Nicholas Jachno is a Canberra based Contemporary Dancer. He studied a range of dance techniques at Canberra Dance Development Centre before attending The New Zealand School of Dance, Graduating with a Diploma in Dance Performance majoring in Contemporary. During Nicholas’ time at the school, he was involved in a remount of Hofesh Shechter's Political Mother for the 2016 graduation season. In his third year he also worked alongside Footnote New Zealand Dance, was an understudy of the 2017 rendition of Tiki Tane Mahuta and worked with Craig Bary to create a solo for the schools 50th Anniversary season Once. The solo was then taken to Sydney as part of the Parachute Festival held by Legs on the Wall.
In 2018, Nicholas has been a part of Malia Johnston’s, Rushes, for the 2018 New Zealand Arts Festival, which received four Wellington Theatre Awards. He was also a dancer and collaborator in a design film project, Kinesis, that was displayed as part of the Lux Light Festival in Wellington and received a Bronze award at the Best Design Awards 2018. Nicholas also worked for Cadi McCarthy as a dancer in Catapult Dance Hubs premiere Season of That Place in Between.

Courtney started dancing at the age of 4 through the sport of Calisthenics with Joyelle before moving to Brindabella when she was 6. She continued with Calisthenics up until the end of 2015, when she moved to Bom Funk Dance Studio. With them, has danced in Hong Kong and competed in local competitions. She continues to dance there today, completing her Certificate 3 in dance, as well as teaching a few classes. Courtney has also danced her way through both the Calwell High School dance program, run at the time by Kym Degenhart, and the Canberra College dance program, run by Susan Johnson. Her favourite styles are Jazz, Musical Theatre, and Lyrical.

Alana Stenning is a recent graduate of the Adelaide College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Creative Arts in Dance. While studying she worked with artists such as Lee Brummer (ILDance), Jo Stone (Stone/Castro), Kialea Nadine-Williams (Australian Dance Theatre) and Niv Marinburg (L-E-V Dance Company). In her third year of study she created her first full length work incorporating dance, theatre and multimedia How ‘Bout Them Apples for the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Before commencing university, Alana trained in contemporary dance at QL2 Youth Dance Company under Ruth Osborne where she worked with many well-known choreographers and developed her own interest in choreography and dance film making. During her time at QL2 Alana toured and performed in Bangkok, London and Glasgow with a work created by James Batchelor.
Since graduating, Alana has moved back to Canberra to continue working for the Australian Dance Party. Since joining them she has been involved in Autonomous, In a Flash, Moving to ZERO and ENERGEIA. Alana has also continued to develop her own choreographic work here in Canberra and presented a new solo work V at the Belconnen Arts Centres Dance on the Edge season in 2018.

Hello my name is Favor Myamah Wallace. I am sixteen years old, born in West Africa Liberia and came to Australia 4 years ago. I love to dance. I love the feeling I get when I move my body to the music, it is so fun and brings out happiness in me. I taught myself to dance and have been performing for about 4 years. I have performed at Dancefest, multicultural festival, weddings, birthdays and other occasions. I am trained in African dance, both cultural and Afro beats. My four years of performing dance I have been a part of many African dance groups, cultural group, Afro Cypher etc. I am also a choreographer and contributed to choreographing the dances in these groups. For Miss Africa Canberra 2018 I choreographed the opening piece for the contestants, I was also the youngest contestant and came Miss African Canberra 2nd Runner Up. I also choreographed the Dancefest piece for my High School in 2018 (Canberra High school, Dance named: Can You Hear Me?). Overall I have had a really great experience in dance and I am excited to learn new styles, grow stronger and learn more about dance.

Bailey Wyatt is a fifteen (15) year old with an incredible passion for dance. He started dance doing ballet at age three (3), and his interest in dance grew from there. Before settling at Bom Funk Dance Studio (his current dance school), Bailey had a huge interest for hip hop and breakdance - a trait that certainly carried over the years, as they remain his favourite styles. Despite this, He’s thrived in all of the elements of dance.
Bailey has taken wonderful opportunities with his dance pathway: Going to events like Boys Connect Sydney, he’s on his way to finishing a certificate III in dance, and he’s a massive role model to the younger boys he has taught at the studio.
Bailey is thrilled to be participating in Escalate IV, and can’t wait to partake in such an experience.

Natsuko started contemporary dance with QL2 in 2014, taking part in many of its numerous projects, working with many well-known and respected choreographers and also touring to Melbourne in 2017. Natsuko is currently studying a double degree at the ANU, majoring in Graphic Design and Music Technology. Earlier this year, she started her own design organization called Mushō Laundry, which focuses on creating work which help raise awareness for social issues. She aims to expand Mushō Laundry, collaborating with artists from different creative fields to create interesting and unique work. In 2019, she will be creating a work for Art Not Apart focusing on the topic of Hikikomori (social withdrawals).

Hikma has been dancing for six years at Merici College under the tutelage of Laura Pearce. Hikma loves to dance and finds that it frees her mind. Escalate has provided her with the opportunity to work with other young people from different dance genres.
Being in Escalate is a big opportunity for me, to me it's not only about dancing but it's about feeling the music within you and moving your body to the beat of the music. It's also what you bring and what you make of it and shows your personality through dancing and the emotions that you are feeling. I have learnt a lot from just dancing with different people who move different to the way I move and who dance different styles of dances. There is so much to dance that I know that I didn't know before and it's the best feeling.
The experience of the intensives and mentoring has been extremely useful and I have learnt so much already it's something that I will take with me into my future as a dancer. Escalate has taught me a lot of things like using my facial expressions when I am dancing. I am hoping that Escalate will help me to become more positive about my dance career in the future.

ENA HASKIC grew up in Canberra and has been dancing since the age of 9 in a variety of styles including Jazz, Hip Hop, JFH, Street Jam, Contemporary, Urban Contemporary, Tap and Ballet. Her initial dance training began at the Canberra Dance Development Centre and has continued there for 12 years. Throughout her training, Ena has competed in many competitions in the styles of Hip Hop and Jazz and has competed in both Canberra and Sydney. Outside of these shows with the dance school, Ena has participated in a handful of musicals and plays around Canberra as she also has a passion for acting and singing. These shows include High School Musical On Stage, Lend Me A Tenor, Xanadu and Cosi. This has helped her grow as a performer and an artist. Over the last 3 years, Ena has also begun teaching as well as continuing her dance education, teaching in the styles of Jazz, Hip Hop and JFH for the most part. This has also helped Ena grow as a performer and an artist and given her the opportunity to create pieces with her prior knowledge of dance. Beginning in 2017 Ena has begun dancing with Fresh Funk, which has given her another great opportunity to get onto the stage again and learn under some of the best.

Carol is a dancer from Canberra and has been dancing for 12 years and has trained in numerous styles including contemporary, jazz, lyrical and her favourite style, hip hop. She started hip hop dancing in 2015 at Bom Funk Dance Studio and commenced teaching there in 2017. Carol has competed in numerous competitions since she was young and still enjoys competing to this day. The Escalate project has enabled Carol to gain further insight into the Dance industry and the ability to refine her choreographic and performance techniques under the Ausdance mentors.
Escalate has been an opportunity for me to explore new choreography, interesting techniques and has been a chance to grow myself as a dancer. I find myself improving and growing with each mentoring session I attend and my mentors have been extremely supportive and committed to help me create/perform to the best of my abilities.

I started dancing when I was 9 years old because a dance school was opened up in my town. Since then I have fallen in love with the art form and have now been dancing for 7 years. I am currently dancing at Dazzle Dance Academy and have experience with ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, and acrobatics. I was selected to be part of the senior troupe in 2012 and have been there since. I have competed at eisteddfods and am currently a student teacher at my dance school. I am delighted to have been selected for the ESCALATE programme, and thankful for the experiences that will come with it.

I have always been a dancer for as long as I can remember. I started dancing in Cowra doing tap. When I moveed to Cowra Ballet School I began to broaden my styles, doing ballet, contemporary, jazz with Hayley Barker from the first Escalate and danced with Junior and Senior Torsion with Cheryl Ansell. When I moved to Goulburn, I started dancing for my school’s Dance Ensemble and helped choreograph our works for the Youth Dance Festival which was co-ordinated by Ausdance. Last year I was part of QL2’s Connected and was lucky enough to work with Ruth Osbourne and Alison Plevey, and was part of the Youth Dance Festival’s Opening piece choreographed by Jamie Winbank for the last two years. This year I completed the HSC Dance course and created two works for my practical exams, my first work was about my great, great grandfather and the other was about separation.
My plan for the next year is to have a gap year dancing and being chosen to choreograph in Escalate III has just cemented this plan. I am excited to be involved and create more dance.

As a young girl, Maheyrin was happy to dance in any style, but her mum Kaniz was keen to introduce her to various folk and classical South Asian dance forms to bring her closer to her cultural roots. Maheyrin’s first dance steps were learnt in preparation for a local Diwali festival – the festival of lights – in a small country town in Gippsland, Victoria. She was one of few South Asian children growing up there, so learning to dance broadened her cultural knowledge and allowed her to feel connected with her friends and peers from a common heritage. Maheyrin moved to Melbourne where she continued to learn Bharatnatyam (a classical South Indian dance form) under the tutelage of Mrs Sujatha Surrendran, Natya Kala Mandir. During this time, she learnt her mudras (hand gestures) and a repertoire of dances specific to the style. After moving to Canberra in 2015, Maheyrin became interested in the North Indian style of Kathak, which is now her favourite style. Maheyrin enjoys the elegance and lightness of the Kathak, although learning the chakars (spins) is extremely challenging! Maheyrin hopes to bring her combined knowledge and experience of these various forms to create something beautiful to share in the Escalate Program.

I've been dancing for most of my life, starting ballet when I was three at Lisa Clark Dance Centre. As I got older I took on more styles, jazz, musical theatre and contemporary. In high school, I grew a lot as a performer and a choreographer thanks to Calwell High School's choreography class where I would help create pieces for events like Ausdance ACT’s Youth Dance Festival and Limelight. In 2014, I joined Quantum Leap for the show 'Boundless' and later that year begun dancing at Bom Funk Dance Studio where I still dance today.
To me ESCALATE is a great opportunity for me to grow as a dancer and as a choreographer, even in the short time I've been involved I've learnt so much and had a great time bonding with the other choreographers and the mentors. I can't wait to continue the choreographic process and to see what I and the others can come up with over the next few months.

Carly is a Year 11 student at Gungahlin College and currently dances with Elite Dance Studio Canberra.
I have been dancing for way over half of my life and I learn something new every year. I am delighted to have been selected for the ESCALATE programme, and thankful for the experiences that will come with it. I have experience in ballet, hip hop, jazz and contemporary. I am looking forward to all the new things I will learn with Ausdance ACT and the new people I will meet.

Melissa trained at Dance Development Centre for 12 years before commencing training with Classical Ballet Centre Canberra and MAKS Ballet Studios, completing up to Advanced 2 in the RAD vocational exams, earning a distinction and qualifying for the Genee International Ballet competition last year.
I'm so excited to be a part of this journey that the Ausdance ACT ESCALATE program offers! In the Canberra dance world, opportunities like this can teach us to break free of the typical patterns and moulds that our dancing likes to take. So far, I've learnt that to choreograph something interesting, we need to not rely on what we know, and instead explore the oddities and the unconsidered. I hope that I will be able to create an honest piece of choreography that acquiesces and flows with the music I've chosen, and I hope to learn a lot about the choreographic process through this program.

Hikma has been dancing for six years at Merici College under the tutelage of Laura Pearce. Hikma loves to dance and finds that it frees her mind. Escalate has provided her with the opportunity to work with other young people from different dance genres.

Being in Escalate is a big opportunity for me, to me it's not only about dancing but it's about feeling the music within you and moving your body to the beat of the music. It's also what you bring and what you make of it and shows your personality through dancing and the emotions that you are feeling. I have learnt a lot from just dancing with different people who move different to the way I move and who dance different styles of dances. There is so much to dance that I know that I didn't know before and it's the best feeling.
The experience of the intensives and mentoring has been extremely useful and I have learnt so much already it's something that I will take with me into my future as a dancer. Escalate has taught me a lot of things like using my facial expressions when I am dancing. I am hoping that Escalate will help me to become more positive about my dance career in the future.

Hayley is Co-Principal Dance Teacher/Choreographer at Cowra Ballet School and Artistic Director of Torsion Youth Choreographic Ensemble. She is 25 years old, and has had a passion for dancing since she was 3 years of age. Hayley began teaching when she was 15 and has never looked back. She studied a Bachelor of Dance Education at ACPE in Homebush, and a Diploma of Dance Teaching Studies through the RAD. Although she enjoys all styles of dance, her true passion for dance lies in contemporary dance.
Originally, I applied for Escalate on a bit of a whim, not even sure if I even qualified for the project. I am so glad I did, because only days later, I was called with confirmation of my involvement in the project.
Escalate has been a great experience. We have had the opportunity to work with choreographers we may not normally cross paths with, and collaborate with other like-minded people. This experience has been beneficial for me, and my development as a choreographer, but I feel it has been just as beneficial (if not more!) for my four dancers. In just a few short weeks of workshops and mentoring, they have grown as dancers, become more open-minded and have gained invaluable knowledge from expert choreographers and mentors.
Escalate has been a wonderful experience for us, and we would like to thank Ausdance ACT for pulling it all together for us.

Mikayla began dancing and singing training at an early age and has been successfully competing at eisteddfods since she was four years old. She is a student with Kim Harvey School of Dance. Mikayla has appeared in local theatre productions and has represented the ACT and Australia in martial arts.
Mikayla has a passion for choreography. She choreographed her first competition routine when she was eight and has subsequently choreographed pieces for the Ausdance ACT Youth Dance Festival and local musicals. She performs her own choreography at eisteddfods and has also choreographed solo routines for other dancers.

Escalate has given me the opportunity to choreograph a dance piece that is a little different and that highlights the strengths of my dancers. I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to be part of Escalate. I have learnt so much from my mentors and met some amazing people. The other dancers involved in the project have been incredibly supportive and a lot of fun to be around. I would like to thank Ausdance ACT for this amazing opportunity and Kim Harvey School of Dance for supporting me and encouraging me to be part of Escalate.

Jacob is a 16-year-old dancer and student dance teacher and has been dancing since the age of 4. Jacob specialises in tap, urban and hip hop styles of dance. He is currently taking classes and teaching tap, Bboy and the junior boys hip hop crew at Bom Funk Dance Studio in Jerrabomberra. He is also a member of Erindale College, Canberra's Talented Dance Program.
Jacob's love for choreography was discovered when he joined the choreography class at Calwell High School in 2014. As a part of this program he choreographed for Ausdance ACT’s Youth Dance Festival. He considers his major choreographic achievement to be the boy’s Dance Fest piece "the future of light" performed in 2015.
Jacob is very excited to be a member of Escalate for 2017 and hopes to gain more choreographic knowledge from being involved.
Escalate for me is the building blocks between where I was and my future as a choreographer in the dance industry.
The whole experience has been one crazy, fun and intense ride but I wouldn’t change it for anything. The whole piece came together around me wanting to explore some different urban styles and this program gave me the opportunity to do this. I began choreographing and put in my video and when I got the email to say that I had been accepted I was over the moon. I began working even harder straight away. We started with the mentor intensives in January which was so much fun to do especially exploring different dance styles that I hadn’t tried before and that really pushed me out of my comfort zone. Working with my mentors Leena and Douglas has been amazing, I have learnt and grown so much as a dancer and especially as a choreographer. In my piece, I want my audience to feel entertained and inspired, I want to show people that trying something new can be a really positive experience and this is my way that I can show that.

Tapaita fell in love with hip hop and says she can't seem to stop thinking about dancing! She finds dance to be the only thing that truly satisfies and fulfils. Her soul feels alive when she is dancing. T has been in a few competitive hip hop crews and is a former member of Mercy from Dance Central Canberra.
I'm a pretty shy and awkward but when it comes to performing, I'm a whole different person. But that type of fear usually holds me back from my full potential and going for opportunities. I am hoping Escalate will help me pull out the confidence to move out of my comfort zone and just grow not only physically in dance but mentally so I'm looking forward to growing with others and helping others with the same fear grow.
The piece we choreographed for our Escalate performance season really was made for the sake of having fun. So often we forget why we dance due to many reasons such as competition, fear or the pressure of just wanting to look like the best or the sexiest. Escalate has made us remember what it was that makes us want to dance. It's not always about perfection. We want our audience to vibe off our performances and inspire them to make them want to tap their feet at least and move their bodies.

Charlie is 17 years old and has been dancing at Sparkles Dance Studio for 15 years. Since the age of two she has studied all styles of classical and theatrical dance as well as cheerleading, gymnastics and singing. Charlie has also been a part of five local musical theatre productions and has been successful at many local, interstate and international dance and cheerleading competitions. Charlie has had a strong passion for choreography and enjoys choreographing lyrical and contemporary routines for herself and other students.
Being a part of Escalate has been an amazing experience for myself and my dancers. I have loved every part of Escalate and the mentors and other dancers that I have met along the way. It has been an honour to have Paul Knobloch as my mentor. I have enjoyed working with him and he has helped to extend my knowledge of choreography, teaching and my own dance training. Escalate has really helped me to gain more confidence within my choreography, my dancing and within myself. My dancers and I are extremely grateful for the opportunity that Ausdance ACT have given us as this program has been invaluable for our training.
I have always been interested in creating my own choreography and found Escalate has helped improve my skills. I chose to do a contemporary piece because I am familiar and comfortable with and has a range of interpretations within the style.
I selected a piece of music called Luminous by Max Richter with no lyrics so I could experiment more with the choreography, style and emotions within the piece and really explore and make it my own. My piece explores the bond between sisters and how they may fight and separate themselves from each other but they will always support and protect one another. “Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other.