TNA identified a cohesive and diverse cohort of participants who have shown excellence in their creative work, promise in narrative shaping and are deeply committed to societal issues.

Bron Batten
Bron is s a multi-award-winning theatre-maker and producer who creates contemporary performance in collaboration with non-artists and audience members. She has toured her work extensively in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the UK.

Ching Ching Ho
Ching Ching is a Melbourne-based theatre director, performance maker, dramaturg and producer engaged in an ongoing examination into the intersections of intercultural practice. Her practice has a focus on intercultural collaborations, cultural and literary translations, new narrative and framework of original works.

Deanne Butterworth
Deanne is a Melbourne based independent choreographer, performer, and teacher. Since 1994 she has been performed in the work of many choreographers and other artists across multiple contexts including theatres, galleries, and outdoors both in Australia and internationally.

Desiree (Dasha) Tan
Dasha is a disabled multidisciplinary artist of Slav/Kazakh/Chinese heritage living on Kulin Nation (Melbourne). Working across theatre, dance and experimental/contemporary performance as a maker, writer and performer, she creates experiences which critically respond to climate change, community, class, migration, women’s bodies and human-technology relations.

Eliki (Alec) Reade
Eliki is an emerging producer, artist, and community arts facilitator, who is invested in representations of autonomy within the Oceanic community. This includes practices of critical consciousness and self-assessment towards the production of creative works, prioritising cultural exchange, Oceanic narratives and ideas that can empower.

Harley Mann
Harley is a Waka Waka man from Melbourne and has been in and amongst the circus community for the past 15 years, launching his own company ‘Na Djinang Circus’ in 2017. He was recently appointed to TNA’s CAPT advisory group.

Jack Sheppard
Jack (Tagalaka Clan) is a First Nations mixed medium performing artist and storyteller. His creations are inspired by the multifaceted narratives of First Nations peoples, where he attempts to identify and interrogate Ancestral, Inter-generational and present-day trauma lines and empowered lines.

Lana Nguyen
Lana is a producer and curator working in Naarm. She works at the intersection of community and contemporary practice, with a particular interest in site-responsive and collaborative projects.

Steph Cox
Steph has over a decade long freelance career in Production and Tour Producing with Australian Circus Companies including National Institute of Circus Arts, Casus’s Chasing Smoke and CIRCA. She has a Masters in Fine Arts – Cultural Leadership and has a particular interest in the Mental Health & Wellbeing of those who work in the arts.

Creatrix Tiara 
Creatrix Tiara is a creative producer, writer, performance artist, public speaker, consultant, media-maker, organiser, activist, exploring liminality, community, and identity through the perspective of a queer genderqueer immigrant disabled femme of colour.