Tess

Tess moved to the Northern Rivers four and a half years ago from the U.S. , after completing her BA degree in Interdisciplinary and Global Studies, which enabled her to live among locals and carry out field work in Latin America, India and Australia where she engaged with cultural studies through the lens of embodiment and local dance forms. She currently teaches dance classes for adults and youth, and facilitates silent disco jams with residents at Feros Aged Care in Byron Bay. She has performed at Festivals such as The Falls, Mullum Music Fest and Bello Winter Fest with The Cassettes Dance Company. Most recently she performed at ArtState Festival in Lismore in a site-specific installation dance piece titled The Overtopping as well as at Bleach Festival in Inherit The Wind, under the artistic direction of Meredith Elton. She is currently involved in another collaborative movement project with Elton and Sydney-based choreographer Victoria Hunt called Lines in the Sand: Recreating Contact as part of Festival 2018 and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Tess has collaborated with Sprung!! Integrated Dance Theatre (Alstonville), Dance Integrated Australia (Interstate), The Farm Dance Co (Gold Coast) on a number of creative development workshops, such as Beyond Technique Residency, The Corner Dance Lab, Bare Bones, GreenHouse Youth Ensemble, No Difference and Raconteurs. She is inspired by the creative spirit fostered in the Northern Rivers and is excited to keep learning, growing and collaborating locally and beyond.

Ritika

Ritika has been a seeker for most of her life. The question of “who am I”and “what am I doing here floating on this little blue dot in space” have haunted her all her life. She has spent the last 10 years in India exploring different schools of thought that address these questions. Ritika uses pranayama(breath work) and Kriya (energy work) to create a dance of energy that awakens your chakras and allows you to drop into the silence of your heart. If you have ever wanted to meditate and didn’t know where to start or find it difficult to quieten your mind, come experience a class with Ritika.

Ohad

Ohad Rein is a Yoga teacher, Meditation instructor, Kirtan artist, Producer, Writer, Composer and Performer. Ohad is a full Diploma graduate of the Academy of Yoga Science (formally Satyananda Yoga Academy Australia). AYS offer a teacher-training course, which is regarded as one of the longest, most comprehensive and respected in the Yoga world.  Ohad has been teaching in this style for over six years and has more than 15 years of experience practicing different Yoga techniques, such as Vinyasa and Ashtanga, and also practicing Chi Gong, Transcendental meditation and Buddhist Vipassna meditation. 

Moana

Moana has been dedicated to her yoga practice ever since she began in her teens. Moana is a certified Ishta trained yoga teacher, body worker, and counsellor. She has been in the Shire for 26 years specialising in sacred women’s journeys and Rites of Passage.

Philippa

Philippa Williams has a Diploma from the London School of Speech and Drama and toured for fifteen years as an actress with Dionysia Theatre, The Rose Theatre Company, The Mask Studio, Portal Productions, Circle X Arts and TaurusVoice Theatre Company.
Philippa ran the Stroud performing Arts Courses in Gloucestershire, England and has taught theatre skills, directed plays and worked as a therapist in a variety of settings including schools, colleges, the Mental Health Sector, with teenagers with special needs and in Adult Education.
Philippa also has a Diploma in Dance Movement Therapy and an Advanced Diploma in Psychophonetics Counselling. Since coming to Australia seven years ago she has been teaching, facilitating theatre courses and directing community theatre productions.
Philippa has taught movement and improvisation at The Actors Workshop in Brisbane, Byron Bay Film and Television School, Cape Byron Steiner School, Shearwater School and The Warehouse Workshop. For the last fifteen years she has also been working with groups of women exploring Feminine Archetype themes and creating theatre productions as well as running children’s theatre classes. Philippa is a Director for Public Act Theatre Company based at the Byron Theatre.
 

Jim

Jim has been involved with dance & movement studies for 15 years. He is a certified Feldenkrais practitioner, having trained in Switzerland and Australia. He also works as a biologist, in which he has a PhD. He has been practicing and teaching Contact Improvisation dance over the same period – loving the spontaneity, authenticity and clarity that this form of dance fosters. He loves to move, to find new ways of moving and to help others discover their own potency in movement.

Travers

Heidi

Heidi Kaye is an accredited English and History teacher, who has embraced movement and fun as a path to acquire deeper knowledge and wisdom.
Over the years, Heidi has received informal dance training on various remote doof dance floors, at festivals around the world, where masters of Psytrance have mentored her.
Having recently relocated from Sydney to Mullumbimby, Heidi is ready to start a dance floor of her own.
As a “90s kid” in the 21st century, Heidi understands what it’s like to (a) sorely miss 90s pop/RnB and (b) crave a psytrance festival every weekend. Funky, creative, free spirited dance has solved these first world problems for her and now she invites you to celebrate, laugh and most of all: sweat! along with her!

Chad

Chad Beckett works with Actors, Singers , athletes, teachers, drug & alcohol rehab , anxiety & depression and neurological conditions using movement, voice and rhythm exercises. He began yoga and qigong while studying at Wellpark Ayurvedic College in the late 90’s & has been teaching movement since 2001 and gyrotonic since 2004. Coming from a background in drama he was taken by the similarities between traditional Japanese performing arts training and modern day movement modalities. The aspect he loved most was expression through movement and voice & now enjoys creating & discovering ways to fully embody our voice and body through increased energetic awareness. He loves working with people to find their deep presence as a springboard to creativity in each moment. He is a physical /vocal therapist who lives and works in Mullumbimby. 

Eve

Eve started ballet at a young age and has a great appreciation for this highly technical form of dance which has defined the foundational techniques in many other styles of dance.
Eve trained at the V.C.A, and completed a diploma of dance at W.A.P.A. She has also completed yoga
teacher training and pilates instruction training. She has performed overseas, in contemporary dance and theatre.
Eve believes strongly in the body/mind connection, and dance is a way for people to express and expand through the physical realm what they experience internally.

Charlie

Charlie is an interdisciplinary artist who works predominately in the field of movement and performance art. She has studied dance in New York with Movement Research and in Melbourne at Deakin University where she completed her Bachelor of Creative Arts majoring in Contemporary Dance. Charlie has experience performing, choreographing and teaching many styles of movement such as Postmodern, Contemporary, Movement Improvisation, Jazz and Hip Hop, she often works collaboratively with other dancers and artists of other disciplines such as visual artists, musicians and spatial film practitioners. She loves using movement to connect with community and to inspire personal development.

Lex

Anna

Anna has been dancing the hula for over 26 years all over the U.S.A. including Hawaii, Philippines and Australia.  Although not a native of Hawaii, she respects and represents the culture with the heart and soul of a true Hawaiian local.   Anna has formed a hula “hui” (dance group) along with her hula sisters, Mikky, Gisela, Kate and Rebeka, in Mullumbimby that perpetuates the traditions of hula not only as a form of dance and cultural education but most importantly as a way of life.

Meggie

Meggie was born a mover. She embraces the sensory experience of moving the body as a powerful tool for accessing life force, empowerment, truth and healing. She is dedicated to the study of the senses and uses her knowledge of the mechanical and energetic body to share her passion for dance and movement using intrinsic exploration, authenticity and expansive creativity. Meggie invites others into a playful arena where all things are possible whether it is healing injuries, increasing fitness, learning the ‘impossible’ or shifting mindsets and emotions. Life is a dance, so why not get down and move to the music. 

Adrianna

Adrianna started dancing at 4 years of age with the traditional jazz, tap and ballet combination. At 12 years old she started rhythmic gymnastics and competed at a state and national level where she developed a love of using apparatus while moving. She has since explored a number of movements and dance styles including yoga, martial arts, contemporary dance, salsa, and hip hop. She also has a passion for musical theatre and performed with Bangalow Theatre Company at their production of Chicago. Adrianna blends her knowledge of technique, body awareness, and creative expression into her teaching and loves to inspire her students to find their own unique flair and style.

Glenda

Glenda is a healer and brings a rich range of practices to her therapeutic movement classes. Weaving the principles of alignment and functional anatomy with subtle eastern healing philosophies, Glenda supports her students to ease tension, build stability and bring postural and movement patterns into balance.
Encouraging enquiry and expression of their body’s innate wisdom, Glenda invites students to slow down, feel more and enjoy a sense of being at ease in their body. Her teaching style is nurturing and informative.
During a 25 year career in Sydney, Glenda has worked in gyms, run a private clinic, facilitated corporate and high school yoga programmes and founded the Mosman Yoga Co-op where she taught weekly classes, mentored new teachers, ran local and international retreats and was renowned for her restorative yin yoga workshops and gatherings in celebration of the divine feminine.
Glenda now lives in paradise in the Byron hinterland with her husband, learning the art of weeding and restoring natural habitat.

Taryn

Taryn’s passion is inspiring people to come alive and heal through their bodies. She is a passionate Yoga & Yin teacher, Nia Black Belt & 5 Stages teacher, Kahuna Bodywork practitioner and experienced international retreat facilitator. Yoga has transformed Taryn’s body and her life and she loves sharing movement as medicine. Her classes will bring you deeply into your body, inviting you to feel to heal.

Tora

With a passion for intelligent movement Tora has trained and worked across several forms of dance and theatre in both artistic and therapeutic contexts. She holds a degree in Dance, Diploma of Yoga and is a Lvl 1 Ziran Qigong instructor. A spirited teacher, her creativity and adaptability is anchored by an appreciation of form and structure. Her natural warmth and ease with children invokes beautiful and dynamic movement. In her creative dance classes foundation techniques are presented in a creative context and the childs’ exploration of their own unique potential for movement is primary. Tora continues to train under Master Liu Deming, lineage holder of the Zi Ran Men martial tradition and founder of Ziran Qigong.

Kimberley

Kimberley McIntyre has been on a journey with Contact Improvisation since 1995.  She has studied in Australia and OS with inspiring teachers including pioneers Nancy Stark Smith, Andrew Harwood and Helen Clarke Lapin.  Kimberley commenced her own teaching practice in 1999. She has taught at Australian CI Convergence over several years and has a practice of release based technique and performance Improvisation that feed and enhance her CI practice & teaching.

Julie

Julie Bartley is an accredited Nia- Brown Belt and 5 Stages teacher. She comes from a dance and healing arts background. She has a Diploma in Shiatsu and Aromatherapy, a Dip Ed (Prim) and has completed the Journey Practitioner Program. She brings a freshness and enthusiasm to her classes. The emphasis is to have fun, creatively express and enjoy the process of moving your bodies in ways that feel good, no matter what age or experience, in a safe and supportive way.

Yael

Yael is a Professional Dancer, Percussionist, Singer and an Instructor for Pilates, Zumba, Movement, Belly Dance, Samba, Afro Brazilian, Hiphop, Body percussion and rhythm.
She has danced and toured with the internationally acclaimed dance company Mayumana for 13 years.
Yael has a wide dancing background in Belly dancing, Salsa, Samba, African, Modern Dance, Ballet, Hip hop and more. She has enjoyed performing as a dancer, back up singer and percussionist alongside many well known artists ; including Dindin Aviv, Moshe Ben Ari, Lea Shabbat, as well as the Turkish Gypsy project- Anistar.

Yael has many years of experience teaching others the gifts of music and movement and has a contagious smile to share with her students!

Joe

Joe Jurd is a dance and movement artist trained in contemporary release technique and improvisation. Since 2005 he has worked with a variety of choreographers and directors including Hans van den Brook (Belgium) and David Zambrano (Venezuela) with whom he studied extensively in the techniques of Flying Low and Passing Through. He was a recipient of the DanceWEB scholarship in Vienna and most recently has been travelling throughout Europe and Asia exploring the intersection of contemporary technique with Brazilian Zouk and social partner dancing.