“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” – ARISTOTLE
There are a lot of moving parts that come together to create an experience like Rite & Revolution. Our conductor, renowned for his work in contemporary media: our choreographer, a wunderkind: our composer, an award winning interdisciplinary artist: our lighting designer, the creator of behind-the-scenes magic at every major WA event. Our esteemed dance ensemble was selected from an Australia-wide open application process yielding over 70 submissions. The six selected all hail originally from Western Australia; they represent the best and brightest of Australian contemporary dance.
THE COLLABORATORS
All independent creative artists, all Western Australian; we are privileged to have them contribute to this project.
Jonathan Tooby
CONDUCTOR Jon Tooby
Jonathan Tooby is currently Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of Darwin Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2018. He has conducted the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra, WA Youth Orchestras, WA Ballet and WA Opera.
Jonathan has pioneered many successful collaborative projects and has partnered with independent artists and performance groups to create new works and performance experiences. In 2021, Jonathan conducted the Darwin Symphony Orchestra at Barunga Festival, one of the Northern Territory’s most iconic indigenous cultural events featuring art, music and sport.
In 2021 Jonathan directed “Olive Pink”, a new Opera by Anne Boyd, which premiered in Alice Springs at the Olive Pink Botanic Gardens as part of the Desert Song Festival. The significant event combined a variety of artistic elements and featured local artists including Riley Lee performing the Shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute), and the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir.
Jonathan also conducted many concerts with Darwin Symphony Orchestra, including “DISCO” in the Botanic Gardens, “Wavelengths” and “Bunggul” in the Darwin Festival. A selection of masterpieces performed included Shostakovich’s Symphony No.5, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.5, Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, featuring Semra Lee Smith and Sally Boud.
In addition to his busy conducting schedule, Jonathan is in demand as a cellist and continues to perform and tour with numerous groups, most notably the Darlington Ensemble, I Cellisti, Arafura Collective, Whistling Kite, and more recently the Rococconuts.
Scott Elstermann
CHOREOGRAPHER Scott Elstermann
An award-winning dancer and choreographer, 2020 WA Young Achiever of the Year for Arts and Culture, and youngest-ever international recipient (and only Australian) of the prestigious Pina Bausch Fellowship for Dance and Choreography, Scott Elstermann has a demonstrated history of creating vibrant and innovative dance works that inspire and delight. He has performed for the Merce Cunningham Trust as well as some of Australia’s leading dance artists including Lucy Guerin Inc., Stephanie Lake Company, Natalie Allen, Annette Carmichael, Shona Erskine, Brooke Leeder & Dancers and Melbourne collective Alice Will Caroline. In 2020, Scott won Best Performer (Male) and Best New Work (‘Act 2, Scenes 1-4’) at the Performing Arts WA Awards. His work ‘Act 2, Scenes 1-4’ was also a finalist for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance’ at the nationally recognised Australian Dance Awards. Read more
Giorgia Schijf
Giorgia Schijf is an emerging, contemporary dance artist based in Perth, Western Australia. Giorgia graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts (Dance) Honours. In 2017, Giorgia was studied abroad at Purchase College at the State University of New York. In 2019 Giorgia was a member of LINK Dance Company, where she gained experience dancing in a pre-professional company setting performing both nationally and internationally. Since graduating WAAPA, Giorgia has been involved with multiple Perth Fringe Festival productions, as well as performances as a part of the renowned Summer Nights programs at The Blue Room Theatre between 2019-2021. One of Giorgia’s proudest achievements was receiving a nomination for Best Newcomer by the Performing Arts WA Awards, for her performance in ‘Via Lactaea’ at the Perth Fringe Festival in 2019. Giorgia has recently been focussing to define her multidisciplinary practice through performance opportunities such as Hidden Movements curated by Bernadette Lewis, and 900 Seconds curated by The Blue Room Theatre. She has a strong desire to make contemporary dance more accessible to the wider Perth community, and hopes to achieve this through her broad practice of incorporating visual art, dance and music.
Briannah Davis
Briannah Davis is a graduate of The Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (14’) and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (17’). In 2018 Briannah completed her Honours as a part of WAAPA’s LINK Dance Company. Through her work in the independent dance sector, she co-founded two dance- theatre collectives, Syndicate and Not Sold Separately. Within SYNDICATE Briannah produced, choreographed, and performed within their award-nominated Fringe World Festival performances (18-20’). Not Sold Separately debuted in 2019 with performance season, Drug Aware presents: ceilings. Sponsored by Propel Youth Arts. The collective has also performed within AusDance: Dance Day in Forrest Chase; The Blueroom Theatre’s Summer Nights: Micromove and in 2021 at The Girls School Fringe World Perth Hub, The 2020 Isolympics Sponsored by the City of Perth. In 2020, Briannah was a part of mentorship program, Hidden Movements curated by Bernadette Lewis, where she created a solo exploring the relationship between movement and character development through improvisation. Briannah’s tertiary training and professional experience has seen her work with choreographers including Stephanie Lake, Richard Cilli, Emma Fishwick and Unkempt Dance.
Ella Watson-Heath
Ella Watson-Heath is a movement artist born and raised on Whadjuk Noongar Boodjar (Borloo, Perth) currently living between here and Gadigal land (Sydney), working across performance, choreography and improvisation. A graduate of the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, she has performed in works by artists such as Alice Lee-Holland, Shona Erskine & James O’Hara as a member of STEPS Youth Dance Company, Adelina Larsson, Bernadette Lewis, Rafael Bonachela, Natalie Allen in ‘Panthea’, Brooke Leeder in ‘The Resistance’ (KuanDu Arts Festival, Taipei) and Lee Serle, Miranda Wheen & Carl Sciberras ‘The Rivoli’ and ‘In Situ’ (Syd Fest 2020/21) as a member of Dance Makers Collective’s Future Makers company.
Rebecca Erin Smith
COMPOSER Rebecca Erin Smith
R. E. Smith is an award-winning Australian composer and interdisciplinary artist who specialises in collaborative media and concert works. She works primarily with large ensembles of acoustic instruments and the human voice, utilising traditional notation alongside multimedia textile graphic scores. Most recently, her work has been internationally premiered in Japan and Singapore with the Orchestra of the Music Makers (SG), Canada and the USA with Phoenix Ensemble, and nationally with the West Australian, Sydney and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras. She has exhibited in masterclasses held by Ensemble Loadbang, ‘cellist Friedrich Gauwerky, and composers Dr Lewis Nielson (Oberlin College), and Dr Robert Cuckson (Curtis Institute, Mannes College). Her collaborative efforts have been presented at the Columbia University Film Festival, Philip K Dick Science Fiction Film Festival and Savannah Film Festival (among others), and in a theatrical capacity at Schapiro Theatre, NYC. Smith delivered a TEDx talk in August 2018 which discussed the role of art in the modern world, asking the question: how much art do we consume on a daily basis and do we really value the people who create it?
A Fulbright Scholar and graduate of the Manhattan School of Music New York, Smith earned her Masters of Music under the Tutelage of Dr Marjorie Merryman, upon commencement winning the Nicolas Flagello Composition Award for most outstanding composer. The years 2012-2015 saw Rebecca awarded over $150,000 in merit-based scholarships including the Deolus Husband Scholarship for Composition (MSM), Manhattan School of Music Composition Scholarship (MSM), Young People and the Arts International Scholarship from the Department of Culture and the Arts Australia, Barbara MacLeod Scholarship (WAAPA), Dr Harold Schenberg Music Prize (UWA), and the Marvin Hamlisch Scholarship (Juilliard School). In an educational capacity, Smith is a current faculty member of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts lecturing in composition, theory and music analysis, and is regularly engaged as an adjudicator and guest lecturer both nationally and internationally. She has mentored for various new music programs Australia-wide including those presented by Perth Festival and Tura New Music.
Rebecca has worked in a compositional capacity with the Manhattan School of Music Symphony, Western Australian/Perth/Sydney/Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Australian/Western Australian Youth Orchestras, LiNK and Co3 Dance Companies, alongside many bands and high-profile contemporary new music practitioners in the USA, Canada, Germany, Greece and Australia. Her recent and prospective music/visual art commissions include works for Perth Festival, WA Symphony Orchestra and GreyWing Ensemble, and new music practitioners Adam Marks (USA) & Philip Everall, Ben Matthews, and duo Jana Luksts (GER) & Sara Constant (CA) with support from the Canada Council for the Arts – Research and Creation Grant. An active proponent of gender parity and interdisciplinary cross-pollination, Smith creates works that surprise and delight, visually, aurally, conceptually and tangibly.
Alex Spartalis
LIGHTING DESIGNER Alex Spartalis
This is Alex’s first collaboration with WAYO. While initially studying at high school, he was involved in the theatre program, learning to design lighting for school musicals and has since worked professionally for many clients throughout the state, including the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Perth Symphony Orchestra and Channel Seven. He has also worked for Perth Festival as a production engineer and designer, as well as a student mentor in technical theatre with Wesley College, Aquinas College and Hale School.
Ellie Matzer
Ellie Matzer was born and raised on the Gold Coast, QLD and began training at the young age of 3. It wasn’t until she was 14 that Ellie had the opportunity to be apart of an independent project and really start her training and sparked a love for contemporary dance. In 2017, Ellie graduated high school with a certificate IV in dance and also performed in the Supercell Dance Festival in a piece choreographed by Courtney Scheu, Lo/ This Change of Heart. Since, Ellie moved to Western Australia to study contemporary dance at WAAPA and graduated in 2020 after working with choreographers Cass Mortimer Eipper (2019), and Raewyn Hill, who worked on their graduating piece. Ellie has just finished a season working with Emma Fishwick on her piece Slow Burn, Together which successfully featured in the Perth Festival alongside many incredible dancers spanning across decades.
Jo Omodei
Jo Omodei graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) with a Bachelor of Arts (Dance) in 2018 where she was awarded joint recipient of the Palisade Award for Most Outstanding Dance Graduate. During her training at WAAPA, Jo performed in works by choreographers Storm Helmore (Something Borrowed, Something New), Adelina Larsson (In The Rite) and Bernadette Lewis (Sailors). In 2017, Jo was accepted on an international exchange program for one semester at the Conservatory of Dance at the State University of New York, Purchase College, USA. In her third year, Jo performed in works by Natalie Allen (Panthea) and Brooke Leeder (The Resistance) which toured to Kuan-du Arts Festival in Taipei and Kaohsiung Senior High School, Taiwan, Filipa Peralthina (Stirring Sketches of a Million Love Stories) and Rafael Bonachela remounted by David Mack (2 in D Minor).
In 2019, Jo joined LINK Dance Company under the directorship of Michael Whaites as part of her Honours degree at WAAPA. This included performing works by Scott Elstermann (Shrink), Niv Marinberg (Chasing Breath) and Raewyn Hill (Carnivale.3) in LINK’s The Body Politic Season in Perth, Movement sur la Ville in Montpellier, Uriage Festival in Grenoble and Faites de la danse in Marseille, France, the International Creative Dance Seminar in Beijing, China and Dancehouse in Melbourne.
In 2020, Jo joined Co3 Contemporary Dance performing in Leviathan with Circa Contemporary Circus, CircusWA and Circus Maxima in addition to Stephanie Lake’s Colossus for 2020 Perth Festival. Jo performed an improvised solo work (and all the words I never said) as part of Hidden Movements produced by Bernadette Lewis. Jo has worked on FourByFour a virtual reality short dance film as part of Revelation Film Festival with XR:WA, choreographed by Claudia Alessi and performed in STRUT Dance WA SITU8 season A Tending choreographed by Ellen – Hope Thomson. She has most recently performed in Co3’s Archives of Humanity as part of 2021 Perth Festival.
Meg Scheffers
Meg Scheffers is an emerging artist who grew up in Gadigal land however has been living and practicing in Boorloo for the past 5 years. Having graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2019 where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts (Dance), Meg is currently navigating the independent dance sector in Boorloo. She is passionate about collaborations that result in the creation of multi-disciplinary works. Upon graduation, Meg performed in April Vardys Fringe work “In Cahoots” in 2020 and “Sense of Wander” in 2021. Meg was also a part of “Hidden Movements” in 2019, curated by Bernadette Lewis. In 2018, Meg was fortunate enough to study abroad at the State University of New York (Purchase College) as well as travel to China to partake in the Beijing Modern Dance Festival (2019). Meg has performed in works by choreographers such as Helder Seabra, Ori Flomin, Lauren Langois, Scott Elstermann and Yilin Kong.
WAYO
The WA Youth Orchestra
The orchestra showcases the talents of Perth and Western Australia’s young orchestral musicians aged 12 – 24 years old and has a deserved reputation as one of the finest youth orchestras in Australia. WAYO presents an innovative and accessible concert program, ranging from Concert Hall blockbusters, special outdoor performances and our ever popular children and education concerts. In reaching live annual audiences of over 30,000, WAYO plays an important role and continues to thrive within Western Australia’s cultural scene. WAYO’s international footprint continues to expand with important international collaborations and friendships as well as touring activities in Asia cementing our place in the Australasian community. In addition to a committed international touring program, the past decade has seen WAYO enjoy increased exposure to guest conductors of international standing including Benjamin Northey, renowned Russian conductor Vladimir Verbitsky, Estonian Maestro Arvo Volmer and the eminent Singapore-based conductor Tze Law Chan. These fine conductors build on the fantastic work of all of WAYO’s music staff lead by WAYO’s Music Director and Chief Conductor for close to 30 years – the inspirational Peter Moore OAM.
In 1998 WAYO was invited by the Hyogo Prefecture to tour Japan, giving seven concerts throughout the Hyogo and Tottori Prefectures, furthering an already strong sister state relationship.WAYO performed in in Europe in 2005, Singapore in December 2009 as part of their tour to Asia, and was the first youth orchestra in the world to perform in the famous Concert Hall on the Esplanade Theatre, Singapore. In 2016 WAYO returned to Singapore and Japan, thrilling audiences with a collaboration with Orchestra of the Music Makers (Singapore) and soloist Alexandre Da Costa, and a special repeat performance in Hyogo, reliving the performance and visit of 1998.
In 2012 WAYO was also the first youth orchestra in the world to perform with Maestro Ennio Morricone in a sell-out performance at Burswood/Crown Theatre for the 2012 Perth International Arts Festival. This major event was one of the most successful in PIAF’s history. In 2016 WAYO was the featured orchestra in the 2016 PIAF opening Home to an audience of 30,000. The orchestra has previously performed at large major scale outdoor concerts around Perth, including ten consecutive annual seasons of a themed concert in Burswood Park since 2008, and collaborations with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in King’s Park in 2005 and 2009. WAYO has also performed with music theatre star, Lucy Durack, jazz vocalist, Grace Knight, and iconic pop band, The Whitlams, as well as the Joondalup Resort and Leeuwin Estate Concert Series’. In addition to large-scale concerts WAYO presents its renowned sell-out Children Concerts and Outreach Concerts to facilitate educational exchange, learning, and mentorship.
THE REPERTOIRE
Rite & Revolution brought together classic ‘right-of-passage’ masterworks, contemporary music, and the work of a historically overlooked but critically important composer. Though eclectic, this vibrant selection of pieces play off each other in new and interesting ways certain to surprise and delight.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Overture to the Song of Hiawatha: Op. 30, No. 3
Composed in 1900
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Romeo & Juliet, Fantasy Overture
Composed in 1880
Rebecca Erin Smith
Foreigner or Foreigner
Composed in 2014
Igor Stravinsky
Rite of Spring
Composed in 1913