OUR STORY
Project Animo is an initiative of choreographer Alice Topp and designer Jon Buswell, founded to bring together a collective of independent artistic voices and talent from across Australia’s dance landscape. Formed in 2021, this community of dancers, choreographers, musicians and artists comes together to develop new work, challenge and expand their artistic boundaries, and share in a common goal: to breathe new life into Australian dance, for audiences around the country.
In a first, Project Animo unites dancers, both current and former, who have performed with a variety of national and international dance institutions, including The Australian Ballet, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Chunky Move, Queensland Ballet, Studio Wayne McGregor and West Australian Ballet. This unique amalgamation of styles, genres and backgrounds creates a dynamic and mercurial energy for new choreographic works to take shape. Through this, we hope to push the vocabulary of dance into unexplored territories, and provide a platform for Australian voices and stories to grow.
THE FOUNDERS
PROJECT ANIMO
ALICE TOPP
Alice is the co-founder and creative director of Project Animo, and one of Australia’s most exciting and acclaimed young choreographers.
Born and raised in Bendigo, Alice started dancing at the age of four. After two years dancing with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, she joined The Australian Ballet as a dancer in 2007, where her choreographic identity first emerged. Her first work, Trace, was created for The Australian Ballet’s 2010 season of its choreographic showcase ‘Bodytorque’. Between 2011 and 2014, Alice would go on to create three more works for Bodytorque, refining her craft and gaining the attention of critics and company directors alike. In 2016, Alice choreographed the critically acclaimed work Little Atlas, which appeared on The Australian Ballet’s mainstage 'Symphony in C’ program in 2016 and 2017.
In 2018, Alice created her first mainstage one act work Aurum, which premiered as part of the company’s ‘Verve’ program, and went on to its international debut the following year at New York’s leading contemporary dance venue, The Joyce Theater. In 2018, Alice was appointed one of The Australian Ballet’s Resident Choreographers. In 2019, she was invited to spend a month with Studio Wayne McGregor in the United Kingdom, creating a piece for The Grange Festival. The duet she created on the company, Clay, went on to form the basis for a larger work titled Logos for The Australian Ballet’s 2020 ‘Volt’ program, which included two works by McGregor.
Alice has been nominated for a Green Room Award (Little Atlas, 2017) and for three Australian Dance Awards (Aurum, 2018, Same Vein, 2014, Trace, 2010). In 2019, Aurum saw Alice and her creative team win the Helpmann Award for Best Ballet, and a nomination for an Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography. She has choreographed music videos for artists including Megan Washington, LANKS and Ben Folds, and has been invited to create works for Houston Ballet II and Queensland Ballet.
JON BUSWELL
Jon is the co-founder and Technical Director of Project Animo, and an internationally-renowned lighting designer for performing arts, events and television.
A graduate of Croydon School of Art in the United Kingdom, Jon cut his teeth working for the Royal Shakespeare Company before becoming a freelance designer in 1997. Since then, Jon has worked as a freelance designer for a variety of significant arts companies including Queensland Ballet, The Royal New Zealand Ballet, Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Black Swan State Theatre Company, New Zealand Opera, the Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester, the Royal College of Music and in London’s West End.
In 2015, Jon was appointed Technical Director of The Australian Ballet. Since then, he has led the lighting design for a number of productions including David McAllister’s acclaimed production of The Sleeping Beauty. Since working for The Australian Ballet, Jon has formed a collaborative partnership with Alice Topp, working with her to create the lighting and set design for Little Atlas in 2016, the Helpmann-Award winning ballet Aurum in 2018 and Logos in 2020.
In addition to working closely with Alice, Jon’s career highlights include working on productions including Lady Windermere’s Fan, directed by Sir Peter Hall and starring Vanessa Redgrave at the Haymarket Theatre London, Francesco Ventriglia’s Romeo and Juliet for Royal New Zealand Ballet, designed by Oscar winner James Acheson, and the re-design of lighting for Tantalus, a nine hour theatre play, directed by Sir Peter Hall and Ed Hall, for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Jon has also worked as a lighting designer for televised features such as the UEFA Gala Awards 2000 and Nutcracker Sweeties for Birmingham Royal Ballet and the BBC. He has also been a visiting lecturer for The University of Central England in Birmingham and the Victorian College of the Arts.
OPENING IN JANUARY 2022
PLAYHOUSE
ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE
