Out of Bounds is an exciting choreographic ideas sharing platform co-presented in 2025 by Lucy Guerin Inc and Dancehouse.
This May, 25 Victorian independent dance artists and collectives will present short showings of their works-in-progress to local audiences and fellow artists across two days at Dancehouse. Originally devised by Lucy Guerin Inc and Temperance Hall, Out of Bounds first premiered in 2021 and continues to provide a generous space for experimentation, risk-taking and exchange.
Curated by Lucy Guerin, Dr Phillip Adams, and Josh Wright, the 2025 edition invites artists to share up to 10 minutes of recent choreographic investigations, followed by facilitated discussions with peers and experienced dance practitioners.
Out of Bounds celebrates dance across all forms, practices, cultures, histories, lineages, styles, disciplines, aesthetics and experimentations. Each session features the work of three artists, followed by breakout group discussions. Audiences are welcome to register for multiple sessions across the weekend.
Congratulations to the following artists joining the Out of Bounds 2025 program:
Carmen Yih, Loxy / Golden Scissor Puppets, Alyse Canton & Mia Canton, Eloise Wright, Lily Hindson & Hunter Mains, Sheena Chundee, Layla Meadows, Jess Fitzpatrick & Oscar Jones-Romeo, Madeline Harms, gemma+molly, Rikia Bell & Sage Price, Caroline Meaden, Christopher Gurusamy, Rhys Ryan, Lana Šprajcer & Thomas Woodman, Jayden Wall & Melissa Pham, Alec Katsourakis / InPlay Projects, Daksha Ramesh Swaminathan, Opal Russell & Amelie Logan, Sport of Ether (Ether x Contact Sports), Naoki Liddicut, Erin O’Rourke, Chimene Steele-Prior, William McBride, The Unguided.
Out of Bounds 2025 is taking place at Dancehouse on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 May.
Bookings to attend Out of Bounds sessions are now open. Attendance is free, however registrations are required.
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About the artists
Carmen Yih (she/her) is an emerging Chinese-Australian artist graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts’ Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance). Carmen’s practice skates along the boundaries of hybrid dance-theatre to tell stories that draw on forgotten histories and marginalised voices. In 2023, Carmen was awarded the Creative Brimbank Be Bold Residency for the development and presentation of a new street-dance theatre work ‘M_N’, tackling the impact of socio-cultural notions of masculinity on youth mental health. Carmen is the founder of Space Generate - an interdisciplinary freestyle jam session which facilitates storytelling through art, bringing together musicians, dancers, and writers in a mixed-medium conversation. Interested in street and club dance forms, she also practices the 1970s LA queer club dance form of Waacking and the 2000s South Central street dance form of Krump. In her theatrical work, Carmen works with movement scores and structures heavily influenced by non-Western narrative world-building techniques, immersive theatre, long-form narratives and street dance practices. Some of her performance highlights include: Miet Warlop’s One Song (2024), Jonathan Homsey’s Thoughts on Destiny, Alleyne Dance’s ‘HOME’ (2023) and James Batchelor’s ‘Gesturing, Weaving, Unfolding’ (2023). Carmen was awarded the Lionel Gell Foundation Scholarship, VCA Choreography Development Award and Paul and Donna Dainty Award by the VCA for her excellence in the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance).
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Loxy’s is a performance artist and maker from Naarm. His distinct DIY style combines contemporary methodologies with other artistic disciplines such as drag and writing, to produce layered, genre-queer performance work. Since training in dance (Transit Dance) he has worked broadly across the arts, often collaborating with musicians (Dirty Versachi, Mo Louie, ROMÆO). His screen works have received notable recognition; Brunswick Baby, nominated for the Midsumma Art Award 2023 and How To Be Honest, nominated for Clipped Music Video Festival 2024. He is also an avid solo performer creating and performing works for The Comma Collective, The HUMXN program and Out Of Bounds ‘23.
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Alyse Canton (she/her) is an emerging artist based in Naarm (Melbourne), she grew up in Canberra on the lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. She is a dedicated and versatile dancer with a rich background in both contemporary dance and acrobatics. She has danced with two prominent youth dance companies, QL2 and Yellow Wheel, where she honoured her craft and developed a deep passion for performance. Choreographers who Alyse has danced for include Ruth Osborne, Steve Gow, Jack Ziesing, Jodie Farrugia, Kyall Shanks, Tamara Cubas, Gregory Lorenzutti, Melissa Toogood, Chimene Steele-Prior and Luke George.
Whilst studying at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), she performed in Gregory Lorenzutti’s ‘PLANT NATION’ and Merce Cunningham’s ‘Ocean (an arrangement)’ staged by Melissa Toogood. Alyse was honoured to be selected alongside co-dancer, Ebony Olsen, to perform their work ‘Beautiful Chaos’ for the ‘Out Of Bounds’ program presented by Lucy Guerin Inc and Temperance Hall. In addition to her dance pursuits, Alyse has four years’ experience as part of the Australian national acrobatics team, a role that saw her competing on an international stage and representing Australia at the Commonwealth Cup in South Africa. Alyse had an eye-opening experience being on placement at GUTS in Alice Springs during the SUB development with choreographer Ash Musk. To kick off 2025, Alyse performed in Mass Movement by Stephanie Lake in the Adelaide Festival.
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Mia Canton is a contemporary dancer based in Naarm (Melbourne), originally from the lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people in Canberra, where she grew up with a strong foundation in movement. Her early years were marked by an interest in acrobatics, which led to six years of experience competing as part of the national acrobatics team. In 2019, Mia represented Australia at the Commonwealth Cup in South Africa.
Currently in her third and final year at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), Mia is refining her contemporary dance practice. Throughout her training, she has developed a versatile style that blends athleticism with expression, influenced by her background in acrobatics. Mia has also danced with a Youth Dance Company QL2 before she moved to Melbourne and worked with a variety of choreographers, some include Jack Ziesing, Melanie Lane, Cadi McCarthy, Kyall Shanks, and Ruth Osborne. Her education at VCA has provided her with the tools to explore new forms of movement and deepen her understanding of contemporary dance.
Mia’s journey as a dancer is marked by a commitment to growth and performance, driven by her competitive experience and academic training. As she prepares to graduate, she is focused on bringing her skills and passion for dance to the professional world, with a desire to push boundaries and evolve as an artist.
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Eloise Wright is a dance artist based in Naarm/Melbourne. Wright graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance (2021). She has worked with Jo Lloyd and Rebecca Jensen in several projects and secondments. Notably, Wright performed in Jo Lloyd’s ‘Collision’ with Tasdance and GUTS (2022) and Out of Bounds (2021). Wright’s practice uses ecological thought to place the body amongst systems. Wright is invested in exploring the intelligence and frequencies of the natural world to expand upon further queer and sentient bodies through movement. With a gripping interest in choreographic encounters that can offer new action and logic, she honors the deep–personal–body archive and allows for imagination and memory recall to inform her practice.
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Lily is an independent contemporary dancer based in Naarm/Melbourne, graduating from Transit Dance with a Diploma of Professional Dance in 2023. She is currently exploring new creative projects and collaborating with fellow independent artists. Last year, Lily received a Make A Start Residency at Lucy Guerin, where she developed a collaborative project alongside another independent artist. This residency allowed her to deepen her creative practice and explore new approaches to movement and conceptual development.
During her time at Transit, Lily had the opportunity to work on various creative processes and perform works with multiple choreographers and artists. Some highlights include Slipstream choreographed by Chimene Steele-Prior, Unanswered choreographed by Paul Malek, and When The Water Gets Cold choreographed by Erin O’Rourke. Lily created and performed a solo work, Navy Blue, as part of Transit Dance’s Creations season. In 2023, she also participated in the Australasian Dance Collective’s Secondment Week.
This exposure provided Lily with valuable insights into various works and helped her discover a deeper interest in dance, expanding her focus across a wide range of topics. She is particularly drawn to conceptual pieces rich in meaning, using powerful movements to convey stories and ideas.
Hunter, a proud Wiradjuri woman, is a Narrm/Melbourne-based interdisciplinary artist. She graduated from Transit Dance in 2023 with a Diploma of Professional Dance and a Certificate IV in Dance Teaching and Management. Her career trajectory is guided by a passion for storytelling through movement, using dance as a catalyst for audience reflection and perspective shifts.
Hunter’s artistic growth has been shaped by collaborations with Chimene Steele-Prior and Erin O’Rourke, as well as the creation of her own solo work. This piece explored her experiences as a lighter-skinned Indigenous woman, navigating identity, cultural connection, and the tensions between two worlds. These themes continue to influence her creative voice.
She has also worked with choreographers and independent artists such as Yvette Lee, Antony Hamilton, and Jo Loyd, expanding her artistic expression. Currently, Hunter is collaborating with a fellow independent artist to explore how the body connects and disconnects from the nervous system.
In 2024, she was selected for Lucy Guerin’s Make a Start Residency, marking a pivotal moment in her creative journey. Hunter is eager to embrace new opportunities, deepen her practice, and further explore the nuanced ways she connects with her craft.
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Sheena Chundee is a dancer, choreographer, and sound engineer whose work blends classical and contemporary influences. A former dancer with The Royal Ballet, she performed and created roles for major companies including English National Ballet, Northern Ballet Theatre, and Netherlands Dance Theatre. Her experience in both traditional and experimental movement has shaped her drive to push dance beyond institutional expectations, creating work that is immersive, interdisciplinary, and deeply personal.
Now the Director of Rebel Stepz Arts, Sheena choreographs and produces stage productions across Australia, integrating voice, projection, and digital media to explore identity, transformation, and self-perception. She embraces movement as a means of raw, instinctive storytelling, breaking away from rigid structures to create work that is open, vulnerable, and authentic.
With a Diploma in Sound Engineering, she also incorporates sound design into her practice, crafting layered sonic landscapes that deepen the emotional impact of her performances. Through her unique fusion of dance and sound, Sheena continues to expand the boundaries of performance, challenging audiences to engage with movement in new and meaningful ways.
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Layla Meadows is an independent dancer/artist based in Eora (Sydney). Motivated by movement, exposing truth. Entering the extremes of the human body, by opening up as a vessel to explore different themes. She uses multidisciplinary forms to create art.
Jess Fitzpatrick is an independent artist based in Eora (Sydney). She is currently studying visual art at VCA. Interested in intertwining and merging mediums with a focus on nature, performance and the self.
Oscar Jones Romeo is an independent musician based in Gulumada (Blue Mountains). He is inspired by his home in the blue mountains, bringing ideas of birds, insects and other sounds from the bush into the digital modular world. Merging electronic music and the natural world.
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Born and raised in South Australia, Madeline Harms received her high school education at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS) in Melbourne.
Madeline completed her Bachelor of Dance (BDa) at the Codarts University for the Arts, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She then went on to base herself in Europe for a further 10 years, working as an independent artist in The Netherlands before becoming a member of tanzmainz, the dance company of Staatstheater Mainz, Germany, under the direction of Honne Dohrmann. She has worked closely in creations with a variety of choreographers including Sharon Eyal (L-E-V), Rafaële Giovanola (Cocoon Dance), Roy Assaf, Guy Weizman and Roni Haver (Club Guy & Roni), Guy Nadar and Maria Campos (GN|MC), amongst many others, and toured extensively throughout Europe and abroad.
In 2022 Madeline returned to Australia to join Sydney Dance Company, performing nationally and abroad with works by Rafael Bonachela, Antony Hamilton and Tra Mi Dinh. In 2024 she performed with Stephanie Lake Company (Melbourne), touring the award winning work Manifesto by Stephanie Lake. Madeline is currently an independent artist and teacher, based in both in Sydney and Melbourne.
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Gemma Sattler is a performance artist based in Naarm/Melbourne. Gemma graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2021 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance).
Gemma primarily works within an artistic partnership with Molly McKenzie, under the moniker gemma+molly. gemma+molly’s joint practice relies on the necessary collaboration of their two bodies at work, and is underpinned by a shared thinking towards cyclical time and the various ways and places in which this exists.
The duo’s award winning work LUSH, toured interstate to Borloo/Perth in 2024, following its successful debut at Dancehouse in Naarm, 2023.
Gemma, alongside collaborator Molly, was a 2023 recipient of the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Fund, allowing them to undertake a professional development tour across Greece, France and Belgium.
Over the past year Gemma has been working with Angela Goh during the historic acquisition process of Goh’s work Body Loss for the permanent collection of the University of Melbourne Art Museums. Gemma performed Body Loss at Buxton Contemporary, Naarm, 2024, as part of the acquisition process. And, most recently performed Body Loss at Museo Experimental el Eco, Mexico City, 2025, presented by MATERIAL Art Fair and IMMATERIAL VOL.8.
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Molly McKenzie is a performance artist, residing and working on Wurundjeri country.
Molly’s current practice is within a joint practice with Gemma Sattler, under the moniker gemma+molly. The duo’s practice relies on the collaboration of their two bodies at work to conduct physical, durational and live installation research. Together the duo have presented their work LUSH at both Dancehouse, Naarm 2023 & STRUT Dance/ PICA, Boorloo 2024.
Molly the recipient of an Ian Potter Cultural Trust, where she undertook a professional development tour in Greece, France and Belgium.
As an independent, Molly has worked with prominent artists Anegla Goh, Alicia Frankovich, Amrita Hepi, Sandra Parker and Alice Weber.
Molly has spent the last year working with Angela Goh during the historic acquisition of Goh’s work Body Loss by Buxton Contemporary, University of Melbourne Museums Permanent Collection. Molly performed Body Loss at Buxton Contemporary September (2024). Molly recently traveled to Mexico City to present Body Loss at Museo Experimental el Eco, presented by MATERIAL Art Fair and IMMATERIAL VOL.8. Molly took on the role of Choreographic Installer for this presentation of Body Loss, working closely with curator Michelangelo Miccolis and producer Nick Von Kleist.
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Rikia Bell is a performer and choreographer with an interest for how multiple forms of art are able to interact. Using her body as her creative source, she is influenced by art that is visual, sonic, and textural.
Rikia recently choreographed a work titled (un)tamed for Muse Festival at VCA. This was a multidisciplinary work collaborating with dancers, actors, sculptors and musicians. (un)tamed explored the paranormal world of spirits and ghosts, delving into our fear of the unknown and discovering how the afterlife intertwines with the living. Rikia has also choreographed a work for AUSTI. Dance & Physical Theatre, titled “Illusory”. This work depicted a journey through utopia and dystopia, discovering the fine line in which one ends and the other begins.
Rikia has previously performed and trained with Queensland College of Dance, Merge Dance Theatre, Australasian Dance Collective Youth Ensemble and AUSTI. Dance & Physical Theatre. She is currently in her third year at Victorian College of the Arts, studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance.
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Sage Price is a multidisciplinary artist working across performance, sculpture, sound and video. Sage’s works are informed by the body as its primary medium, which is often challenged by varying and contradictory methods of making. Whether that be the ontological relationship between body and art, personifying unlikely materials or using materials to distort the physical attributes of the body- Sage is drawn to reconsidering the body’s relationship to elements. Sage has previous experience in dance, but decided to study Sculpture and Spatial Practice at VCA to expand the multidisciplinary approach of her practice. Through this Sage is equipped to merge various skill sets and learnings with her passion for dance- creating genre redefining ways of viewing and creating dance and performance.
Sage is entering her 3rd year of a Bachelor of Fine arts in Sculpture and Spatial Practice. She’s formerly worked with Stompin, Tasdance and MONA FOMA as both a choreographer and performer. She’s also worked under artists such as Caitlin Comerford, Jenni Large, Adam Wheeler, Anna Whitaker, Rebecca Jensen and James Bachelor. She also recently premiered her first professional scale work Rival Planes in MONA FOMA in a double bill alongside co-choreographers Jesper Harrison, Michael Smith and Ashleigh Musk.
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Caroline Meaden is a performer, choreographer, teacher and speech pathologist based in Naarm/Melbourne, working at the intersection of dance, language and theatre.
As one third of the company, Alice Will Caroline, she has presented works in Dance Massive Festival, Next Wave Festival, Festival of Live Art, Melbourne Fringe and the Keir Choreographic Award. Last year she was Director-in-Residence at Lucy Guerin Inc, and presented her major work, ‘Molly’, at Union House Theatre. Awards include Green Room nominations for Best Performer, Ensemble Performance, Choreography, and the Chloe Munro Fellowship.
Caroline has worked with students at VCA, Union House Theatre, Yellow Wheel and Transit Dance, and has collaborated with artists and companies including Phillip Adams BalletLab, Shelley Lasica, Walter Dundervill (NY), Sandra Parker, Michelle Heaven, Monica Bill Barnes (NY), The Merce Cunningham Trust (NY), Sibylle Peters (DE), Katerina Kokkinos-Kennedy, Nat Cursio Co, Paea Leach, Reckless Sleepers (BEL/UK), Malia Johnston (NZ) and Opera Australia. She currently works as a paediatric Speech Pathologist, is a trained audio describer and has also directed movement for theatre.
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Christopher Gurusamy is a full-time professional Bharatanatyam artiste, based between Sydney, Australia and Chennai, India, He is regarded as one of the frontrunners of his generation having performed extensively within India and globally.
Born and raised in Perth, W.A, Christopher moved to India at the age of 18, and is the first Australian to study at the renowned dance and arts institution Kalakshetra. Christopher attended the college from 2005 to 2011, receiving a first-class post-graduate diploma in 2011. He was a Principal dancer in Spanda Dance company India 2012 - 2017 and emerged from the company as a highly popular soloist
Christopher performs annually in Chennai’s prestigious December Season and has been invited to speak and present his work at major conferences around the world. He has received widespread critical acclaim including the Narasimhachari Dance Award (Narada Gana Sabha, 2022), being named Best Dance of 2017 (New York Times), and was conferred the Kalavahini Fellowship for Choreography by leading dancer Malavika Sarukkai in 2018. His latest work Ananda - Dance of Joy has been staged in Darlinghurst Theatre, Sydney and Dancehouses Season 2, Melbourne for which the work received a 4 star review in the Age Melbourne and been nominated for a Green Room award - Outstanding performer
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Rhys Ryan is an emerging dance artist working across performance, choreography and critical writing. He trained at the Victorian College of the Arts and has worked as a dancer with Australian choreographers Stephanie Lake, Russell Dumas, Anouk van Dijk, Kate Denborough, Siobhan McKenna, Phoebe Robinson, Linda Sastradipradja, Stuart Shugg and Chunky Move, plus international artists Michele Rizzo (ITA), Simona Deaconescu (ROM) and Davide Di Pretoro (ITA). Rhys’ choreographic credits include ‘Na Trí Céilithe’ (short film, 2025), ‘SERMON’ (Dancehouse 2023), ‘Bodylex’ (Dancehouse 2021 & Adelaide Fringe 2022 – nominated for Best Choreography at the Green Room Awards), ‘Condition’ (Dancehouse 2020) and ‘Synthetic Upper’ (VCA 2017). Rhys has held residencies and fellowships at Lucy Guerin Inc, Darebin Arts Centre and the State Library of Victoria. He is a lawyer and former legal academic, and writes on dance for Limelight and Dance Australia.
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Lana Šprajcer is a Naarm / Melbourne based independent dance artist with interests in choreographic processing through various mediums, in-formed by dance and performance practice, theory and philosophy. Born in Zagreb, Croatia, Lana graduated with a BA in Comparative Literature (2014) and a BA in Contemporary Dance (2016). As a recipient of European Erasmus+ scholarship, she completed an internship with the interdisciplinary platform TILT in Amsterdam, and completed additional courses: Political School for Artists and Creative Lab: Feminist Theory and Practice. In Croatia, she worked and performed for nationally acclaimed choreographers, as well as co-founded mold kolektiv – a collective of visual / dance artists with whom she continues to make and perform choreographic works in Europe. In Australia, she had the pleasure of working and collaborating with dance artists in various modes, and has performed for artists and choreographers Shelley Lasica (since 2019), Rebecca Jensen (since 2023), Alicia Frankovich (2023) and Jo Lloyd (2024) among others. Her writings on dance have been published online in both Croatian and Australian contexts. She teaches Guided Dance at Lucy Guerin Inc., where she also facilitated LIVENESS in collaboration with dancers and choreographers Rebecca Jensen (2022) and Martin Hansen (2023).
Thomas Woodman is a Naarm/Melbourne-based dancer and choreographer who has worked in various contexts. He completed a BFA in Dance (2015) with Honours through the Visual Art School (2019) at the Victorian College of the Arts. As a performer, Thomas has worked with a number of artists, including Russell Dumas and particularly Jo Lloyd of late (since 2018). His choreographic work is preoccupied with human and non-human encounters, the micro and macro, multiplicity, eschewing notions of originality (how original…), the influence of mass media, and the function of imagination in performance and beyond. Thomas has shared multiple choreographic works, most recently presenting Echo at Dancehouse (2024) and A dead-end in itself (2022) at Temperance Hall (2022). He approaches choreography as an equally conceptual and material form, drawing from a pool of multidisciplinary interests. Thomas’s work does not have a fixed mode but rather shifts between movement, text, spatial/temporal exploration, video, and performer/audience provocation depending on the concerns of the specific project. These elements often occur simultaneously to create a performance landscape.
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Jayden Lewis Wall is a highly considered independent dancer and choreographer based in Melbourne who is nationally recognised for his passion and versatility. Jayden is devoted to exploring movements of the body with current practices focused on improvisation within contemporary and house dance.
Jayden enjoys working closely with technique, understanding that foundation gained can allow for further freedom in the chosen dance. He has a creative pulse that has been displayed across many styles of dance. Of recent, Jayden has worked and collaborated in an array of projects including:
10 Duets On A Theme of Rescue by Crystal Pite with STRUT Dance 2023, U>N>I>T>E>D at Asia TOPA by Chunky Move (Antony Hamilton) 2025, 4/4 by Chunky Move (Antony Hamilton) 2023/4, First development of The Forest by Lucy Guerin 2024, Jayden’s own work Flesh Vessel at Dancehouse 2024, Sense Now commissioned by Stephanie Lake Company 2023, NON_TA_Reponse by Chunky Move (Antony Hamilton) 2022, Drenched by Caetlyn Watson 2023, Yung Lung (understudy) by Chunky Move 2022, Goddess by Caetlyn Watson & The Dream Dance Company 2019, Opera Australia’s Turandot & King Rodger 2019.
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Melissa Yvonne Pham is a Naarm/Melbourne-based artist who studied full-time dance at Brent Street. She has strong interests in the commercial/film space and has been a featured dancer in several music videos for Australian artists such as Angus and Julia Stone, George Alice, Jennifer Loveless, Kite String Tangle, Tash Sultana and Gretta Ray. Currently, Melissa is touring with Stephanie Lake Company’s Manifesto and Chunky Move’s 4/4. Other works include NON_TA_response by Antony Hamilton, Drenched by Caetlyn Watson and Okage Sama De by Julie Minaai. Melissa also co-choreographed alongside Jayden Wall, receiving a commission from Stephanie Lake Company for their work ‘Sense Now’ and following this, they premiered their first full length work ‘Flesh Vessel’ at Dancehouse in early 2024. Lastly, she recently premiered Chunky Move’s new major work ‘UNITED’ a part of AsiaTOPA.
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Alec Katsourakis is a Naarm/Melbourne based choreographer, dance-filmmaker, and dancer. Their work explores ‘play’ through movement, choreography, games, and live cinema, often using rule-based logic and live decision-making. They are particularly interested in endurance-based choreography that pushes dancers to their physical limits, drawing from sport and game-like structures.
As the creative director of InPlay Projects, Alec creates experimental solo and ensemble dance works, through multimedia and choreography. Their performances have been showcased at Melbourne and Wellington Fringe, Abbotsford Convent, and Dancehouse. Notable works include Modals of Lost Opportunity (2023) and Withhold (2022). Their dance-films have screened across Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand, through Melbourne Fringe (amplified as part of SIGNAL Digital), Dance(LENS) and the Festival For Work In Development (NZ).
Alec collaborates widely and has performed with companies such as Stephanie Lake Company, House of Sand and A2 Company (Winner Best In Theatre & Best Emerging Company - Melbourne Fringe 2024) as well as performing in Chunky Move’s ‘Δ: Archipelago (Change from Aotearoa)’. Their work has been described as “wholly engaging from top to tail” (Theatreview NZ) and praised for its physical intensity and interactive playfulness.
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Daksha Ramesh Swaminathan is a multifaceted artist, carrying forward the legacy of Indian traditional arts as a third generation artist whilst creative a unique niche identity for herself with her explorative work. She is an exponent of DevaNrityam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Bollywood, Folk and is also trained in Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, amongst other dance forms. Her creative pursuits are focused on integrating scriptural knowledge with relatability and experiential exploration through music and movement. Further, Daksha’s investigations are well informed and supported by her training in Indian Classical Music as a vocalist and composer , and a student of Gaana Laya Karana - exploring the intricacies of rhythm , music and experimentation sciences. Her recent digital web series on the divine feminine AndAl’s poetry titled pAvai nOnbu - the path to Perumal has also earned her the title of Nrityashree conferred by YADA USA, among various other awards to her credit. With the blessings of her elders and Gurus Dr Ranjani Ganesan Ramesh, Smt Savithri Ganeshan, Sri Irulneeki N Ganesan and Smt Asha Joglekar, Daksha intends to explore, experience and evoke divine energy through art.
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Opal Russell (she/her), a movement artist from Kiama/Dharawal Country, New South Wales is known for her innovative choreography and versatility. Her journey began with training at the Sydney Dance Company Pre-Professional Year, where she earned a full scholarship after becoming a finalist at the Brisbane International Contemporary Dance Prix. Opal gained early recognition at Sydney’s Short Sharp Dance Festival, winning “Most Innovative Choreography” for her solo work, A Sigh. She has performed works by prominent choreographers such as Stephanie Lake, Rafael Bonachela, and Merce Cunningham.
Now based in Naarm, Opal has completed her BFA in Dance at VCA. Her choreographic work has been showcased by Out of Bounds and Mud Festival, and her full-length work Mothers Group premiered at MUSE Festival, VCA. Opal’s potential has been recognised with the Norma De Gruchy award for Classical Ballet and a Bachelor of Fine Arts Entry Scholarship with VCA. Recently, she interned with Chunky Move for their production United, which premiered as part of Asia Topia. Opal’s dynamic practice continues to expand, reflecting her commitment to exploring movement and its infinite potential.
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Amélie Logan (she/her) is a dance artist from Aotearoa/New Zealand based in Naarm/Melbourne. Amélie completed her training at the New Zealand School of Dance in 2022, where she had the privilege of working with notable choreographers, including Sarah Foster-Sproull, Holly Newsome, Jeremy Beck and Tyler Carney-Faleatua.
In 2024, Amélie presented a new choreographic work alongside Jake Weir for Lucy Guerin Inc.’s Out of Bounds program. She attended the Deltebre Dansa festival in Spain, learning from world-renowned choreographers such as Akram Khan and Alleyne Dance. Whilst in Europe, Amélie also had the opportunity to collaborate with Swedish designer Jonatan Salomonsson to create motion capture visuals for The Weeknd’s 2024 world tour. Upon returning she completed a residency at Assembly 197 alongside Emily White for the development of Three Phrase, a durational work set to premiere at MeatWorks in 2025. Since relocating to Naarm/Melbourne Amélie has performed in festivals such as Melbourne Fringe Festival, Muse Festival, and had the privilege of contributing to the original development and performance of Okage Sama De by Julie Minaii. Alongside these projects she has also performed in queer led projects by companies such as Variation Three and Yummy. Amelie’s own practice is informed by her enduring interest in film, often drawn to projects with rich imagery and clear themes, and finds herself most interested in creating the ‘worlds’ in which choreography can exist within.
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Ether is a queer Chinese-Australian movement artist based in Naarm, working mainly as a choreographer, performer, and movement director. Their movement is founded upon street-based choreography styles and foundations, with a particular interest in flow, and internal textures. Their practice currently revolves around the exploration of ritual and ceremony, the creaturesque and the ethereal, incorporating elements of these aspects in their main bodies of work. They have performed at Melbourne Fringe Festival (Air Hunger, 2023), Midsumma (“HONŌUR”, 2025); created solo showcases for Worship Queer, Platform Exhibitions, Comma Collective; and also movement directed for artists such as Nick Ward, ASHWARYA, and Alethia. They currently lead a movement training and creation course called “into program” where Ether trains like-minded movement artists to create videographic and live performative work.
Contact Sports is a queer nonbinary composer and transdisciplinary artist based in Naarm, from a working class background in nipaluna/Hobart. Their research- and community-based sound practice incorporates extended audio (re-)sampling and warping techniques, site-specific recording and deep listening/observation, and the hybridisation of elements along electronic-acoustic, ancient-contemporary and sacred-secular axes. Recent works include: composition, sound design and performance for the 2024 world premiere of new choreographic work Guided Wrestling by Riana Head-Toussaint, commissioned by Buxton Contemporary for exhibition The same crowd never gathers twice; composition and sound design of scores for two N0 R3PLY collective projects, one performed live with dancer Ether for Sequence of Spaces, presented as part of NGV’s Melbourne Design Week/Melbourne Art Book Fair 2024, and the other for short film VOLUMES, featuring text performed by Seneschal, which premiered at the Bienal Internacional del Cartel en México 2024; and sound design for performance work Untethering by Leo Tsao, produced as part of the Sweet Incites program at the Art Gallery of New South Wales for Sydney World Pride (2023).
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Naoki Liddicut was brought up with creative dance at Mangala Studios from a young age which helped shape his improvisational dance as well as connecting to music in a physical way. After graduating high school, he studied dance full-time for 4 years at Dance Factory and The Space learning a range of different genres which helped expand his movement vocabulary. Since then he has taught hip hop and contemporary to children for 5 years and is now focusing on his own practice with dance.
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Erin O’Rourke Bold textis a contemporary dancer, choreographer and researcher based across Meanjin and Naarm. Erin has performed in festivals across Australia and beyond including Melbourne Now, Mona Foma (Tasmania), Now or Never Festival (Melbourne), Supercell Festival of Contemporary Dance (QLD), and Ars Electronica Festival (Linz, Austria), working with notable artists: Jenni Large, Harrison Hall, and The Farm. Her recent choreographic credits include ‘TUG’ from The Australian Ballet’s Bodytorque season 2024 (mentored by Stephanie Lake and David Hallberg), ‘object-shun’ for Dancehouse X Melbourne Fringe Festival 2023 and ‘when the water gets cold’ for Transit Dance, all concerned with depictions of women, in media and myth. Erin was awarded The Australian Ballet/Telstra Emerging Choreographer in 2022 for her dance film ‘yellow mellow’ which has since shown at Dancehouse’ Dance (Lens) Official Selection.
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Originally from Darkinjung Country, Chimene studied at the New Zealand School of Dance and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
Chimene has worked with artists including Sheridan Lang, Omer Backley-Astrachan, Lewis Major, Shian Law, Melissa Jones, and Luke George/Bec Reid (Stompin). Highlights include Reckless Sleepers (UK) A String Section, Stephanie Lake’s Multiply, Lauren Langlois’ Twenty Forty Seven, and Jennifer Barry Knox’s, Eleo Pomare Retrospective.
Chimene worked extensively with Opera Australia between 2011-2021, touring throughout Australia and China. In 2022, Chimene performed in Project Animo’s inaugural season in works by Alice Topp, Cass Mortimer-Eipper, Izzac Thomas and in solo work, In Real Life by Kristina Chan. Chimene joined Australasian Dance Collective in 2023 for the developments and resulting seasons of Lucie in the sky, by Amy Hollingsworth. In 2024, Chimene worked with Requardt and Rosenberg (UK) on the Australian Premiere of Future Cargo and performed over 30 times at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Chimene’s choreographic work has been presented at the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Lawler Theatre, Dancehouse, Melbourne Fringe Festival Hub and the Winter in Banyule Festival. Her solo work IN FORMATION II was nominated for a Green Room Award for Concept and Realisation in 2015.
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William McBride is a dance and performance maker and producer. He has created innovative choreographic works for the past 10 years, and is a dramaturg and performer on projects by other artists. Key works include Lady Example, What’s Actually Happening, and Doors Shut (Greenroom Award for Best Ensemble) with Alice Will Caroline, and The Prelude and Laceship with Phillip Adams BalletLab and Walter Dundervill. Since 2022 he has been the Executive Producer at Temperance Hall. William is also an Alexander Technique teacher.
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David Prakash is an Indian/Samoan artist who works from the spaces of street dance, in particular, Krump & Hip hop freestyle. His practice, heavily informed by street dance histories, he works from spaces that address the now, and has extensive performance, curation and leadership experience in the arts. More recently, he has ventured into the space of music production.
Oliver Le is a self-taught street dancer/artist who has been dancing for 8 years, and is diverse in styles such as hip-hop freestyle and breaking. Currently, Oliver represents ‘The Unguided’ crew and is an advocate for Hip Hop culture, through education (dance and knowledge) to ensure the preservation and continuation of the Melbourne Hip Hop freestyle scene for the next generation.
Jimmy Nguyen is an Australian/Vietnamese self taught artist/student who practices in hip hop freestyle. Existing member of “The Unguided“ crew. He has collaborated and performed with creatives from different street dance styles. He shares, improves and inspires the current and next generation within the hip hop freestyle scene.
Mario is a passionate hip hop dancer influenced by diverse styles worldwide. Love sharing his art and often attend dance battle events, bringing joy and energy to those who watch. Mario’s dance embodies freedom, expression, and a deep love for the hip hop community. Mario is an active fashion design student who recently championed his own brand ‘BUSY MEN’.