Omer Backley-Astrachan 

Contemporary, Creative Lab 

Omer Backley-Astrachan is a choreographer and educator with a diverse artistic background. His body of work spans choreography, installation, film, multimedia, and research. 

As a performer, Omer has worked with leading companies and choreographers including Kamea Dance Company, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, Idan Cohen Dance Company, Jerusalem Dance Theatre, Marina Abramovic, Mel O'Callaghan, Kay Armstrong, Dean Walsh, Sue Healey and Joshua Thomson.  

Over the past decade, Omer has been working within the heart of Australia's arts industry. He continuously engages with Sydney Dance Company, Catapult Dance Choreographic Hub, Dance Makers Collective, and FORM, all of whom play a crucial part in supporting his career and the development of his practice.  

Omer has created four full-length works, including Rhapsody, Valley, TOHU, and his newest work, Common Place which will tour to Vancouver in November 2025. His body of work has been supported by organisations such as Create NSW, Ausdance NSW, Bundanon Trust, BrandX, Catapult, PACT, Readymade Works, and Critical Path, among others.  

In 2018, Omer was appointed Course Coordinator at Sydney Dance Company's Pre-Professional Year, where, for the next five years, he mentored the next generation of leading dance creatives in Australia. Omer also created two works with the Pre-Professional Year dancers, including Fugue (2020) with esteemed composer Jane Sheldon and Folk (2021) for their Carriageworks season.  

In 2024, Omer was appointed producer and associate artist with Catapult Dance Choreographic Hub. In this role, Omer collaborates with Catapult to support the independent sector in all its facets. Throughout his creative partnership with Catapult, Omer created three dance works, including Twelve Tall Trees (2017), Human Remains (2020), and Rhapsody (2023) which presented as part of the New Annual Festival. Omer actively advocates for progress in the dance sector. He does so through a multitude of roles including mentoring, producing, choreography and education.  

Omer’s contributions have earned recognition through peer and press reviews, and presentations at renowned global venues. 

Photo: Daniel Boud 

Kylie Elliott  

Ballet 

Kylie has been teaching here in Canberra for over 35 years.  She was ballet school Principal and Artistic Director of the National Capital Dancers from 1997-2012 and is currently the Ballet Division Coordinator at Dance Central. Kylie has been a Board Member for both Ausdance ACT and QL2 Dance and has also worked as a Peer Assessor for artsACT.  She has taught ballet to gymnasts at the Australian Institute of Sport, movement studies to opera singers at the Canberra School of Music and has run teaching methodology workshops for staff at the Practice Performing Arts School in Singapore.  In recent years, Kylie became a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher and although no longer teaching in this field, she continues to have a daily practice.  

Kylie began her dance training here in Canberra at the Bryan Lawrence School of Ballet and later went on to study at the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne.  She completed her teacher certification in the Karin System of Ballet Training under the guidance of Janet Karin OAM.  This combined with studies in Sports Science has led to an ongoing fascination with the art and science of dance training.  Kylie classes are underpinned by a love of music and movement and a belief that dance is primarily a tool for expression and communication.  She uses imagery and an understanding of anatomy and dance kinesiology to help her students access classical ballet technique safely and successfully. 

Patricia Hayes Cavanagh 

Contemporary 

Since finishing her study at Sydney Dance Company’s Pre-Professional Year in 2020, Pat has engaged in teaching, dancing, and marketing across multiple disciplines and ages. Working with Australian Dance Party since 2021, Pat has performed in many site-specific and multi-disciplinary works. An alum of QL2, Pat has taught and been a rehearsal assistant for major projects since 2021, being the Assistant to the Artistic Director in Ruth Osborne OAM’s final project in 2024. Pat has choreographed for two Chaos youth projects - ‘Big Little Things’ and ‘Yummy!’. Pat is also a dance teacher at Canberra College and Works with inclusive dance company Chamaeleon Collective.

Photo: O&J Wikner Photography

Alice Lee Holland 

Contemporary, Creative Lab 

Alice is an Australian dance artist - director, choreographer, teacher and mentor.  

Originally from Boorloo (Perth) Alice is a graduate of WAAPA (Bachelor of Arts, Dance) and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Master of Fine Arts, Performance and Choreography). Over the past 20 years she has lived and worked in Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland, with organisations including Dancenorth, Chunky Move, Circa and Strut.  

Alice has mentored countless young dance artists as sessional lecturer at WAAPA and the VCA, and as Artistic Director of STEPS Youth Dance Company. During her tenure, STEPS received seven nominations for the Australian Dance Awards and won in 2015 for Fights and Flights – and performed at the Dance and the Child International Congress in Taiwan (2012) and Copenhagen (2015). In 2019 Alice was the Artistic Director for the ‘Australian Youth Dance Festival – International Revolutions per Minute.’  

Alice has also worked deeply in the community space. In 2019 she created SIMULCAST for Chunky Move, which featured 300 dancers aged 8-80. From 2019-2024, Alice led the Community Experience Program for Dancenorth Australia. Alongside the ongoing outreach programs, Alice led two new creations with and for the community – SAFETY NET featuring 24 local teenagers, and DEEPER THAN DANCING – an inclusive, celebratory three-year program that generated three short dance films, a new production and immersive dance experiences in Gurambilbarra (Townsville).  

Alice relocated to Kamberri (Canberra) in September 2024 as the Artistic Director at QL2 Dance. 

Photo: Amber Haines 

Sarah Long

Contemporary, Creative Lab 

Sarah has been dancing since she was four years old, first taking ballet classes and later progressing into contemporary dance. She has performed in five Quantum Leap shows from 2018 to 2022, and has choreographed four times in QL2’s Hot to Trot. She now teaches young dancers, and is studying a Bachelor of Science, majoring in environmental science, at the ANU. Sarah is very interested in the intertwining of the arts and technology in the modern world, particularly looking at the ways we can use art to better communicate about the climate crisis. She has been working with the Stellar Company since 2023, and has performed in Stars in 3D (2023) and A Stellar Lineup (2024) as well as at the National Folk Festival. Working with the Chameleon Collective has been a powerful reminder that dance is for everyone, and by everyone. 

Photo: Lorna Sim

ALISON PLEVEY

Contemporary, Creative Lab 

Alison Plevey is a dance and physical theatre artist, choreographer, teacher and arts advocate based on Ngunnawal Country, Canberra. She studied at WAAPA and graduated BA Dance Hons in 2009. In 2016 she Founded Australian Dance Party supporting the growth of professional dance practice in the ACT. Alison creates choreographic experiences that live in and draw from place exploring social and environmental concerns. Her practice is based on her extensive experience in solo, multi-discipline, youth dance, community and company-based projects including work as Co-Director of Lingua Franca, Alison has collaborated with artists Adelina Larsson, Not Yet It’s Difficult, PVI Collective’s ‘Deviator’, Chenoeh Miller and Melanie Lane. Her dance and multi-media collaboration with Starrs and Cmielewski ‘Dancing with drones’ was presented at SiteWorks, Bundanon (2014) and Liveworks, Carriageworks (2015). Her award-winning works include: ‘Johnny Castellano is Mine' (2014), ‘Seamless’ (2018), ‘From The Vault’ (2019), ‘Lake March’ (2020), ‘LESS’ (2022), ‘Culture Cruise’ 2023 and ‘Co_lab:24’ (2024).

Photo: Gupi de Savalia

Olivia Wikner 

Contemporary, Creative Moves 

Olivia is a wearer of many hats: a photographer, a professional dancer, choreographer, teacher, arts worker and mother. She obtained her BA in Dance training at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and Taipei National University of the Arts. Olivia went on to dance professionally with the Australian Dance Party performing in over 20 works. In 2021 she received a Canberra Critic Circle Award for her solo with cellist Alex Voorhoeve in ‘Symbiosis’. Alongside performing, Olivia teaches, choreographs and has worked for several key Canberra arts institutions in a variety of roles since 2016. Over the past few years Olivia has built her photography business which she runs with her husband; O&J Wikner Photography. 

Photo: O&J Wikner Photography