SHOPFRONT

OUTREACH DIRECTOR: SARAH EMERY

Sarah is a multi-arts practitioner with a passion for communities. She has been the Outreach Director at Shopfront since September 2008 and in that time has worked with young people from Fairfield Intensive English Centre, Woniora Road School, Kirinari Aboriginal Hostel, Engadine District Youth Service, St George TAFE, Bankstown Multicultural Youth Service and YouthZone to produce work from the ideas, stories and experiences of the participants using devised performance and multi-media.
Early in 2010 Sarah was the Outreach Director on Detours & Destinations; a collaboration between Shopfront, Heaps Decent and the Sydney Opera House engaging young people in Western Sydney. In 2009 Sarah directed Nga Woray with the Sierra Leone Cultural Performance Group, collaborated with Margot Politis to establish Bodylines – a movement ensemble for young people with disabilities, and also was the Assistant Director and Outreach Coordinator on Superperfect, a collaboration between Shopfront and Japanese Performance Collective Nibroll. Sarah was a recipient of the Vacant Room residency at PACT in 2008, completed Shopfront’s Artslab in 2007 and was part of the ImPACT ensemble in 2006. Sarah has a Bachelor of Arts/Education from UNSW and is currently studying Certificate IV in Screen and Media. She attended the CCD Leadership Program in 2010 through VCA’s centre for cultural partnerships. Contact Sarah

JANIE GIBSON is an Actor and theatre maker. She grew up in Newcastle and has lived and worked in both Sydney and Wroclaw, Poland. She has undergone training at UNSW, PACT Theatre, Teatr Piesn Kozla (PL) and most recently Shakespeare & Company (USA). Her work focuses on the work of the ensemble as the heart of the theatrical process and an understanding of theatre as an ongoing practice of research, She is currently exploring the art of Oral tradition in the performance of drama, story-telling and song. Recent productions include Stories of Love and Hate, with Urban Theatre Projects and Sydney Theatre Company and Rhapsody by Whale Chorus at the Underbelly Festival 2011.

EDDI GOODFELLOW is a multi-skilled artist, designer, producer and multimedia technician with over 20 years of experience working in theatre and digital media, and on creative youth and community initiatives. Credits include: AV Designer ‘Trocadero’ Sydney Festival; Visual Editor & Tour/Stage Manager Meryl Tankards Contempory Dance The Oracle Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Malthouse, Brisbane Festival, Adelaide Festival; Production Coordinator Company B Belvoir; Technical Manager B Sharp; Video Production Director Jam on Toast. Boystown Documentary Project QLD; Puppeteer Dolmio Commercial; Digital Video Production Wendy Houston’s In the Dark The Performance Space.  She has worked as a Mentor, Teacher & Workshop Director for various organisations including SPROUT Media for Kids, Australian Academy of Dramatic Art, SCEGGS Darlinghurst, Cranbrook School, Shopfront Contemporary Arts and Performance, Yulara Primary School NT, and the Mutujulu Community NT. Eddi has a Bachelor of Creative Arts from Wollongong University (Directing & Lighting Design), Certificate IV in Multimedia, Training and Assessment and ‘Safe Workplace’ OH&S Media.

VICTORIA HUNT is an Australian-born artist of mixed descent, Te Arawa, Rongowhaakata, Kahungunu Maori, English and Irish. She has worked as a movement artist with Tess de Quincey since ’99 and is a founding dancer of De Quincey Co’s Body Weather ensemble, performing in more than 20 productions and residencies, nationally and internationally. As an independent artist, she is developing a new solo dance work, Copper Promises: HINEMIHI HAKA that brings together the Maori Haka with her history and practice in Body Weather. This work will be presented at Performance Space in 2012 with support from Australia Council, Critical Path, Ausdance, Arts NSW, UNSW and Dept. of Performance Studies, USyd. Victoria has recently returned from a European tour where she performed Dancing The Dead: A Performed Conversation with Fiona Winning at the INBetween Time Festival in Bristol and participated in dance exchanges with Body Weather Dancer Oguri (LA/Barcelona) and Butoh master Masaki Iwana (France). Victoria is currently teaching dance at EORA Institute of TAFE, Redfern Community Centre and Queen Street Studios.

MICHAEL MOEBUS  (aka Meem) is a celebrated music producer from Sydney, Australia. He has been producing and releasing music since 1998, and has performed alongside acts such as Thievery Corporation, Groove Armada, Jamie Lidell, M.I.A, People Under The Stairs, Girl Talk and Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings.  Meem has been working with Shopfront since 2008 through outreach workshops and studio sessions with young people.  Meem has  been instrumental in developing new, exciting and original music with young people at Shopfront.

Check out some of the music Meem has created at Shopfront Here

For more info about Meem visit his website Here

ALICE OSBORNE is a performance maker and puppeteer. Originally trained as a dancer Alice works in physical theatre, puppetry and visual theatre. In 2007 she joined Compagnie Philippe Genty in Paris to devise BOLILOC.  She toured internationally with the company for two and a half years and performed the work in four different languages. In Australia she has worked extensively with award winning company My Darling Patricia, most recently co-devising and performing AFRICA.  Other companies/artists she has worked with include Erth, Urban Theatre Projects, Nikki Heywood and Regina Heilmann. Alice is currently working as Puppetry and Movement Director on new work THE SPLINTER by Hilary Bell for Sydney Theatre Company’s 2012 Main Stage season. Alice’s television credits as a puppeteer include ME & MY MONSTERS for Sticky Pictures and The Jim Henson Company (currently playing on Channel 10), FIVE MINUTES MORE, FARSCAPE MINI SERIES, The Umbilical Brothers’  UPSIDE DOWN SHOW for Sesame Workshop and RAGGS. Alice has a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction (Communication – Theatre/Media) from Charles Sturt University, Bathurst.

MICHAEL PIGOTT is a director, actor, teacher and writer. He is currently Shopfront’s artistic associate and has worked with the company  as the Season Director/Mentor for RAW since 2006 and  the ArtsLab program since 2008.  His directing work includes: The Dysfunckshonalz (Arts Rader/Darlinghurst Theatre co.); La La Land (Spooky Duck/Darlinghurst Theatre co); Pugilist Specialist ( Flightpath/Darlinghurst Theatre co); The Golden Ass (Flightpath/B Sharp); The Young Tycoons (Sooky Duck/Darlinghurst Theatre); Meet the Candidates (Darlinghurst Theatre Co.); Some Voices (Alchemy); King Lear (Harlos Productions); The Doglogs (MPP-National Tour); Crescent Moon, Yellow Star (Belvoir Downstairs); Backpacker (Darlinghurst Theatre); Barnsey the Harbour and You (Darlinghurst Theatre); Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Harlos Producations). As an actor his work includes Woyzeck (Arts Rader/B-sharp) The Glory of Living (Wildcard) and King Lear (Harlos). As a writer his work includes: The Migration of Birds (Moriah College); Between the Seabed and the Sky (VCA / Darlinghurst Theatre) and Walking on Eggshells which premiered in Slovenia and toured to Germany.  He has taught and run programs at Macquarie University, Belvoir, The Sydney Theatre School.

MARGOT POLITIS is Shopfront’s Artistic Associate for Accessibility and has been working with Shopfront’s Bodylines Ensemble since 2009. She graduated as an actor from the Flinders University Drama Centre SA, with an Honours degree in Creative Arts and Drama Performance. Margot joined Shopfront following a 6 year engagement with Restless Dance Theatre – a company for performers with and without disabilities in Adelaide. Since joining Shopfront, Margot has also directed workshops for the 8-12 year olds in movement skills development. By encouraging participants to create their own material whilst learning about classic drama genres, Margot allows all young people a space for true expression, inner reflection, character creation, and exciting adventures into the unknown. Margot works as an actor, television presenter, movement teacher, choreographer and devisor of new dance work. She uses drama and dance practices to provide integrated workshop environments which are accessible, artistic, engaging, and professional. Contact Margot

MATT PREST works as a performer and theatre maker.  Matt’s work draws on his background in live performance and installation art to focus on the experiential possibilities of theatre.  Matt holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture, Performance and Installation, from COFA, UNSW.  He has trained as a performer with PACT Theatre and Urban Theatre Projects.  Matt has presented 2 major multidisciplinary theatre works: The Tent which premiered at Next Wave Festival 2008 and toured to Performance Space 2008, Campbelltown Arts Centre 2009, Darwin Festival and Perth Institute of Contemporary Art  2010; and Hole in the Wall with Clare Britton, a co-commission between Performance Space, Next Wave Festival and Campbelltown Arts Centre which received a Green Room Award for Best Production Design in 2010.

He is currently developing a new work with theatre ensemble Whale Chorus and in late 2012 will present Whelping Box, a new collaboration with Branch Nebula and Clare Britton at Performance Space.

KAY YASUGI has been a puppeteer and puppet maker for 8 years and has trained at the London School of Puppetry (UK). She is also a qualified primary school teacher with a background in illustration.She runs her puppetry business “Pupperoos” in Sydney, with the interest in combining puppetry and education. She has worked in a variety of projects involving schools, charities, theatre, television, film and animation. Recently she volunteered as a puppet maker in Cambodia for the Giant Puppet Project in Siem Reap (making parade puppets with children from local schools and several charities). For more information about Kay and Pupperoos please visit www.pupperoos.com