AUSTI. Open Studio

AUSTI. OPEN STUDIO

A series of open classes designed for participants aged 18+, welcoming all abilities, bodies, and backgrounds. The program included a mix of community-based open level classes and pre-professional / professional level training, supporting a broad range of experiences and goals. Classes focus on ballet, contemporary dance and diverse movement practices that strengthen both physical capacity and mental wellbeing while fostering genuine community connection.

Delivered by leading movement artists,classes are held within a supportive and inclusive environment where individual learning styles, creativity, curiosity, and lived experience are respected and valued. The program focuses on building physical capability, embodied awareness, and mental resilience, empowering participants to move with confidence, efficiency, and self-belief while supporting lifelong movement practice and appreciation of dance.

TICKETS:

1.5hr: $15 | 2hr: $20

SCHEDULE:

Thursday 2nd July 10am - 11:30am: Reina Takeuchi | Contemporary (Community)

Saturday 4th July 10am - 11:30am: Hannah Brookes | Contemporary (Professional)

Thursday 9th July 10am - 11:30am: Sophie Richards | Contemporary (Community)

Saturday 11th July 10am - 11:30am: Madeleine Backen | Contemporary (Professional)

Thursday 16th July 10am - 11:30am: Madeleine Backen | Contemporary (Professional)

Saturday 18th July 10am - 11:30am: Demi Martin | Ballet (Community)

Thursday 23rd July 12:30pm - 2:30pm: Lucky Lartey | Afro Contemporary (Community)

Saturday 25th July 10am - 11:15am: Louisa Poletti | Pilates (Community)

Thursday 30th July 10am - 11:30am: Hannah Brookes | Contemporary (Professional)

This is a fundraising event. All proceeds go towards supporting AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre's developmental dance company's annual programs. We thank you kindly for your support!

MEET OUR ARTISTS

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 most 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.

Hannah Brookes- Hailing from Yuin Country on the NSW South Coast, Hannah is a formally trained multidisciplinary creative and performer. Her artistic interests currently lie at the intersection between alternative music production and contemporary dance choreography. Recently returned from Western Australia, Hannah has been studying for four years at WAAPA, undertaking both her Bachelor of Arts (Dance) and Bachelor of Performing Arts (Honours). During her honours year she was a member of the university’s LINK dance company. Prior to WA, Hannah received a role as an apprentice with Austinmer Dance Theatre in 2019, becoming a Junior Company Member in 2020. As a musician, Hannah has written and performed as both a solo artist and band member across festival stages and venues since 2013.

Sophie Richards- Based in the Illawarra region, Sophie Richards is a contemporary dance artist who completed three years of full-time training with AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre. She has performed and created work across both community and professional platforms. Across 2024 and 2025, Sophie worked with local and international choreographers, including Evie Leah and Daniel Navarro Lorenzo in NOTHING MORE, and performed in the uNCOILEd eXposed 2025 season. She has also worked alongside Chloé Fournier, Elizabeth Arifien, Lee-Anne Litton, and Buddy Malbasias. In addition to her performance practice, Sophie is an active dance educator, teaching across studios throughout the Illawarra region. In 2025, she choreographed a work for Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts that was selected for the South Coast Regional Dance Festival.

Madeleine Backen- 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 is hungry to continue to further explore her choreographic interests and deepen her ever-evolving dance practice.Madeleine’s initial contemporary dance training began at Austi Dance and Physical Theatre, where she had the opportunity to work with a diverse range of choreographers, many European based.

Demi Martin- Demi Martin is a classical ballet teacher, studio owner, and youth company director with a strong foundation in classical and contemporary dance. She trained at Nicole Marie School of Dance before completing full-time studies at Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy, achieving RAD Advanced II and Cecchetti Advanced I with distinction & high distinction. Demi became a Registered Teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance in 2018 and has since prepared students for RAD examinations from Primary through Advanced II. Demi performed with AUSTI. (formly known as Austinmer Dance Theatre) for four years and undertook contemporary residencies with Metamorphosis Dance Collective in Mexico City, San Sebastián, and Lisbon. In 2018, she established Demi Jean Dance and in 2023 founded Ballet Blanc Youth Company, producing Cinderella (2024) and Coppélia (2025), providing dancers with opportunities to work with specialised coaches and expand their knowledge of ballet history, stagecraft, and performance artistry.

Lucky Lartey- A Sydney-based dancer and choreographer at the forefront of exploring intercultural dance practices as part of the contemporary dance space in Australia. Born in Ghana, West Africa Lucky’s dance and choreographic work draws on a rich history of traditional rhythm and dance whilst engaging with contemporary movement practices and contemporary art forms. Lucky’s work traverse’s themes of social justice, identity, movement inspired by African architecture, the exotification of non-Western bodies and subjectivities and the relationship between hip hop culture and African oral traditions.

Lucky’s recent choreographic works include: BlackLux: Perspectives in timelapse (2022) – an interdisciplinary work using dance, photography and animation (Sydney Festival 2023, Sydney Fringe & Art Gallery of NSW, 2022), Exoticism (2022) a solo work developed as part of the Keir Choreographic Award, and Infusion – No Movement No Sound (2021) an intercultural work that premiered at the Opera House.

Louisa Poletti- A multidisciplinary movement-lover with a dance career spanning 4 continents and 14+ years on stage. She combines her love of movement with a deep curiosity for the body and its functions. Beyond her considerable skill and experience in dance, Lou is also certified as a Pilates instructor.

(Promotional image by Michelle Maxwell)