutes. With aspirations to articulate happiness and good vibes to the community through his artistic endeavours, Taufiq will be sure to inspire students with his love and passion for dance.

Born and raised in the hills of Perth, Carmen Braidwood is a media professional with 16 years in radio and TV.  Known for appearances on Nine News, Today Tonight, Telethon and Destination WA, as well as hosting 96fm Perth’s breakfast show alongside Brad “Fitzi” Fitzgerald from 2011-2017.

She’s worked as a presenter, producer and newsreader for most of the country’s major media companies, in a career that’s taken her to from the Goldfields of WA to Regional Victoria and to the beaches of Queensland’s Gold Coast.

Today, Carmen consults and often partners with brands and organisations to help deliver their message using both digital and traditional media technologies.

She’s also a dedicated blogger, a proud step-mum and considers herself an unofficial ambassador for her much-loved home state of WA.

Sarah has over 20 years of experience in dance, teaching all over Perth for the past ten years, as well as completing studies in dance history and a Diploma of Education, majoring in Dance. Whilst specialising in Urban styles, Sarah has also trained in dance genres such as Contemporary, Jazz, Tap and Dancehall.

Sarah’s passion for dance and her desire to develop and learn has led her to travel nationally and internationally, to learn and dance alongside some of the worlds’ best teachers and choreographers during multiple trips to New York, Los Angeles and Switzerland. Notably at Broadway Dance Centre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Millennium Dance Complex and Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio. She has also attended the Pulse on Tour in New York, the 2016 HDI Dance Camp and the 2016 Australian Dance Festival.

In Perth, Sarah continues to be involved in the local dance scene and maintains performing and teaching professionally, whilst working full time in dance through the Department of Education. Sarah is always excited and grateful to share her love and passion for dance with her students, and watch them grow and express themselves in all the amazing ways that dance enables us to!

Western Australian born, Scott attained his Bachelor of Arts (Dance) and a Certificate II in Music Theatre from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Whilst at WAAPA, Scott received the Dance Theatre of WA Award (2007), and in his final year (2010) was the recipient of the Finley Award in Dance, as well as receiving the Hawaiian Dance Award for the most outstanding graduate.

In Australia, Scott has worked with several highly acclaimed choreographers and companies that include Garry Stewart and Daniel Jaber (Australian Dance Theatre), Larissa McGowan and Marnie Palomares (Tasdance), Shaun Parker (Buzz Dance Theatre), Chrissie Parrott

Performance Company, Sue Peacock, and Tobiah Booth-‐Remmers.

Whilst with Australian Dance Theatre, Scott performed in Garry Stewart’s Be Your Self, G, Proximity, Objekt and excerpts from Birdbrain on local and national levels, as well as extensively touring with the company throughout Europe, the UK, and Asia. In 2015, Scott was Rehearsal Director for the European Tour of Garry Stewart’s Multiverse.

During 2016, Scott worked internationally with ilDance Company from Sweden, performing GODLIKE by Israel Aloni and Odelya Kuperberg throughout Sweden and Israel.

Choreographically, Scott has created works for Strut Dance WA, Australian Dance Theatre’s Rough Draft, Australian Dance Theatre Youth Ensemble, Adelaide College of the Arts, New Zealand Dance Company, LINK Dance Company and Norges Dansehøyskole in Oslo; Norway.

In July 2016, Scott was selected as a choreographer to travel to Seoul in South Korea for the World Dance Alliance where he began the first stage development of his new work, Brutal BODY.

Black Swan: A Perfect Specimen, Angels in America, Blithe Spirit, The Damned, Glengarry Glen Ross, and Dinner. Other Theatre: Barking Gecko Theatre Company: Jasper Jones, ONEFIVEZEROSEVEN, Driving Into Walls. Two Left Feet Productions: Annie, The Musical, The Blue Room Theatre and Nest Ensemble: Joey: The Mechanical Boy. Grounded. As Teacher: Voice Fundamentals to Bachelor of Performing Arts students at WAAPA, Curtin University, Notre Dame University, The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD). As Director: John Curtin College of the Arts, WA Youth Theatre Company and the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. As Actor: For the Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC): A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Man in the Moon: Edmond, Channel Theatre Company: Jack and the Giant Killer, Hackney Empire: Taking Liberties, Almeida Theatre: Surrender Dorothy/Paca Mamas Blessing, Bloomsbury Theatre: Blood Wedding. TV includes: Firm Friends, Minder FILM: Sister, My Sister. Training: Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) Acting graduate 1992, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD) Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Theatre 2007. Masters by Research from Edith Cowan University (WAAPA) on Accent and Dialect Training for Actors.

Drew der Kinderen is a Brisbane-based director, movement artist and acting teacher.  In 2008 Drew was accepted into the Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre Internship Program as an intern director.  Upon the conclusion of the internship, Drew was invited to join Zen Zen Zo as a senior teacher.  In 2009 Drew was asked to become one of the Associate Directors and Principle Instructors with the company.

Drew’s directing credits include Away (2003), Blood Wedding (2008), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2009), Antigone (2009), and an adaptation of Othello entitled Iago’s Web (2009). In 2010 Drew directed The Bacchae, an adaptation of The Tempest, and the devised piece, Hello Spaceboy for the Queensland Arts Council for touring throughout Queensland, which was then accepted into the Out of the Box festival program in 2012. In 2011, he wrote and directed Future//Culture with Canberra Grammar School, and Rising, for Corinda State High School.  In September of 2011 Drew devised and directed a show with QUT Student Theatre Company, Vena Cava, A Practical User’s Guide to the Afterlife, as part of the Atrium season.  In 2012, he directed Medea with Redcliffe State High School’s Drama Excellence students. He also undertook a 10-day training intensive with renowned Japanese Butoh company, Diarakudakan, as well as directing and devising the end of year show for the 2012 Zen Zen Zo Company Interns, Last Drinks. In 2013, Drew directed the sell-out season of Medea: The River Runs Backwards, for Zen Zen Zo’s annual In The Raw season. In 2014 Drew directed The Touch Industry, under his own company, The Sonder Line, as part of the Anywhere Festival.

Throughout this time, Drew has maintained a commitment to teaching and training. He organised the subject Creating Body at the Queensland University of Technology, which emphasised physical approaches to devising work, he mentored student directors through the Performance 1 and Performance 2 subjects and taught the Acting strand students in Embodied performance techniques for stage and film realism. He has also taught for Zen Zen Zo interstate and overseas.