Dance board members
Dominique Fisher (chair) Vic
From her days as a student at the Australian Ballet School through five years as a board member of the Sydney Opera House Trust, to her last six years as a director of the Malthouse Theatre, Dominique has been able to blend and enhance her business skills with her love of the arts.
Dominique is currently chairman of ASX-listed biotech company, Circadian Technologies Limited, and is one of few Australian women chairing listed public companies. She is also chair of two other technology companies; a director of a Malaysian property company operating in Malaysia and Australia; director of several private companies and principal and managing director of her own business which undertakes substantial commercial transactions in communications, telecommunications and information technology industries.
Previously, Dominique had nine years experience as a non-executive director on the board of Australia’s largest general insurer, IAG Limited and largest motoring organization, the NRMA. She is also a member of the ICT Advisory Board to the Hon. Senator Helen Coonan, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.
Claudia Alessi WA
Claudia’s 20-year dance career has been interwoven with acrobatics, aerial work, physical theatre, puppetry and film. She is lecturer at WAAPA and has curated Artrage’s Crossfire event.
She has toured nationally and internationally with Chrissie Parrott Dance Company, Thwack, Sydney Theatre Co, skadada, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, STRUT, Co. Loaded, Plasticien Volant of France, Foundation Jean-Pierre Perrault of Canada, and Australian Dance Theatre.
As a dance independent, Claudia has produced and performed in solo works Point of Entry and 4by2: A Series of Encounters.
Claudia is a three time finalist for ‘Outstanding Female Performer’ for the Australian Dance Awards. She is also a board member for both STRUT and Ausdance WA and the rehearsal director with Buzz Dance Theatre.
Jeff Meiners SA
Jeff is a lecturer and researcher at the University of South Australia's School of Education with publications reflecting his professional interests in dance and arts education. He has worked widely in dance, running programs with artists, teachers and community workers to support development in metropolitan and rural regions. He has taught extensively in schools, universities and as leader of a dance education team.
Jeff's work has included projects with young children, youth dance and disability, partnerships with government and education departments, plus company outreach programs including the Dance Xchange, Birmingham, England, and with Forum Dança in Portugal. He recently worked as dance advisor with Windmill Performing Arts for The Green Sheep and as movement director for Cat.
Frances Rings NSW
Frances first joined Bangarra Dance Theatre in 1993 after graduating from the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association Dance College. Frances' career highlights include performing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of the Next Wave Down Under at the Festival of New York and performing Corroboree in 2001 at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC.
During 2002 Frances made her main stage choreographic debut for Bangarra in Walkabout. Frances went on to co-choreograph and perform in Bangarra's 2003 sell-out season of Bush and danced in the performance of Meryl Tankard's Pearl during the celebrations for the 30th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House. She has also performed with Legs on the Wall in Wesley Enoch's Eora Crossing for the Sydney Festival and travelled to India to lead choreographic workshops at the World Dance Alliance conference in Kolkata.
Frances' awards include Best New Australian Work at the 2003 Helpmann Awards for Walkabout, the 2003 Deadly Award for Female Dancer of the Year, and the 2004 Ausdance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for Unaipon.
Suzan Williams Qld
Suzan is a graduate of the Queensland Dance School of Excellence (1986) and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Queensland University of Technology (1989).
For 10 years, Suzan specialised in performing and producing dance works for young audiences with Darc Swan Contemporary Dance Company, Queensland Ballet and her own company, PointeBlank Productions.
She toured extensively with Queensland Arts Council's School Touring Program and has worked with choreographers including Harold Collins, Jonothan Taylor and Natalie Weir.
Retiring from performing in 1999, Suzan joined Brisbane-based production and graphic design company, ToadShow, as coordinator of their Web Division. In 2005, Suzan was appointed regional touring coordinator - ARTS at Queensland Arts Council where she is responsible for developing and coordinating national tours of Queensland's major performing arts companies.