3 minute read
Meet the Artistic Director
MARGOT POLITIS
The exhibition is curated by Margot Politis, and working closley with a varity of Milk Crate Theatre artists, they will faciliate a series of workshops that can be adapted to fit your space.
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With over 18 years of practice, Margot has become a recognised leader in NSW inclusive arts practice as a performer, choreographer, film director, and devisor of new dance theatre. Margot was appointed Artistic Director of Milk Crate Theatre in 2018, after two years serving as Associate Director, and designed and directed the company's 2019 major production, Natural Order. Previous to this, she spent 2009-2016 as the Accessibility Director at Shopfront Arts Co-op, where she established the Accessibility Program, directing the Bodylines and Harness Ensembles of young people with disability in various performances and films; including the film Reaching Out Over & Over, which was an official selection of the 2016 NYC Indie Film Festival. She began her career performing with Restless Dance Theatre as a mentee to Kat Worth in 2004, after graduating from the Flinders University Drama Centre 2003.
In 2017 Margot choreographed the Shopfront Arts Co-op and ATYP co-pro, Dignity of Risk alongside Natalie Rose, which won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Production for Young People. Independently Margot has worked with Ausdance NSW, Accessible Arts NSW, Murmuration, Dirty Feet, The Song Room, Ever After Theatre, and Autism Spectrum Australia. She has been funded to study with various companies and artists in the USA: Axis Dance, The Gabrielle Roth Moving Centre, Tricia Brouk; and in 2013 was awarded a Cultural Leadership Grant from The Australia Council for the Arts to do the same in the UK, working with: Candoco Dance Company, Stopgap Dance, Mind The Gap, Graeae Theatre, and Oily Cart. In May 2015 she was artist in residence at Tasdance, Launceston, to provide skills development in inclusive practice for the company. Also in 2015, Margot established Self Help Arts, a collective of artists with lived experience of mental health support needs.
Margot's focus as a practitioner is in making interdisciplinary and immersive performance work that explores social constructs, integrating theatre, film, movement, sound, setting and light. Margot has spoken at many events about disability and mental health, including as a panellist at the MCA Mental Health Awareness Week forum, and has consulted on the development of Arts and Health policy for government and organisations.
JESSICA SARAS
Artistic Program Coordinator
Jess is a professionally trained and working actress with over 15 years of experience in this field, holding a BA in Acting for Screen and Stage from CSU Wagga. Jess has been a part of the Milk Crate Community in various roles since 2016, currently serving as Artistic Program Coordinator, providing key support for the staff and artistic team in productions.
2020 marks Kay's 30th year as a professional artist. Kay is an award-winning dance artist (Robert Helpmann Scholarship 2004 / 2013 Dame Peggy Van Praagh Fellowship) Currently Kay is investigating the fusion of her visual arts and performance practice in her creative studio in Western Sydney. Tandem to her creative practice Kay also continues to mentor emerging dance artists and continue her creative facilitation work in the community arts sector.
Aslam Abdus-samad is an actor, performance maker and movement artist. He maintains his practice as a physical theatre performer throughout Australia and Internationally. He has trained with NIDA, Stella Adler Studio (NYC), IUGTE (Italy), MADimprov (Spain), ZenZenZo and holds a P. Grad Dip in Performance Creation (VCA).
Lucy is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work spans and often combines writing, visual art and performance informed by acting, clowning, dance and storytelling. In 2020 she presented a solo exhibition called LiminalLatent at AirSpace Gallery, featuring abstract painting, video performance and installation, sculpture and live performance. She is currently working on performance processes with Milk Crate Theatre,
KAY ARMSTRONG
Facilitating Artist
ASLAM ABDUS-SAMAD
Facilitating Artist
LUCY WATSON
Key Suppoprt Artist
For more information contact the
For more information contact the Milk Crate Theatre Team
Milk Crate Theatre
Alexandria Town Hall 73 Garden Street Alexandria, NSW 2015
