ANNANDALE CREATIVE ARTS CENTRE

Based in Sydney for the past 8 years, Jay Bailey is an independent choreographer and teacher. A graduate of QUT she worked for companies including Claire Marshall, YouMove, Span Dance Theatre, Liquid Skin and Form Dance Projects in Legs On The Wall’s, "Puncture". Her work as a performer coincided with her choreographic practice and in 2011 Jay began researching partnering techniques through the support of ACAC’s artist in residence from 2011- 2015. Her research was also supported by residencies by Ausdance NSW’s and Brand X and most recently Leg’s Sparks Residency in 2018. During 2016, Jay was in Europe touring with LCP Aerial Dance Theatre and learning from the founding members of Contact Improvisation and Ultima Ves. Since returning to Sydney Jay continues to develop her works "Hooked",  "To The Top", and "It Takes Two" for stage and film. Her ambition is to see all three works continue to develop and realise their potential.

Mikayla Bayliss has recently graduated from AMPA with a Bachelor in Dance majoring in Contemporary. Prior to moving to Sydney for the course in 2016, Mikayla trained with Queensland National Ballet for four years. Through their fulltime program, Mikayla completed her Diploma in Performing Arts, Advanced Diploma in Performing Arts and Diploma in Elite Performance. Mikayla’s final semester at university was spent focusing on choreographing and directing her 15-minute production, ‘James Gatz’ which debuted at NIDA in December 2017. Currently, not only has Mikayla been working on Platform Shorts, she is also training towards attending scheduled secondments and international workshop this year through Sydney Dance Company and Share Collective Paris.

Katrina Carter is a Sydney based Dance teacher and choreographer. She has danced since an early age and has undertaken Tertiary studies at UNSW College of Fine Arts in Design, and at Wesley Institute with a Bachelor of Creative Arts in Dance and a Diploma of Secondary Education. She is currently undertaking studies in a Masters of Education through NICE.  Katrina currently works at Covenant Christian School on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and has coordinated the Curriculum and Co- Curriculum Dance program there for the last ten years. This is Katrina’s second season as a choreographer in Platform Shorts.

Bonnie Curtis is a multi-faceted artist, driven by an inquisitive imagination and a desire to discover. Born and bred in Sydney, Bonnie trained at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts before moving to Europe to further her artistic development. During her career, Bonnie has worked as an independent artist, playing the role of producer, director, choreographer and performer in works for film, installation and live performance.

Her creations and collaborations have been featured at ImPulsTanz, Museum Moderner Kunst (AT), Girona Film Festival (ES), Quadstock Music Festival (US), CinéWomen|Womenartconnect (EU), Asia International Youth Short Film Exhibition (CN), Biennale of Sydney, Sydney World Film Festival, and Sydney Fringe Festival (AU), among others.

Bonnie is fascinated with the darker themes elements of our human existence that are often thought of as taboo in society. Bonnie’s works share the diverse emotions, experiences and thoughts that have formed our modern society.

Kate is a Sydney based dancer and choreographer, who also has a passion for dance photography and film. Kate grew up in London, where she completed a BETEC Extended Diploma in Dance at Lewisham College for 2 years before moving to Australia. She completed her Bachelor of Dance at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts, majoring in Contemporary. Kate is also trained in Ballet, Jazz and Pole Dancing.

Kate is heavily influenced by music and counter-cultural movements. She enjoys exploring our perception of dance and movement with task based choreography, whilst always bringing the focus back to our visual experience.

Emma is an emerging artist across a multitude of art forms. Primarily a contemporary dancer and maker with focus in performance improvisation, Emma’s practice has moved into multidisciplinary works merging dance, film and theatre. She is a graduate from UTS Media Arts and Production (June 2017) and The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts LINK Dance (2013).

As a maker, her work has been presented in Strut Dance Short Cuts; collaboration with live percussionist Matt Wright (2015), In Situ; in residence at the Fremantle Arts Centre (2015), UTS Gallery Space; (2016), Platform Shorts Annandale Creative Arts – first development of dance performance and film work (2017), Sydney Fringe Festival Creative Conversations; (2017) and as a Dirtyfeet Choreographic Lab recipient (2017). As a performer she has worked with Flatline, Rosslyn Wythes, Rachel Ogle, Michael Whaites, Gabrielle Nankivell, Guy Shomroni (ISR) and Michael Schumacher (US).

Cydney Yeats is a recent graduate of the Academy of Music and Performing Arts attaining a Bachelor of Dance with an focus on ballet and contemporary. Her early training was primarily in classical ballet under the ADAP syllabus through which she completed her Cert IV in dance. Since graduating from AMPA, Cydney has been exploring choreographic pursuits, discovering her own methodology and aesthetic. Cydney first found this through choreographing her major work ‘Happiest’ at university. Cydney endeavours to explore the meeting of the academic and creative worlds, demonstrating their relation as two differing explanations of a focal concept. Platform shorts has allowed Cydney to continue this exploration and in the future she intends to pursue it further through a career in performance and choreography.