Throughout his 25-year career as an artist, producer and director, Paul’s entrepreneurial skill-set and access to world class product has been his currency and curatorial benchmark. After 12 years of performing with renowned dance companies Batsheva and William Forsythe / Ballet Frankfurt, he set up his own production company in the Netherlands. Using his international experience and network, he then toured leading Dutch entertainment in venues across Europe and North America.
Moving permanently to Australia in 2014, Paul brought the same ingenuity and connectivity to his role as director of STRUT Dance and Junction Arts Festival. Recognising that Perth, at the height of the West Australian economic boom, was also looking to build its assets in the cultural sector, he engaged some of the most vital and cutting-edge artists in multi-year programs and presentations in WA. Partnerships with such luminaries as William Forsythe, Crystal Pite, Punchdrunk’s Maxine Doyle and Hofesh Shechter went on to launch new cultural precincts and catapult local artists into signature festivals and organisations across Australia and the world. Similarly in Launceston, Paul was able to develop and embed pathways of First Nations, multi-cultural, and LGBTQI+ inclusion into Junction Arts Festival, significantly broadening the programming diversity to allow for a richer, vibrant, and more intergenerational experience for its citizens. Since 2011, Paul has been one of the founders and creative directors of Wonder City and Landscape and leads the strategic consultancy and public art programming department.
Email: creativedirector@form.org.au
Naomi Hibberd is an experienced dancer, producer, teacher and all round industry professional with over 15 years experience. Trained at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance (UK), Naomi holds a 1st class Bachelor Arts Degree. She went on to perform with the Rambert Dance Company, Balbir Singh Dance Company, and was a lead dancer in Didi Veldman’s Peter and the Wolf. Since returning to Australia she has performed works for Graeme Murphy and Lucas Jervis as well as many local and international choreographers.
As a choreographer she has created works for The Strand Arcade, Adobe, and multiple music videos for Lisa Mitchell, Silamor and The Australian to name a few. Naomi’s passion for supporting the dance industry has lead her to producing. During her time with FORM she has worked with Sydney Festival, Riverside Theatres, Sydney Opera House and Carriageworks in producing and presenting Australian dance works.
Email: producer_form@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au
Vicki Van Hout is is an Indigenous independent artist with Wiradjuri, Dutch, Scottish, and Afghan heritage, and over 20 years’ experience as a director, choreographer, performer, dramaturg and mentor.
A graduate of NAISDA Dance College and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in New York, she went on to perform with major Indigenous dance companies, Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre, before joining forces with Marilyn Miller as a founding member of Fresh Dancers. With Marilyn, Vicki performed Dear Carrie for Oneextra Dance and Quinkin for the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Her show Briwyant was the first ever show by an independent Indigenous choreographer to tour nationally and was nominated for an Australian Dance Award for Best Achievement in Independent Dance. Vicki was awarded the 2014 NSW Dance Fellowship for established and mid-career artists – the first Indigenous winner of the Fellowship. She has also completed various residencies in Australia and overseas, including in Austria and Singapore.
FORM Dance Projects has commissioned Vicki as Blogger in Residence since 2013, and during this time Vicki has been a voice for valuable critical discourse within the dance community and arts world, around traditional and contemporary dance in Australia. FORM Dance Projects premiered Vicki’s award winning solo plenty serious Talk Talk in Dance Bites 2018. Vicki Van Hout was the recipient of The Australia Council Dance Award in 2019, which recognised Vicki’s outstanding and sustainable contribution to Australian dance and the impact on Australia’s cultural narrative through “her commitment to charting new territories through her work, challenging existing stories and prompting contemporary conversations.”