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Michelle Maxwell

@chellenmax

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Creative Visionary committed to growth and learning through persistence.

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THIS WEEK | REINA TAKEUCHI

“Somatic” comes from the Greek word soma, meaning: the body as a living organism. Defined by Thomas Hanna, somatic practice is “the experience within and of the body from a first-person perspective”. Through somatic practice we are able to shift focus from external performance driven movement, to our internal physical worlds.

This Saturday the 17th of October, join the wonderful independent dance artist and practitioner, Reina Takeuchi, as she shares with us her personal somatic methodologies. Encouraging participants to discover a moment of presence and intuitively connect to self through movement, this class welcomes ALL levels of ability.

We can’t wait to see you at our Coalcliff studio.

Registrations essential - book via the link in our bio 🌱

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Images 2 & 4 credit | JustBe Temple (Seoul)

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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT | Natalie Cunzolo

Since her time with AUSTI Natalie has been offered a diverse range of professional performing, teaching and choreographic opportunities.

“I feel incredibly grateful to have stepped into such a diverse range of creative spaces where I have been continually challenged to adapt and embrace new ways of thinking. Working across different environments and disciplines, alongside diverse collaborators and people, continues to offer me new perspectives that shape me as an artist and educator every day. These experiences have reinforced just how much I value this work and the impact it brings to the broader community.”

@natmarie_c

Image Credits
1: Kate Williams
2: @dance.artsunit
3: Brainwave digital art through dance at SXSW Sydney @neuro.art.hub
4: Choreographer for ‘The Red Shoes’ NIDA’s festival of emerging artists directed by @jasonforrest__
Photographer Daniel Moxham
5: ‘BONES’ Independent Film Project biancayeung
6: Open Classes @sydneydanceco.classes Photographer @wendellt

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OPEN STUDIO | COMING UP

We warmly welcome Tom Kenttä and Reina Takeuchi into the studio, each bringing their own unique movement practice to our Open Studio community.

This Saturday, Tom will guide us through a beautiful combination of Qigong + Somatic Practice, exploring movement through awareness, breath and embodied connection.

Then next month, we welcome Reina into the space for a Somatic Practice, offering another opportunity to slow down, tune in and explore movement from within.

Open Studio is designed for all movers (18+), offering a supportive space to train, explore and grow.

🔺Saturday 26 Sep | 10am - 11:30am
🔺Saturday 17 Oct | 10am - 11:30am
🔺Style: Qigong + Somatic Practice
🔺Book: Link in Bio ⏫
🔺Illawarra Moving Arts Hub. 270 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Coalcliff.

ABOUT TOM

Tom Kenttä is a Finnish-Australian movement artist from Dharawal Land, Australia. He specialises in freestyle football, dance and qi gong but enjoys exploring freestyle and mindfulness methodologies throughout many areas. He has performed for Riana Head-Toussaint’s Animate Loading at AGNSW and for Feras Shaheen’s Klapping at Danse Élargie in Paris and has taught dance to stateless children at The Rainbow School near the border of Thailand and Myanmar He is also the 2018 Australian Freestyle Football champion.

ABOUT REINA

Reina Takeuchi - A Japanese Australian independent dance artist interested in cross-cultural exchange, collaboration and creative facilitation. Her performance projects have included installations at Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, and SomoS Arts, Berlin, and performances for Liveworks Festival of Experimental Art, Performance Space, the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Late program, Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Pier 2/3 and Sydney Dance Company.

Her recent co-directed show Ghosts Between Streams (2024) was awarded highly in two categories at Sydney Fringe Festival – Best in Dance and Music. She’s a co-facilitator of Palette Session Australia, an experimental dance lab, and will be travelling and teaching in Asia and Australia throughout 2025.

Come move, explore and connect with us in beautiful Coalcliff! 🌿

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2027 APPLICATIONS CLOSING SOON

There’s just a little over 24 hours to submit your 2027 Audition application!

Not sure if AUSTI. is right for you? Want to know more about the program before applying?

No problem - shoot us an email and we’ll be happy to answer any questions 👉🏻info@austitheatre.com.au

• In-person and video applications available via the link in bio 👆🏻 • Applications close 11:59pm Wednesday, 23 September • In-person auditions Saturday, 3 October

Build your artistic practice with AUSTI in 2027.
info@austitheatre.com.au

📸 Credit: AUSTI Artists featured in ‘LATO 2X’ by @buddy260 for uNCOILEd eXposed 2023 supported by Merrigong Theatre Company’s MerrigongX annual artists’ program. Photographer @childrenoftherevolutionphoto

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NEW SPACE. NEW PROGRAM. NEW POSSIBILITIES.

2027 marks an exciting evolution for AUSTI.

With a new home in beautiful Coalcliff, nestled beneath the Illawarra escarpment, our 2027 program has been expanded to offer emerging artists more time, more diverse training and more opportunities to develop their individual artistic practice.

Our part-time program now runs Wednesday–Friday, 10am–3pm, with training spanning contemporary dance, street dance, physical theatre, ballet, improvisation, and mental and physical conditioning, alongside creative development, performance opportunities, industry skills and professional pathway development.

Designed for emerging artists aged 17–25, AUSTI. offers the experience of working in a professional environment, while maintaining the flexibility to work, study and pursue other opportunities alongside your training.

2027 APPLICATIONS CLOSING SOON

In-person and video applications available via the link in bio  ⬆️ Applications close Wednesday, 23 September  In-person auditions Saturday, 3 October

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We’re pleased to share that two partial scholarships are available for our 2027 Development Program.

Scholarships offered via application and are designed to support emerging artists to access AUSTI.’s training and development opportunities in 2027.

Applications are now open for more information contact info@austitheatre.com.au

📸 @angemaloney featuring @baddymackin & @danbarcelona in ‘Orígenes’ by Daniel Navarro Lorenzo for @formdanceprojects ‘Thats 2 Thank You’ 2025 Festival.

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AUDITION DEADLINE EXTENDED

There’s still time to apply to join AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre in 2027.

With a new faculty joining us for 2027, we’re looking forward to another year of training, creating and performing together.

Applications for our 2027 auditions have now been extended until 23 September.

Apply via the link in bio ⬆️

We’d love to hear from you.

📸 Carina Serray @carina.serray in Lisa Maris McDonell’s @lisamarismcdonell ‘Chamber Dances’ Image by Children of the Revolution @childrenoftherevolutionphoto

#deadline #extended #dance #physicaltheatre #austitheatre

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2027 FACULTY

Warmly welcoming our 2027 Faculty!

Carefully curated for their individual artistry, expertise and experience, our 2027 faculty brings together an exceptional group of artists whose practices span the local, national and international dance and performance sectors.

Together, they bring a diverse range of disciplines and perspectives to the studio, spanning contemporary, street dance, physical theatre, ballet, improvisation, and mental and physical conditioning, alongside industry skills and professional pathway development.

AUSTI’s part-time development program gives emerging artists aged 17–25 access to professional training, creative development, performance opportunities and industry experience, right here in the Illawarra.

An ideal option for artists taking a gap year, transitioning from full-time training, or looking for a flexible pathway to continue developing their practice.

2027 APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

📍In-person and video applications available via the link in our bio 📍Applications close Wednesday, 23 September 📍In-person auditions Saturday, 3 October

Link in bio ⬆️ OR
Contact info@austitheatre for more information

📸 Credits

1. Michelle Maxwell | Children of the Revolution
2. Amber McCartney
3. Natalie Cunzolo | Kate Williams
4. Rhiannon Newton | Gregory Lorenzutti
5. Evie Leah | Matt Dollin
6. Lachlan Grogan | Justin Huntsdale
7. Reina Takeuchi | Shane Rozario
8. Neville Williams Boney | Noni Carrol
9. Daniela Zambrano | Christian Escobar
10. Zachary Lopez | Jonathan VDK
11. Marni Green | Yang Jaemin
12. Bubblez Phan
13. Timothy Farrar | Moore Street Studio
14. Lisa Maris McDonell

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Oops, you missed that one! 😢 Applications for this audition are now closed, but don’t let the next opportunity slip away! Stay ahead & explore new dance opportunities at @audition360! 💃🏻

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#Audition360 #DanceAudition #DanceOpportunity #Australia

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We’re excited to welcome Madeleine Backen into the studio this week.

Madeleine lives and creates in Sydney, on Gadigal land. In her first five years of practice as an emerging artist and maker, she has performed nationally and internationally in projects with Stalker Theatre, Dance Makers Collective, Proper Motion, DirtyFeet, and FORM Dance Projects. Madeleine has experienced professional development and performance opportunities internationally in Mexico City (Festival Internacional De Danza Contemporanea) and throughout Europe (ImPlusTanz ATLAS choreographic program and SHARE mentoring and intensives), allowing her to soak up new methods of creative exploration, learning from an incredibly diverse range of artists and seeking fresh perspectives from rich cultures. Madeleine’s initial contemporary dance training began at AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre.

Open Studio is designed for all movers (18+), offering a supportive space to train, explore and develop their practice.

Thursday 16th July | 10am - 11.30am
Style: Contemporary
Level: Pre-pro | Professional
📍Illawarra Moving Arts Hub. 270 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Coalcliff.

Link in bio ⬆️ OR Book here: https://events.humanitix.com/austi-open-studio

#austitheatre #dance #openclasses #openstudio #illawarra

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This is where movement meditation began for us.

We’re Synergy Styles. Before this was a practice, it was something we stumbled into.

Working with youth dance companies, we kept seeing the same thing, talented young dancers stuck in their heads, too tense to create. So we started helping them drop into their bodies first, before asking them to perform.

That’s where movement meditation grew from. A way to quiet the mind, return to breath, and let movement come from instinct rather than effort.

What began as a tool for dancers became something we now share with everyone.

Forever grateful to years of working with these young people who taught us so much.

Grateful to have worked and collaborated with
@quantumleapdance_australia
@austitheatre
@fling_physicaltheatre

#movementmeditation #somaticmovement #consciousmovement #embodiment #movementpractice

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𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞 🌊
meet the dancers

Tara Rose Gilmour

Tara began her dance journey in her hometown of Nowra on the South Coast of New South Wales at South Coast Institute of Performing Arts under the direction of Nirvana James Ricci. Tara trained in various styles from a young age and found her passion for contemporary dance. In 2023, she joined AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre as a company artist, working with choreographers such as Timothy Farrar, LeeAnne Litton, Cloe Fournier and Elizabeth Arifien. She has been fortunate enough to tour with AUSTI. to Canberra and Brisbane, joining Australiasian Dance Collectives (ADC) youth ensemble season over the past two years to present works ‘Move me’ and ‘UnFiltered’. Most recently Tara worked with Elizabeth Arifien on a collaboration creating a piece that was further developed in London and seconded with ADC under the direction of Amy Hollingsworth.

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Choreographed by Daniel Navarro Lorenzo, presented in collaboration with AUSTI Dance & Physical Theatre.

FORM Dance Projects and That’s Two, Thank You presents DUELS

BOOK NOW at the LINK in BIO

DUELS is an exciting and dynamic duet competition that takes place as part of FORM Dance Projects’ That’s Two, Thank You season.

Witness a bold selection of emerging and established artists from across Australia, each with their own unique artistic vision, coming together to present a diverse smorgasbord of ideas, styles, and voices.

Don’t miss this chance to experience the breadth of Australian dance makers.

THE LINEUP
GUST-AGE — Georgette Sofatzis-Xuereb
the object — Hugo Poulet & Taiga Kita Leong
Nancy Duet — Phillip Adams & Geoffrey Watson
PLATINUM — Avalon Ormiston & Molly Haringsma
Backshore — Daniel Navarro Lorenzo in collaboration with AUSTI Dance and Physical Theatre
Entertain Me — Eliza Cooper

Eternity Playhouse, Darlinghurst
Saturday April 11, 2026
7:00pm (90mins)

Tickets: $35 + booking fee

Photo @chellenmax

Music Rodrigo Buenestado

#Backshore #MeetTheDancers #KateArber #ContemporaryDance

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