Who

 Stephen Bain: Performer & Creator, Set Designer and Co-Producer. Auckland.

Stephen Bain (1966) began his interest in live performance by way Architecture at Victoria University of Wellington (BBSc 1987 - School of Architecture), furthered by actor training at Toi Whakaari: The New Zealand Drama School (1990-1991). He appeared on stage and screen in numerous productions around New Zealand but was quickly attracted to the role of director and designer where he has done his most innovative work. His early productions combined documentary, spatial design and drama, receiving numerous commissions through Creative New Zealand as well as critical acclaim and awards.

In 1995 he studied in Paris with Pantheatre, where he began a seven-year collaboration with French Choreographer France Herve forming Choreographic theatre company Under Lili’s Balcony. This company presented many successful theatrical productions in New Zealand (1996 – 2002) while simultaneously creating a strong pedagogic curriculum teaching in performance studies institutions in NZ and France.

In 2004 Stephen founded Winning Productions (winningproductions.co.nz) to accommodate his growing involvement in design and a widening view of performance as public interaction. Six Winning Productions’ projects have toured nationally and two productions have toured extensively throughout Western Europe (2008 – 2011) to arts festivals, live-performance venues and street-theatre festivals. Recent tours include New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Netherlands, France, Belgium, UK and Canada. His most recent production (When Animals Dream of Sheep 2011) was co-commissioned by Oerol Festival in Netherlands and The EDGE in Auckland, it also played at Chalon-dans-la-rue festival in France as a co-production between Winning Productions and Netherlands-based dance-theatre group TragicTrio.

Stephen regularly teaches ‘Video for performance’ at Toi Whakaari, The National Drama School in Wellington, New Zealand. He has also taught performance at Massey University (Dept of Spatial Design and Drama Dept), Victoria University of Wellington (Dept of Theatre & Film), Ucol (Acting Studies) and WPAC (actor/dance training). In 2005 Stephen was Artist in Residence for one semester at Massey University in Palmerston North.

In 2012 Stephen was artistic director and curator for a festival of cross-discipline live-art, the New Performance Festival in collaboration with The EDGE in Auckland.

His current projects focus on the interface between performer and audience, choosing to create performance in primarily public spaces and combining installation, live performance and audience interaction. Stephen has used unusual performance spaces like shop-windows, disused buildings and the natural environment. He has also been commissioned through local city councils to create performance works that question the relationship between public and private. Design for his latest work Luminoceros, appeared as part of the New Zealand exhibit at the Prague Quadrennial 2011 (International expo of performance design).

Melanie Hamilton: Performer & Creator and Co-Producer. Wellington.

Melanie Hamilton (1971) is a graduate of the New Zealand School of Dance, with experience in the fields of dance, improvisation, theatre and experimental performance. She often utilises physical comedy and performance art practices in her creation processes.

Recent work this year includes: performer for Barbarian Productions’ White Elephant a new work in development directed by Jo Randerson; dramaturg and co-creator for the first development of Who Are WE Now? choreographed by Maria Dabrowska; and choreographic assistant to Lisa Densem for We Have Been There, Footnote Dance’s annual 2013 Forte Season. In late-2012 Melanie received a co-commission from Theatre Works, Melbourne, to develop Fearfall, a one-on-one, site-specific intimate theatre experience.  The premiere is scheduled for the inaugural Encounters Festival late-2013.

Last year Melanie undertook a three-month research residency in Iceland to work with Czech interdisciplinary artist Monika Fryčová focussing on developing new hybrid performance making processes. This collaboration is ongoing. Prior to this Melanie lived in Melbourne collaborating with a variety of improvisation, dance and theatre makers.

Melanie has also worked extensively as a freelance producer. She produced My Brother and I are Pornstars, a theatre-comedy show presented by Van Brugh Family, which toured New Zealand then to Melbourne, Edinburgh and Soho Theatre, London (twice). From 2004 to 2008 Melanie was Artistic Producer of Barbarian Productions, an independent theatre company that presents the works of Jo Randerson.  During this time the company toured throughout New Zealand and to Melbourne, Adelaide, Edinburgh and Prague. Melanie is currently producing AGE, a new dance work choreographed by Ross McCormack scheduled to premiere early 2014.