DAMIAN SEDDON | DANCER

Damian is a hip-hop dancer with a style that leans towards contemporary street dance. Residing in Reservoir, Damian has worked as a dance tutor with Outer Urban Projects’ Community Access program and for external partners, Trinity College and Drummond Street Services. As an Associate Artists of Outer Urban Projects Damian performed in the company’s Major Work, VESSEL, and is a regular workshop instructor for Dance Alliance and performed in Hume Studios. In 2017 Damian become a cast member for Sir Matthew Bourne’s adaptation, Lord of The Flies, State Theatre, Art Centre Melbourne (2017). Damian independently secured a scholarship to attend Wildabeast in the United States – a convention and workshop geared to commercial dance industry.   Damian is an Associate Artist on Outer Urban Projects major work Vigil from 2020.

NATASHA HANNA | MUSICIAN 

Natasha is fast becoming a well-known name in Melbourne’s orchestra scene. The eldest of eight children of a musical family from Roxburgh Park, she began violin at three years of age. In 2014 Natasha was the principal 2nd violinist for the Melbourne Youth Orchestra and collaborated with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra on their tour to New Zealand. She was violin concertmaster in 2012 & 2013 for Vision Australia’s Carols by Candlelight conducted by John Foreman. For Outer Urban Projects Natasha has performed in Urban Chamber – Beyond at The Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre, MIAF (2013). Grand DiVisions – A Moved Urban Cantata at Fairfax Studios, Arts Centre Melbourne, MIAF (2015), Liberian Boy (2018), Newsboys 125BPM (2018), Hume Studios Residency (2019), Future Echoes Festival – Arts Centre Melbourne. Natasha is a lead performer in the Outer Urban Projects String Quartet.

EUGENIE LYONS | MUSICIAN / VIOLA 

Eugenie is an enthusiastic and talented young musician. Being surrounded by music her whole life, she first learnt the piano, followed by violin and viola. She is currently studying music at Melbourne University majoring in viola. She has played in many orchestras such as the Melbourne Youth Orchestra and the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She has professional experience playing with the Christ Church Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Eugenie played in musical theatre productions including Jesus Christ Super Star and Phantom of the Opera and in orchestras for CD recordings for artists including Anthony Callea. She first played with Outer Urban Projects including Grand Divisions and Liberian Boy, and in the Outer Urban Projects string quartet for various functions.

JOSEF HANNA | MUSICIAN / VIOLIN

Playing the violin at 4. Josef is currently studying under Sophie Rowell. Josef has been a member of the Melbourne Youth Orchestra (MYO) since 2012. In 2015 was appointed the position of Concertmaster. He has performed at various venues with MYO including Deakin Edge – Federation Square, Iwaki Auditorium, Hawthorn Arts Centre, Windsor Hotel and Melbourne Recital Centre. Josef is currently 1st violin of the MYO String Quartet. Joseph performed in Outer Urban Projects work Grand DiVisions and gigs on the social enterprise in the company quartet.

RENAE SHADLER | ACTOR, CHOREOGRAPHER & DANCER

Renee is an actor, choreographer and dancer based in Melbourne and Berlin. Her work includes dance, experimental performance and embedded community projects. Since studying at the Victorian College of the Arts in Acting (BA Drama Performance, 2010), Adelaide Centre for the Arts in Dance and École Philippe Gaulier in Clown, Renae has continued to explore detailed physicality, spoken word and the larger dramatic gesture with warmth and sensitivity. Her work examines humans’ role in the greater global ecology. Renae has performed for Triage Live Art Collective (AU/DE), One Step at a Time Like This (AU), Blackhole Theatre (AU), Maybe Together (AU), Dee & Associates (AU), Dewy Dell (IT) and Alexandra Pirici (RO), among others. As an installation artist she has worked at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne International Arts Festival, Australian Centre of Contemporary Art and Neue Berliner Kunstverein.

TARA JADE SAMAYA | DANCER & CHOREOGRAPHER 

Tara is a recipient of the Helpmann and Greenroom Award for Best Female Dancer in Australia for her work in Common Ground by Chunky Move. Tara has been nominated for Greenroom and Helpmann Awards in 2010, 2012 & 2017. Tara has worked with Australian Dance Theatre, Chunky Move, Douglas Wright Company, GUTS dance, Prue Lang, Lina Limosani and Al Seed, she was appointed Artistic Associate in 2016 with Chunky Move and now dances at The Staatsballett Berlin. Tara’s is half of The Samaya Wives collaboration with Pippa Samaya. At Outer Urban Projects, Tara has tutored and created choreography with an ensemble of young dancers for the 2018 Signal Program.

THOMAS E. S. KELLY | CHOREOGRAPHER & DANCER

Thomas is a proud Bundjalung-Yugambeh, Wiradjuri and Ni-Vanuatu man. A NAISDA Dance College graduate, Thomas is an artist that works with multiple art forms including, choreography, dance, theatre, music composition, puppetry and teaches. In 2017 Thomas founded and became Artistic Director of Karul Projects and is currently a company member of the Tasdance Makers Company. Thomas’ performance credits include, Long Grass – Vicki Van Hout, Am I – Shaun Parker & Company, and choreographic credits include, [MIS]CONCEIVE, CO_EX_EN Karul Projects, and VESSEL by Outer Urban Projects (2017). Thomas creates work that offers audiences an opportunity to learn about Aboriginal Australia and where that fits into to the modern world. Acknowledging the past, to understand the present, to better the future, knowledge is a source of power and it must be shared.

PIPPA SAMAYA | FILMMAKER & PHOTOGRAPHY

Pippa is photographer/filmmaker, with two overlapping specialisations of practice: dance/movement, and humanitarian documentary. Awards include two-time winner of the International 60 Second Dance Film Competition (Denmark/Finland), Australian Dance Award for Excellence in Dance on Film, SALON exhibit at CCP, Best Film at FAD Film Festival (US), Best Music Video at the NIMA awards, finalist in the National Photography Prize, the Ballarat International Foto Biennale and IRIS portraiture prize (PCP). Pippa has worked extensively with the contemporary dance industry in Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Pippa’s humanitarian documentary work evolved from several years traveling with NGO One Voice to remote villages in India and Nicaragua, and a Syrian Refugee camp in Greece.

WANI LE FRÈRE | WRITER

Wani is a Writer, Visual Storyteller and Performance Artist and Poet. He is of Indigenous Ba Shi heritage, from the Great Lakes region of the Democratic republic of Congo. He has a deep affinity to critical race theory as practice, Indigeneity, as well as collective Bla(c)k healing. His body of work exemplifies his deep pursuit of crucial questions pertaining to Africans, Blackness, communal care and the re-imagination of spaces. He is the current Australian Poetry Slam Champion, 2019 Greenroom Award and Wyndham Art Prize Winner.

Siiri’s work encompasses all things audio, from the demands of popular Australian music festivals and international touring, audio production in many of Melbourne’s theatres and halls, to long-standing associations with the Famous Spiegeltent and Strut & Fret Production House, ABC Radio National and Womadelaide.

Kush loves building new things and transforming it into something impactful and for positive change. In collaboration with the Nuer Community Foundation of Australia and City of Monash, Kush successfully inaugurated Rise of South Sudan in 2018. This annual benefit concert celebrates Melbourne’s vibrant South-Sudanese and wider African populations, highlighting individual artistic excellence and collective creative capacity. She is also the creator of Blaxcellence, a networking platform for Afro Diaspora, First Peoples and black identifying creatives.

Miguel and Meredith are partners in work and life. Multi-award winner; photographer and film maker Meredith O’Shea and musician/film maker Miguel Rios are visual story tellers. Together they create film clips, documentaries and editorial videos. Meredith’s work as a photojournalist has brought heartbreaking and inspiring stories of human struggle and triumph to the front pages of The Sunday Age for over 15 years, featuring regularly with other media outlets such as The Guardian Australia. Her work has been exhibited internationally to great acclaim. Miguel brings rich experience to the production team. Raised in Far North Queensland he has filmed and edited projects for over 25 years.  Miguel is a multi skilled musician, song writer and recording artist. Miguel’s early work life as an acupuncturist informs his art making with a sensitivity and a deep understanding of the human condition.

Gina is a Lighting Designer and a stalwart of Melbourne theatre. She has done lighting designs for productions and companies including ‘Maude Davey My Life in the Nude’ and ‘Into the bloodstream’ tour Archie Roach, Circus Oz and the Women’s Circus. She often operates her own lighting designs and exhibits as a visual artist. Her organic aesthetic compliments OUP’s community cultural development process.

VAHIDEH EISAEI  | MUSICIAN 

Vahideh is an Iranian-Australia Qanun player. Based in Melbourne, Vahideh has performed with many ensembles throughout Europe, the Middle East and Australia. Her primary mode of expression is via the Qanun; an instrument of rare beauty – known for is delicate tones, and extrovert virtuosity. Her work with the Chamkam and Sarv ensemble in Melbourne has had audiences enthralled. Vahideh recently performed in the critically acclaimed theatre work The Audition by Outer Urban Projects

MARY SITARENOS | ACTOR 

Mary is an actor and director who has worked for over 20 years in alternative and mainstream theatre film and television.  Mary’s theatre credits include Tes Lyssiotis’ The Forty Lounge Cafe and Tom Lindstrom’s Heroic Measures (Playbox); Too Young For Ghosts (Janis Balodis) and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Melbourne Theatre Company); Jean-Pierre Mignon’s Chekhov Trilogy (Anthill); and Blood Moon (Tes Lyssiotis), Song of Songs (Robert Draffin), Pericles and The Idiot (Theatre Works). She performed in and co-wrote with composer Richard Vella the contemporary opera Last Supper. It toured Japan in 1995 and had seasons in Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmania. For the Melbourne Festival she appeared in Paul Carter, David Chesworth and Ariette Taylor’s Sabat Jesus (Playbox). Mary’s previous work with Jenny Kemp includes The White Hotel and Good Night Sweet Dreams.

BIKRAM MALHAR | PERCUSSIONIST 

Bikram is an established musician, singer and producer living in Melbourne. He is an outstanding vocalist trained in the pure tradition of Gwalior Gharana and Punjab Gharana. His dynamism not only shines in the creative synthesis of these two traditions in his gayaki but also in his intellectual understanding of deeper nuances of various musical concepts. Bikram has made a mark for himself in both India and Australia. His artistry is not only limited to Khayal Gayaki but also extends to semi-classical and light forms of music and he has been widely appreciated for his emotive, innovative and complex musical style. He has performed at Melbourne Festivals, Boite World Music, Indian Independence Day Festivals, Melbourne Hindustani Classical Music Society, FIMDV Annual Music Concert.