ENCOUNTER, in partnership with FORM Dance Projects and Sydney Youth Orchestras, presented in Sydney Festival 2020
CO ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
ROB MCCREDIE and GABRIELLE ROSE
Rob McCredie
Rob is Co Artistic Director of FLING Physical Theatre with Gabrielle Rose, and has been with FLING since 2014. Highlights include creating Australian Dance Award winning work Body and Environment, presented as a live work in 2018, and recreated for film in 2022, collaborating with Ensemble Offspring for the Four Winds Festival, and collaborating with FORM Dance Projects and choreographer Emma Saunders on ENCOUNTER for Four Winds and Sydney Festival. Rob has created numerous short works for the company including Shifting (2019) and Ongoing Going On (2022), both presented at the Australian Youth Dance Festival in Melbourne.
Rob holds a Bachelor of Dance from VCA and has performed with Legs on the Wall/ Form Dance Projects, Natalie Cursio Co, and Finucane and Smith, and numerous independent artists. He has created his own work for Next Wave Festival, Lucy Guerin’s Pieces for Small Spaces and DirtyFeet. He has also created set installations for Fiona Bryant and Jo Lloyd, and created work integrating dance and design with collaborators Holly Durant and Tim Newth. |
Gabrielle Rose
Gabrielle is the current Co Artistic Director of FLING Physical Theatre with Rob McCredie and has been with FLING since 2013. Highlights include My Black Dog directed by Kate Denborough and winner of the 2019 WayAhead Mental Health Matters Award, directing HOME in 2016 and recently Everything is Coming Up Roses 2020.
Gabrielle holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Performance Creation (Choreography) from the Victorian College of the Arts, a Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Education (Dance and Theatre Studies) from the University of New South Wales and was a participant in the Solo Performance Residency at Victoria University. In Australia, UK and Europe Gabrielle has presented her own choreographic work, facilitated learning and making processes, performed, and produced events that served as a platform for other artists. Gabrielle’s practice is influenced by artists she has trained and collaborated with including Rob McCredie, Kate Denborough, Rosalind Crisp, Andrew Morrish, Caroline Bowditch, Gunilla Heilborn, Helen Herbertson, Wendy Houston, Jess Devereux, and Samara Hersch. Gabrielle was the 2007 recipient of the Wilma Firth Award for outstanding achievement in Dance Education. |
DANCE DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Beth Lane
Beth is the Dance Development Officer at FLING Physical Theatre. A graduate of the VCA/UniMelb, (Bachelor of Dance), she has worked as a dancer, rehearsal director and creator on a range of independent performance projects in Australia, NZ and Berlin. Beth is an established and sort after teacher in dance education, youth and community projects throughout Australia. Creating, teaching and facilitating program development has taken her into university, school, higher education and company spaces. Beth worked with choreographer Russell Dumas ‘Dance Exchange’, maintained a regular studio practice with the Company and was exposed to the wealth of knowledge held by Dumas and his creative associates around the world. Fascinated by the body, her teaching is influenced by a range of somatic movement practices. She facilitates spaces to move which are thorough and specific, playful and imaginative. She considered the experience of the nervous system at the centre of her practice when making, dancing and facilitating. She continues her own learning in somatic practice with practitioners Shona Innes and Wendy Smith. |
artistic associate & teacher |
Patrick Meessmann
Growing up in the Bega Valley, Paddy thrived in his family connection to dance. His mother Colleen (Finneran) Meessmann, a local teacher and former dancer with Pina Bausch, instilled dance and creativity in daily life. Paddy joined Lee Pemberton at FLING Physical Theatre from the company’s beginnings. A graduate of the VCA/UniMelb (Bachelor of dance), Paddy has worked professionally as a performer and dance educator across Australia. He was a member of The Australian Ballet’s Dance Education Ensemble, delivering the ‘Out There’ program, designed and mentored by Helen Cameron. He has co-directed dance programs, devised performance, and worked as an artist in residence in schools throughout Australia. Paddy has performed with Opera Australia as a dancer and actor, worked with Delia Silvan on ‘La Pellegrina’, directed by Rodney Hall for Woodend Winter Arts Festival. In creative collaborations, he has designed and created set and costuming, choreographed and presented work independently at ‘You are Here” in Canberra, PAVE in Emerald and Dunedin Fringe in New Zealand. Paddy is excited by the potential in dance to open a dialogue and pass information through bodies. He is looking forward to reconnecting with his home community to share his passion for movement, creativity and body awareness. |
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Anne Corcoran
After discovering backstage theatre in her teens Anne went on to train in Stage Management, Lighting and Sound at the then Centre for the Performing Arts in Adelaide. On graduating she travelled to Scotland where she spent 10 years working in lighting at Edinburgh Festival Theatre, touring with Scottish Opera and finally as Deputy Electrician/ Technical Training Tutor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
Relocating to the Bega Valley in 2005 with a young family Anne held a variety of jobs before joining the FLING team as bookkeeper in 2013. As Production Coordinator Anne now combines all her skills and experience to manage the smooth running of the office and support productions in anyway possible, from managing Front of House to Lighting Design and anywhere in between.
After discovering backstage theatre in her teens Anne went on to train in Stage Management, Lighting and Sound at the then Centre for the Performing Arts in Adelaide. On graduating she travelled to Scotland where she spent 10 years working in lighting at Edinburgh Festival Theatre, touring with Scottish Opera and finally as Deputy Electrician/ Technical Training Tutor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
Relocating to the Bega Valley in 2005 with a young family Anne held a variety of jobs before joining the FLING team as bookkeeper in 2013. As Production Coordinator Anne now combines all her skills and experience to manage the smooth running of the office and support productions in anyway possible, from managing Front of House to Lighting Design and anywhere in between.
ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE
Anton
Anton is a professional artist and arts producer with 25 years of national and international experience as a performer, choreographer, producer, project director, dance filmmaker, movement director, rehearsal director and dance teacher. As a performer, he has worked with Dance North, Australian Dance Theatre, Tasdance, Legs on the Wall, Sydney Theatre Company, Australian Opera, Shaun Parker Company and independents Meryl Tankard, Tanja Liedtke and Martin del Amo. Commissions and choreographies include NARCIFIXION (Form Dance Projects 2021), Found (Sydney Arts Quartet, 2019) Supermodern - Dance of Distraction (Form Dance Projects, 2012), IOU (Spring Dance 2012, Sydney Opera House), Durak (Campbelltown Arts Centre, 2012), Beautiful Noise(Brisbane Arts Festival, 2011),Compact Homo Sapien(TanzFestival Ingolstadt, Germany, 2010), Capacity (WAPPA, 2010), The Blur (Tasdance, 2009) and Freedom to Launch (Sydney Opera House Education Unit, 2007). Anton Project Produced and Directed the 2014 Australian Dance Awards and Directed the Opening Bloc Party for Parramasala 2013. Anton’s dance films have been screened nationally and internationally, receiving awards Kosice Film Festival (2020) and International Music Video Underground (2020) and nominations at the Australian Dance Awards (2006) and REEL DANCE (2004). As a Rehearsal Director, Anton worked with Bangarra Dance Theatre (2015 – 2018) and recently worked with FLING Physical Theatre as Dance Development Officer. |
The FLING Company at Four Winds Festival, Image Ben Marden
FLING BOARD MEMBERS
Jenni Johnston - Chair
Jenni moved to the Bega Valley in 2004 to live for a year, but she is still here 18 years later. With a professional background in allied health she currently works for the local health district in a coordination role. She holds an Associate Diploma in Health Science and a Master Public Health and was a trail blazer in the district when over 10 years ago she organised a telehealth service for people with diabetic foot issues. As a parent of two children with special needs, Jenni is an advocate for inclusion of people with disabilities in society, as much as is practicable and to the benefit and enjoyment of each individual. And while Jenni is not a performer and her only experience on stage was terrifying, she is a passionate audience participant of the performing arts and recognizes the humanistic value in youth having an experience of culture and art.
Matt Alterator - Deputy Chair
Matt is a Koori man who has dedicated his career to working with Aboriginal communities. He has worked in diverse remote and urban Indigenous communities across Australia. Matt's moral purpose is to see the future built with a deeper understanding of and support for Australian Aboriginal cultures. Matt has established strong relationships with communities, schools and various government sectors. Matt embraces the opportunity to support others to create greater connections with their local Aboriginal community.
Marianna Ypma - Secretary
Marianna is a business person, educator and advocate of kids' freedom of self-expression. She grew up in the Bega Valley in a time when performance opportunities and the arts culture were lacking, so was delighted, when she returned with young family, to discover a strong and established arts organisation in FLING. Marianna lives simply on life’s basics, happy to combine her indulgences of literature, music and theatre with her commitment to the FLING board.
Belinda Rosenbaum
Belinda is an artist with a background in design and arts administration. In 2016, Belinda initiated The Lonely Arts Club Pambula, and is engaged as a consultant in arts administration and visual communication for various businesses and organisations on the Sapphire Coast. This has seen her develop and co-coordinate Panboola Wetlands annual art festival Ephemeral, and engaged by the Wanderer festival in 2023 to develop and coordinate a new workshop - I Wear Wanderer - for its Lost Lands Program. Belinda also volunteers her time on creative teams, and as a performer, in community theatre productions - building invaluable connections with other artists and creatives in the Bega Valley.
Madison Phillips
Madison Phillips is a creative freelancer and marketing manager working on Djiringanj & Thaua Lands on the Sapphire Coast of NSW. Studying a Bachelor of Creative Arts majoring in Dance and minoring in Media Communications, she is a proud board member of Fling Physical Theatre. Madison works with Four Winds Concerts to champion exceptional music experiences in nature; bringing forward emerging young artists, First Nations voices and incredible professional musicians to regional areas.
Her freelance work via ‘Daily Ceremony’, a creative house for the rituals of life, specialises in brand storytelling, audience engagement, marketing and photography. Daily Ceremony blogs have been read by over 5,000 people and speak to the ways we show up, the ways we give up and the ways we live it up. Madison aims to continue her volunteer work within the community, whilst building on her professional connections and being a lifetime believer in the powers of narrative to bring people together.
The FLING Company in Body and Environment, Image Andrew Norman