BEACON
BEACON is an intergenerational dance performance brought to life at dusk.
This transformative encounter brings community members and professional artists together to explore our deep connection to place, confront the challenges of our climate, and embrace the power of gathering. Immerse yourself in a shared energy and leave feeling inspired and hopeful as we navigate an uncertain future – together.
As the sun sets, take a moment to wander down to Civic Square and experience this free performance.
CREATIVE TEAM
Lead Artists: Emma Porteus & Adam Wheeler
Choreographers: Jenni Large, Gabriel Comerford, Izzy Lockett
Country Man: Nathan Pitchford
Musician: Emily Sanzaro
Lighting Design: Jenny Hector
Guest Dance Artists: Sarah Groth, Kady Mansour, Toby McKnight
Company Manager: Caitlin Comerford
Light & Space Assistant: Lilly Amos
Light Movers: Sugar MacGillivray & Lottie Sutton
SHOW DETAILS
WHEN
27 Mar Thu 7:00 pm
28 Mar Fri 7:00 pm
29 Mar Sat 7:00 pm
WHERE
Civic Square Launceston
TICKETS: FREE
DURATION: 40 mins
LEARN MORE
NATHAN PITCHFORD
COUNTRYMAN
Ya/hello mana/my name is Nathan Thomas Pitchford, I am a waypa rally palawa. A strong aboriginal man from lutruwita/Tasmania with a love for country, my fellow and the language of dance. I'm an aboriginal practitioner working within aboriginal tourism asap guide with wukalina walk and a country man with this work beacon. Connection, and sharing knowledge to uplift future generations through kani/word and kanaplia-dance
JENNI LARGE CHOREOGRAPHER
Jenni is an independent dancer, teacher, and award-winning choreographer/director based in Lutruwita. Driven by the personal, political and transformative forces of embodiment, Jenni’s multi-limbed practice centres care and radical play. Her choreographic work seeks to subvert relational narratives, analyse socio-politics that impact women, and playfully expose modern assumptions of stigmatised subjects. Heavily influenced by aesthetic and cinematic tropes, Jenni aims to balance experimentation, risk and entertainment value within her work.
As a dancer, she has collaborated and performed extensively throughout metropolitan, regional and remote Australia as well as Europe, the UK, NZ, the Americas, Japan and Singapore with artists and companies including Dancenorth, Tasdance, Legs On The Wall, GUTS Dance, SA Opera/Leigh Warren and Ashleigh Musk.
She has presented her choreographic work both as an independent artist and through commissions Australia-wide at festivals and institutions including; Mona Foma, Ten Days On The Island, Ohm Festival Brisbane Powerhouse, Dancehouse, Carriage Works, Desert Festival, ADT:Raw, Sound + Fury, Sydney Dance Company, WAAPA, Stompin, Australasian Dance Collective and Tasdance. In 2022, Jenni won the people’s choice award for her Keir Choreographic work and was honoured to receive a Chloe Munro Fellowship. Recently, she participated in an Asia Link Singapore Arts Now exchange, performed in the UK and EU in THAW (Legs On The Wall) and premiered her newest independent work ‘Wet Hard Long’ at Dancehouse in Naarm/Melbourne which has received a Green Room nomination for Outstanding Visual Design.
IMAGE: Melanie Kate Creative
EMILY SANZARO
SOUND ARTIST
Emily is an innovativecontemporary harpist, vocalist, violinist & electronic loop artist based in Launceston, Tasmania.
Emily specialises in creating original compositions, contemporary arrangements with a twist,and experimental
improvisations. She enjoys playing a wide range of musical genres on the harp, harnessing the versatility of the instrument
and relishes any opportunity to depart from the type of music audiences expect to hear from a harp.
Emily is a versatile performer, with experience in numerous solo and collaborative performance contexts within Tasmania
and beyond. Emily has completed 3 solo residencies at MONA (Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart), has performed by
invitation at TedXHobart and released her debut album of original music in 2021 to 5 sold out shows at MONA FOMA festival
in 2022. Emily is excited to embark on her first national tour in 2025.
Emily is a regular collaborator with Tasdance & Assembly 197.
Emily is also a visual artist and registered Occupational Therapist in her spare time.
IMAGE: Melanie Kate Creative
EMMA PORTEUS
LEAD CREATIVE
Emma believes deeply in the power of art to positively transform both people and communities. She has over twenty year’s experience working as a performance maker and producer on dance, community and festival projects throughout Australia and Internationally, including with Vrystaat Festival (South Africa), ANTI Festival (Finland), Sydney Festival (NSW) Dancehouse, FOLA, Melbourne Fringe Festival, Next Wave (Vic), Tracks (NT), Dark Mofo, Mona Foma, Tasdance, Ten Days on the Island, Festival of Voices, Junction Arts Festival and Tasmania Performs (Tas).
In her current role as Co-Creative Director of Assembly 197 and Executive Producer of Situate Art in Festivals, she is really interested in performance and art-making models that bring people into a deeper relationship to place. Assembly 197 creates live art experiences that speaks directly to the place, the people, and communities who help create it.
TOBY McKNIGHT
GUEST DANCE ARTIST
Toby McKnight (he/him) is an emerging dance artist currently based in Melbourne/Naarm.
Growing up in Lutruwita/Tasmania, Toby relocated in 2022 to further his training and immerse himself in the diverse Melbourne dance scene. During his time in Lutruwita, Toby was a member of Stompin Youth Dance company for over 7 years, performing in several works by Alisdair Macindoe, James Batchelor, Adam Wheeler, Jack Zeising and Jenni Large for major Tasmanian arts festivals such as Ten Days on the Island, Mona Foma and Junction Arts Festival. He was a collaborator in Tasdance’s ‘Reactor’ for Mona Foma 2020, and in 2021 he danced on the Burnie foreshore at sunrise as a part of David mangenner Gough’s ‘mapali – Dawn Gathering’, the opening of Ten Days on the Island that year.
Since moving from Lutruwita, Toby has performed with QL2, been in two Yellow Wheel major works and performed in Tamara Cubas’ ‘Mutlitude’ as a part of RISING festival. With a passion for accessibility and availability of dance Toby, is drawn to the communities dance creates and brings together. Toby is keen to further his practice professionally and explore how dance can respond to and shift the social-political landscape within which it sits.
CAITLIN COMERFORD
COMPANY MANAGER
Caitlin served as Artistic Director of Stompin Youth Dance Company (2016–2024), leading with a focus on building connection and artistic capacity for both the company and the young people involved. She was also the Artistic Director of the Australian Youth Dance Festival (2021–2022) and is the Co-Convenor of the Youth Dance Australia Steering Committee.
Caitlin’s leadership extends beyond youth dance practice. She sits on the Board of Directors for Theatre North and was a Regional Arts Fund Artlands Panelist. Her engagement in national and international dance networks includes being a delegate at the World Dance Alliance Global Summit Choreography Lab (France), a participant in Impulstanz (Austria), and a guest at Scottish Dance Theatre (Scotland). She was also an APAM delegate (Brisbane), nominated and sponsored by Ausdance QLD, and an Asialink recipient, completing a three-month residency at Rimbun Dahan (Malaysia) in 2013, collaborating with dancer and choreographer Gabriel Comerford and Malaysian musician Alubakhan Chen.
As an independent dance artist, Caitlin was based in Brisbane for several years. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance (Performance) from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) (2009) and a Bachelor of Arts in Dance (Honours) from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (2010). She has a strong history in performance, choreography, teaching, and leadership across diverse communities. She has choreographed for QL2 Dance, QUT’s Out of the Box Festival (2012), the Aboriginal Centre of Performing Arts (ACPA), and Brisbane Festival. She has also taught for ACPA, QUT, the University of Tasmania, Tasdance, GUTS Dance, DRILL, IO, and various primary and high schools across Tasmania, Queensland, and Western Australia.
Caitlin’s work has been widely recognised with multiple awards and nominations. Across all her work, she aims to create authentic opportunities for communication and connection.
IMAGE: Melanie Kate Creative
KADY MANSOUR
GUEST DANCE ARTIST
Kady is an emerging freelance dancer, facilitator, and choreographer based in Naarm. Her practice encourages connection with broad and diverse audiences through inclusive, participatory experiences. Kady is passionate about her use of movement as a tool to promote mental and physical well-being, and continually seeks to deepen her understanding of how it can foster healing and connection within communities.
Kady’s community-driven focus naturally informs her choreographic work, which interrogates shared experiences of everyday life, incorporating elements of physical theatre to elevate her narratives. Her choreographic endeavours have been presented as part of Dancehouse’s Emerging Choreographers SeasonInertia(Kady and Michaela Were Here 2021, 2021), Temperance Halls Fringe Season (Two Women Enter the Toilet Cubicle, 2022), and Stephanie Lake’sEscalator(Menstruation the Musical, Hot Glue Buns, 2023).
SARAH GROTH
GUEST DANCE ARTIST
I am deeply in love with the Earth, its art, and its movement. I have spent much of my life immersed in the forest, rocks, and dirt. Born and raised on Tiwas homelands in New Mexico, my practice is shaped by place and landscape. My diverse geographical experiences infiltrate my values as an artist. My work spans improvisation, choreography, writing, and mixed-media visual art.
My time studying and working with the Keshet Center for the Arts, a company focused on movement, mentorship, community, and youth justice, has profoundly influenced my values. Now residing in Lutruwita/Tasmania, I am honored to create, teach, and collaborate with Assembly 197 and Tasdance. Through community classes, ARTERY dance education programs, and co-facilitating movement sessions at the Ashley Youth Detention Center, I am continually inspired by young people from all walks of life. From my beginnings in New Mexico to my international travels and now in Lutruwita, my passion for regional practice and community continues to grow.
Holding a BA in Contemporary Dance and Intercultural Communications from the University of New Mexico, I also had the opportunity to study in Nicosia, Cyprus, from 2019-2020, where I worked with Lia Haraki and Panayiotis Tofi. In 2022, I received the UETF Resiliency Residency, during which I expanded an interdisciplinary solo piece, bodies, exploring presence, femininity, satisfaction, and whiteness in the moving body. I also participated in the 2023 ImpulsTanz Festival in Vienna, 2024 MAKE in Lutruwita, and collaborated on Albuquerque Contemporary Dance Festival in New Mexico and HANNIBAL in Austria. My visual art, poetry, and short stories have been published in several international journals.
GABRIEL COMERFORD
CHOREOGRAPHER
Gabriel Comerford is an Australian-Malaysian artist with over 10 years professional experience. He is a founding member of MakeShift Dance Collective and is currently based in lutruwita/Tasmania working with Tasdance, Stompin and MakeShift in a range of differing capacities. He thrives off working across disciplines and is constantly seeking to challenge and extend himself. Gabriel has worked and performed with a diverse range of companies and choreographers both Nationally and Internationally. Whilst his practice is rooted in dance, his experiences have allowed him to learn from and incorporate elements of physical theatre, object theatre, puppetry, visualarts, site-specific, Suzuki method, integrated practice, installation and durational performance. His interest lies in collaboration and the creative process; sifting through first impressions to expose the core of the theme or concepts at hand. He has an inquisitive mind, a powerful physicality and a captivating stage presence. Gabriel is a passionate performer, choreographer, educator and mentor who believes deeply in the power of dance to create connection, transformation and healing.
IMAGE: Melanie Kate Creative
IZZY LOCKETT
CHOREOGRAPHER
Izzy is a Contemporary dancer currently living in Lutruwita/Tasmania. She studied Contemporary Dance at Transit Dance in Naarm/Melbourne graduating in 2022. Her training was under the directorship of Paul Malek and Bradley Chatfield.
Izzy is currently working with the creative team at Tasdance teaching regular workshops at Ashley Youth Detention Centre and working with the Smiths Family. This involves 4 day workshops introducing high school students to the mental and physical benefits of movement. She also teaches dance discovery classes through the public program at Tasdance.
Alongside continuing this path, she is also passionate about her development as a Contemporary dancer/performer. Izzy is excited for future plans to travel internationally, exposing herself deeper into the world of Contemporary dance and to strengthen and refine her individual style.
JENNY HECTOR
LIGHT + SPACE DESIGNER
A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), Jenny Hector's designs have garnered acclaim both nationally and internationally, and has been honoured with two Green Room Awards, including the 2016 Award for Technical Achievement.
Jenny’s recent design credits include Ilbijerri Theatre Company Big Name, No Blankets, Monica Lim and Mindy Meng Wang's Opera for the Dead, Aphids Edging, Speak Percussion Digital Echos, Guts Dance SUB, Decibel New Music Twin Peaks is 30, Cornelius, Dee, and Wilks Bad Boy.
Her other notable contributions include lighting designs for Cornelius, Dee, and Wilks Runt and Bad Boy, Fraught Outfit’s Exodus II, Prue Lang’s Stellar, Sandra Parker’s Out of Light, and Jo Lloyd’s Overture. Additionally, her work on Jacob Boehme’s Blood on the Dance Floor and Jodee Mundy’s Imagined Touch received Green Room Awards for Best Production, for which Jenny was responsible for both lighting and set designs.
ADAM WHEELER
LEAD CREATIVE
Adam is a Tasmanian-born Stompin and Victorian College of the Arts Alumni. Adam is currently the Artistic Director of Tasdance and Co-Creative Director of Assembly 197. Adam has performed for Chunky Move, Jo Lloyd, Circa Nica, 2NDTOE, and Opera Australia. Adam has made work for Lucy Guerin Inc (Pieces for Small Spaces), Stompin, QL2, Steps Youth Dance Company, fLing Physical Theatre, Tasdance and Chunky Move.
As an Artistic Director, he founded Yellow Wheel and 2NDTOE. Led The Australian Youth Dance Festival in 2014 and 2017, The Space School of Performance Arts, and Short+Sweet Dance.
Adam is curious about interdisciplinary making, providing pathways for artists to develop practice and getting the community moving - all from his regional home of Lutruwita/Tasmania.
