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 6th August 10am - 12.00pm: Cristina Commisso (Contemporary - Pre|Pro)

Saturday 8th August 10am - 12.00pm: Cristina Commisso (Contemporary - Pre|Pro)

Thursday 13th August 10am - 12.00pm: Marin Green (Contemporary - Pre|Pro)

Saturday 15th August 10am - 12.00pm: Marin Green (Contemporary - Pre|Pro)

Saturday 22nd August 10am - 11.30am: Nat Cunzolo (Contemporary - All levels)

Saturday 12th September 10am - 11.30am: Nat Cunzolo (Contemporary - All levels)

Saturday 26th September 10am - 11,30am : Tom Kenttä (Qi Gong x Somatic work - All levels)

Saturday 17th October 10am - 11,30am : Reina Takeuchi (Somatic Practice - All levels)

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

Tom Kenttä - Tom Kenttä is a Finnish-Australian movement artist from Dharawal Land, Australia. He specialises in freestyle football, dance and qi gong but enjoys exploring freestyle and mindfulness methodologies throughout many areas. He has performed for Riana Head-Toussaint's Animate Loading at AGNSW and for Feras Shaheen's Klapping at Danse Élargie in Paris and has taught dance to stateless children at The Rainbow School near the border of Thailand and Myanmar He is also the 2018 Australian Freestyle Football champion.

Nat Cunzolo - Born and raised in the Illawarra South Coast, Natalie is a dance artist, choreographer and educator trained broadly across styles. She completed full-time training at Ev & Bow Full Time Dance Training Centre and became a member of Austinmer Dance Theatre (now AUSTI.) in 2017, performing and collaborating with local, national and international choreographers across Australia and Europe for six years. Natalie holds teacher registration with the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) and works as a teaching artist with Sydney Dance Company’s Education team. Her practice is shaped by international experience, connection, authenticity and a lifelong love of movement.

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.

Cristina Commisso - Cristina is an Australian dance artist and maker based in Belgium, with over thirteen years in European contemporary performance, voice and embodied research.

Trained in New York, she danced in companies including Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, where she performed works by Jiří Pokorný and Marco Goecke, before moving into the independent scene, with ongoing research at CocoonDance (Rafaele Giovanola) and performing at festivals such as ImpulseTanz and Avignon.

She has collaborated on cultural exchange projects in India and Thailand, and authors her own work in physical research and film. Her practice draws on Feldenkrais, Gyrokinesis® (which she teaches), improvisation, physical and vocal research across forms, alongside her ongoing psychology studies and trauma-informed community work - an attentive practice of accompanying artists through their creative processes.

Marni Green - Marni (she/her) is a dancer working across Naarm/Melbourne, born in Wollongong, NSW.

Marni has worked for artists and companies including Stephanie Lake Company, Lucy Guerin Inc (One Single Action), Melanie Lane (Into the Woods, 2026), Antony Hamilton/Chunky Move (Yung Lung, 2022), Israel Aloni and Lee Brummer. She is currently performing in Stephanie Lake Company’s Manifesto, touring nationally and internationally and is also in development for Stephanie’s upcoming premiere VISTA. Marni is also a Rehearsal Director for Colossus.

Marni began her training at a young age as a ballet dancer. She trained at Queensland Ballet’s Senior Program before undertaking Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Course (under the direction of Linda Gamblin), followed by Tr.IPP (Transit International Professional Pathway) under the direction of Israel Aloni.

In 2025 Marni made her debut as a choreographer in Stephanie Lake Company’s program Escalator, where she premiered her work Slipping Into Filth. Marni has also made a short work on the 2026 second years at Ev & Bow.

In addition to her dance work, Marni also works as a disability support worker which is a very important and fulfilling part of her life.

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)

Contact the host of AUSTI. Open Studio