Manifesto

Dancers

Rachel Coulson is an acclaimed independent dance artist and facilitator based in Naarm, with nearly two decades of professional experience. She is a key fixture of the Australian dance community, working with renowned companies and artists across Australia.

Upon graduating from The Victorian College of the Arts, Rachel has performed in works by Stephanie Lake Company  (The Chronicles, Manifesto, Auto Cannibal, A Giant Theremin), Alisdair Macindoe (Okay, Bye!, Plagiary, Reference Material) Alisdair Macindoe and Alison Curry (Progress Report), Antony Hamilton (Yung Lung, Nyx, Blood & Bone), Melanie Lane (Arkadia, Dream Swamp, Death Peak), Rebecca Jensen and Sarah Aiken (Overworld), Siobhan McKenna (Rhythmic Fictions) and Tra Mi Dinh (Seven Dances For Two People). Rachel was nominated for the Green Room Award for Best Performer (Auto Cannibal) in 2026.

She also works closely with Stephanie Lake Company, Antony Hamilton, Lucy Guerin, Daniel Riley and Joel Bray as Rehearsal Director and Artistic Support.

Rachel makes site-specific work inspired by parkour and urban landscapes, alongside collaborator Harrison Ritchie-Jones (Slogtown). Together they make films and share their dance practice with youth companies, tertiary students and independent artists. Their first film is titled, I Move To Process My Feelings.

 

Tra Mi Dinh is an award-winning choreographer and dancer working across Naarm (Melbourne) and Gadigal (Sydney). She is a distinct artist in Dance, working as a dancer for leading companies Stephanie Lake Company (Manifesto, The Chronicles) Lucy Guerin Inc (Pendulum, Flux Job, Make Your Own World, Split, The Forest) , whilst also establishing her own choreographic voice. She is the 2026 Resident Director at Lucy Guerin Inc. Tra Mi’s work as a dance artist was recognised with a fellowship from the late Chloe Munro AO in 2022.

Tra Mi’s first major choreographic commission ‘The ___’ was awarded the prestigious Keir Choreographic Award in 2022. Since then, Tra Mi has made works for Sydney Dance Company (“Somewhere between ten and fourteen”) and Lucy Guerin Inc (“Seven dances for two people”) to high acclaim. Tra Mi’s other choreographic credits include HOLDING (2021, March Dance), And, again (2022, commissioned by DirtyFeet), (UP)HOLDING, Not the Piece, Nhang Tram Huong, I’ll Carry It, and MSTM.

 

 

 

Marni Green is an independent dancer based in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. Practising professionally for nearly a decade, Marni is a sought-after performer in the Melbourne dance ecology. She performs regularly with renowned companies and artists including Stephanie Lake Company, Lucy Guerin Inc, Antony Hamilton/Chunky Move, Tra Mi Dinh, Melanie Lane, Israel Aloni and Lee Brummer.

Marni began working with Stephanie Lake Company in 2018, performing as a lead soloist in the Company’s iconic work “Colossus”. She has since gone on to perform in various works by the Company, including acclaimed works Manifesto, The Chronicles, VISTA, and Auto Cannibal. She has had an extensive touring career, performing in prestigious venues and festivals around the world, and has collaborated on various film projects.

Aside from her work as a dancer, Marni is also an in-demand teacher and Rehearsal Director, particularly for Colossus (leading 50+ pre-professional dancers) and MASS MOVEMENT (leading 1000 volunteer dancers). Marni is also developing her choreographic practice, having premiered her first work, “Slipping Into Filth”, in 2025, commissioned as part of Stephanie Lake Company’s ESCALATOR program, to glowing feedback.

Marni trained at Queensland Ballet’s Senior Program before undertaking Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Course and Tr.IPP (Transit International Professional Pathway) under the direction of Israel Aloni.

 

Darci O’Rourke is a contemporary dance artist who grew up on Gumbaynggirr country in Sawtell, a small coastal town on the east coast of Australia. Darci graduated from Ev & Bow’s full-time training in 2019 with a Diploma in Dance. Upon graduating in 2020, she joined Australian Dance Theatre’s full-time ensemble, working under the direction of renowned choreographer Garry Stewart, performing in works Supernature, Objekt, South and G. In 2022, Darci continued with Australian Dance Theatre under the new direction of Daniel Riley, performing in the premiere of The Third and Savage. Since then, Darci worked with Garry Stewart in the development and showing of Rituals of Memory.

Under the direction of Amber Haines and Kyle Page, Darci has performed with Dancenorth in Noise and Wayfinder, touring extensively both nationally and internationally. In 2024 she performed in Chris Dykes Lighting The Dark. Most recently Darci has been working with Stephanie Lake Company, performing in the national tour of The Chronicles and touring Manifesto internationally.

She has also performed works by prominent independent choreographers Lina Limosani, Alison Curry, Adrianne Semmens, Tu Hoang and Tobiah Booth-Remmers. Currently, Darci finds her dance in the magic of life, an attempt to be honest, vulnerable and consciously curious.

 

Harrison Ritchie-Jones is an award-winning choreographer, dancer and film-maker whose work is seen as making waves with his eclectic and unconventional approach to dance. Clashing forms and styles with high technical skill, he’s using dance as a frame for absurdity, physical virtuosity and surreal storytelling. Based in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia, he has presented his works in a diverse range of settings across Australia – from black box theatres to town halls, from white box galleries to nightclubs. As a choreographer, he has been commissioned and/or presented by organisations across Australia, including Lucy Gurerin Inc, Sydney Dance Company, Stephanie Lake Company (ESCALATOR), Strut & PICA, RISING Festival, Dark MOFO Festival, MONA, Gertrude Contemporary and Melbourne Fringe Festival. Much in demand as a dancer, he has worked regularly with most of Australia’s leading choreographers, including Stephanie Lake Company since 2012 (AORTA, Pile of Bones, Manifesto, The Chronicles), Antony Hamilton, Jo Lloyd, Lucy Guerin, Melanie Lane and Alisdair Macindoe. He has won numerous awards and trained at the Victorian College of the Arts.

 

 

 

 

Robert Alejandro Tinning is an Ecuadorian-Australian dancer and choreographer. To the stage, Robert brings performance steeped in his lifelong intercultural immersion. Robert’s creative bases are the Byron/Tweed region and Melbourne/Naarm. Robert has danced with Stephanie Lake Company since 2021 (Manifesto, The Chronicles, Auto Cannibal & VISTA). He has also danced with numerous companies and artists including Chunky Move, Tasdance, Jukstapoz, STRUT Dance WA, Gabrielle Nankivell, and Liesel Zink. He has toured across Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and the USA as a freelancing and independent artist.

A recipient of the Tanja Leidtke Studio Residency and Sacatar Fellowship (Bahia, Brazil). Robert’s unique talent has seen him be awarded travel opportunities to explore interdisciplinary art practices in resonance with his cultural diasporas. These extensive travels have included working with the USA artist Don Lambert and Cuban/American performance artist, and former Jiri Kylian dancer, Lazaro Godoy in the USA. Since 2016, these travels have also included regular trips to Tasmania, Perth and Miami to perform and develop new dance work. Rob’s works have been supported by WA’s DLGSC, Tasdance, AusDance NSW, Deering Estate (Miami, FL), Fountainhead Studios (Miami, FL), Lismore Regional Art Gallery, and Mad Dance House. As a movement director for film, Robert’s collaborations with Dacre Montgomery have produced and released the short film ‘IN VITRO’ (2019) and the dance short ‘NIGHTMARES’ (2019), collectively attracting 2 million views across Instagram and YouTube.

 

 

Georgia Van Gils is a dynamic Australian movement artist, honing her contemporary skills at the New Zealand School of Dance, where she graduated in 2017. Since then, she has been on an exhilarating journey, collaborating with renowned choreographers and companies across Australia and abroad.

Her dance ventures include experiences with Stephanie Lake Company (The Chronicles, Manifesto, VISTA), Australasian Dance Collective, Leg’s on the Wall, STRUT Dance, CO3 Company, Catapult Dance Company, and more. Georgia’s performances have presented in festivals such as the Perth Festival, where she performed in the the re-staging of Hofesh Shechter’s ‘tHE bAD’ in 2020, The Farm’s beachfront work ‘Ninth Wave’ in 2022 and Crystal Pite’s ’10 Duets on a Theme of Rescue’ in 2023. Georgia’s other performance highlights include Tanja Liedtke’s ‘Construct’, Kristina Chan’s new work ‘Brightness’ and Kimberley Parkin’s ‘Cry Baby’.
Her intense desire for collaboration and site-specific performances is a driving force behind her artistry, manifesting in a self-practice that experiments with intricately weaving spatial design, audience experience, and theatricality. Beyond the stage, Georgia extends her passion to teaching, where her classes centre on finding body awareness within space, both individually and collectively. In her classes, a lively playlist spanning the decades creates a fun, upbeat atmosphere where participants explore set phrases and improvisational activities.
Georgia joined the Manifesto cast in 2026.

 

Kimball Wong was born in New Zealand and moved to England at a young age where he trained at the Millennium School for Performing Arts. Before travelling to Australia he worked at the English National Opera, Michael Clark, and Phoenix Dance Theatre. In 2007 he joined the Australian Dance Theatre under the directorship of Garry Stewart performing and developing such works as G, Be Your Self, Proximity, Multiverse, Objekt, Habitus, The Beginning of Nature, Supernature and excerpts from older company repertoire. Kimball was a lead member of ADT for 14 years. Kimball received multiple nominations and awards for his roles in these works including Australian Dance Awards, (Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer 2013 and 2018), the Helpmann Award for Best Male Dancer in 2016 and the Green Room Award for Best Male Performer for Be Your Self 2019.
Kimball joined Stephanie Lake Company in 2021 and has performed in Manifesto, The Chronicles, Auto Cannibal, Monsters and MASS MOVEMENT, touring extensively nationally and internationally. Kimball is also an in-demand teacher and rehearsal director, and he choreographed his first work in 2025.

 

 

 

 

Jack Ziesing is a freelance performer and choreographer. Beginning dance in Canberra with Quantum Leap, he has performed for and collaborated with many dance companies including Stephanie Lake Company since 2017 (Manifesto, The Chronicles, Pile of Bones), Dancenorth, STRUT, Expressions Dance Company (now Australasian Dance Collective), Queensland Ballet, LDTX/Beijing Dance, Singapore Dance Theatre and Guangzhou Modern Dance Company, The Farm and artists such as Garry Stewart, Lucy Guerin, Gabrielle Nankivell and Gideon Obarzanek. Jack is a multiple nominee for the Australian Dance Awards, Robert Helpmann Awards and Green Room Awards for Best Dance Performance. He has toured extensively internationally, across Europe, UK, Asia, North America and Australasia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drummers

Robin Fox is an internationally recognised Australian based audio-visual artist and composer whose work spans live performance, exhibitions, public art and composition for contemporary dance. His audio visual laser works, which synchronise sound & visual electricity in hyper-amplified 3D space have been performed in over 60 cities worldwide. His critically acclaimed performance work TRIPTYCH premiered at Unsound Krakow late 2022 and has toured extensively since with highlights including Berlin Atonal, Barbican (London), Ephemera (Warsaw) and the Lincoln Centre New York among many others. TRIPTYCH was awarded the Isao Tomita Special Prize for electronic music at Ars Electronica 2023.

Recent large scale audio-visual works include ICON which illuminated the Sydney Opera House for it’s 50th birthday (2023), Aqua Luma for Mona Foma 2021, Library of Light for Illuminate Adelaide 2021 and MONOCHORD for Rising Festival 2022. In 2019 his science fiction opera DIASPORA premiered at the Melbourne International Arts Festival. Made in collaboration with Chamber Made the work won Green Room Awards for Best Production and Best Visual Design.

Since 2008 he has composed music for over 25 contemporary dance works working with Australian choreographic luminaries Stephanie Lake Company, Gideon Obarzanek, Lucy Guerin and Antony Hamilton.

In 2016 Fox co-founded MESS (Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio) a not for profit organisation dedicated to empowering all people to build a creative life through music. For more info visit www.mess.foundation.

Fox holds a PhD in composition from Monash University and an MA in musicology. The latter documents the history of experimental music in Melbourne 1975-1979.

 

T. Xuân Nguyen (Tino) is an Australian-born Vietnamese diasporic, self-taught percussionist and multi-instrumentalist. Their practice centres rhythm, texture, and ambient sound in improvisational, site-responsive performances grounded in deep listening, memory, and care.

They are an in-demand artist in the Naarm (Melbourne) music scene their recent work includes a solo drum piece beneath Yayoi Kusama’s giant pumpkin at the National Gallery of Victoria, Manifesto with Stephanie Lake Company, and collaborations with Mindy Meng Wang, Tim Shiel, and Sui Zhen.

They are a member of Aquatico, an art punk trio exploring catharsis and resistance, and contribute to Resonant Bodies and Bush Festival, supporting community-led, gender-diverse spaces rooted in mutual care.
Tino has been with Stephanie Lake Company’s Manifesto in 2021 and has since toured the work across Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Taiwan, France, Spain, USA, Canada and France.

 

 

 

Rama Parwata is a Naarm-Melbourne based musician, composer, curator, and sound artist who has a distinguished reputation for his audacious and technical aural explorations in sound, texture and rhythm on the drum-kit, drawing influence from Jazz, Extreme Metal, and Gamelan music from his Balinese and Indonesian heritage.

Since graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts/University of Melbourne in 2016, Rama has become a considerably active figure in Melbourne’s thriving underground Metal, Experimental, Punk and Jazz scenes and he has been at the very forefront of Melbourne’s underground music scene both as a performer and a curator.

Rama’s musical projects include Kilat, Whitehorse, Rinuwat, Hantu, Colloidal Heart, and Gruppo AdRa. He has released two solo albums on esteemed independent label Important Records. As a composer, he has scored works for Melanie Lane, Chunky Move, and Asia TOPA. He was awarded the Green Room Award for Best Composition in 2026. Rama has been part of Manifesto since its first creative development in 2021 and has since toured widely around the world.

 

 

Rohan Rebeiro is a veteran collaborator with Roland S. Howard and HTRK and a core member of post-punk outliers My Disco, Rebeiro’s practice edges against the very limits of music as a linguistic form. His work is a study in extremes, a balance of raw force and meticulous control, rooted in the act of deep listening—listening to the instrument, the space, and the vibrating silences in between. Rebeiro believes that music dwells in the interactions between object and body, space and resonance; he regards the performance space itself as an instrument, its acoustics shaping the narrative as much as any drum. Performances oscillate between the tangible and the generative; prepared objects resonate with human touch while electronic systems churn out patterns steeped in causality and chaos. Rhythmic structures emerge and dissolve, probing ideas of variation, acceptance, and spiritual resonance, as though each sound carries a fragment of some primordial utterance lost to history: a feral, sacred sound that vibrates on the edge of comprehension, inviting the listener to step into the void and hear the echoes of creation itself. Rohan joined Manifesto in 2021 and has toured extensively in Australia and internationally.

 

 

 

 

Alex Roper is a Melbourne/Naarm-based drummer, recognised for her precision, versatility, and deep musicality. Well established within the city’s soul and funk community, she is known for her strong sense of groove and exceptional ability to play in the pocket. Her dynamic and responsive approach to drumming has made her a sought-after collaborator across genres, including jazz, soul, funk, experimental, and indie.

Alex has performed and recorded with a range of acclaimed artists, including Ella Thompson, Mindy Meng Wang x Tim Shiel, Emma Donovan & The Putbacks and Surprise Chef, along with touring Em Rusciano’s show Rage & Rainbows, just to name a few.

With a focus on serving the music with clarity and intention, she continues to be an integral part of Naarm’s vibrant and evolving music scene. She is an original cast member of Manifesto since 2021 and has toured widely nationally and internationally.

 

 

Jen Tait has been involved in the experimental music community in Melbourne as a self-taught drummer, percussionist and vocalist for 30 years and has played gigs around Australia as well as Japan and New Zealand. Most of these shows have been in pubs and DIY artist run venues with an openness to noisy, unusual and free form music making. Jen has also been involved in organising and building larger-scale performance events involving costumes, body puppets, magicians, film and dancing. Jen loves collaborating and currently plays and enjoys improvised music. Jen has played in Manifesto since 2022 and toured Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Taiwan, France, Spain, USA and Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rachel Trainor is a New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based drummer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. After studying music at University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, she made the move to Melbourne, Australia in 2012, and has since studied with famed drummers Dave Elitch and Benny Greb.

Rachel has toured throughout Australia and internationally with various circus and dance shows, including Stephanie Lake’s Manifesto, Highwire Entertainment’s shows Rebel and The Defiant and was the head musician at Dracula’s Cabaret Melbourne from 2015-2017. Her live and session credits include playing with Amanda Palmer, BEKS, The Merindas, DAWN, Jude Perl, Coda Chroma and her psych-rock band Honeybone as well as her solo project Nighteyes. She has appeared on Drumeo, Channel 9’s ‘Sunrise’, BBC Radio and has been featured in Drumscene, Beat Magazine and NZ Musician. Rachel is also a drum educator, currently teaching students of all ages at two different music schools in Melbourne.

Rachel joined the Manifesto cast in 2022, and has toured the work around the world (including to New Zealand, France, Canada, USA, Taiwan and Spain).

 

 

Mat Watson is an Australian multi-instrumentalist working primarily with synthesisers and drums spanning experimental, improvisational and traditional forms. He is widely recognised for his involvement in large-scale unconventional orchestras and collaborations. He has played with Japanese underground legends Boredoms, MESS Synthesiser Orchestra for 40 synthesisers at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, and worked with Bronx heavyweights E.S.G and Australian music icon Ollie Olsen among countless others. He runs Eternal Music Projects and spends available downtime at Imaginary Sound Fields disappearing into the matrix of his Synthi Aks and thinking about inner space and compression ratios. Mat joined Manifesto in 2022 and has toured widely internationally and nationally.

 

 

 

 

 

Julia Watt has built a dynamic and wide-ranging career as a musician, recording artist, teacher and mentor. Known for her versatility and energy, she has played across genres from post-punk and garage rock to surf, funk and experimental performance.

She is best known as the drummer for Moody Beaches, a harmony-driven, fuzzed-out post-punk trio signed to Poison City Records. Previous projects include the high-octane garage/soul outfit La Bastard, who toured extensively in Australia and Europe, and Hot Wings, an instrumental surf-rock band with critically praised releases and international touring.

Julia has also been a long-time member of The Charlies, a funk-inspired band that toured nationally for over a decade, and has performed with The Blow Waves. Her early international experience includes extended performance contracts in Abu Dhabi and Seoul with cover band Syrup. A highlight of her career was performing with Circus Oz, touring globally and collaborating across disciplines, as well as delivering workshops in remote Indigenous communities. Passionate about community, Julia regularly contributes as a mentor and instructor with Girls Rock! Melbourne. Julia joined the cast of Manifesto in 2024 touring to France, Spain, Taiwan and North America.