OUR TEAM

CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

FRANKIE SNOWDON

Born and raised in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, and an alumnus of the Victorian College of the Arts Frankie’s practice as a dance artist spans performance, choreography, teaching, community based work, large-scale dance projects, facilitation and advocacy.  As a dancer, Frankie has worked for choreographers including Gideon Obarzanek, Brooke Stamp, Martin Del Amo, Adam Wheeler, Kate Champion, Sara Black and Jo Lloyd. Independently, Frankie has choreographed and performed for Lucy Guerin Inc. and Next Wave Festival/Nat Cursio Co., as well as choreographing, performing and producing 3 Independent seasons from 2009 to 2014 with Melbourne based collective 2NDTOE.

In 2015, Frankie spent 18 months creating, presenting and collaborating on projects in Europe, before refocusing her practice back in Mparntwe. Frankie has a large involvement in teaching and dance development, most notably founding the Alice Can Dance performance education program. Frankie has a Cert IV in Small Arts Business management, is an alumnus of the 2017 Australia Council Future Leader’s Program and was Chairperson of the Watch This Space ARI Board from 2017 - 2021.

Since returning to the Central Desert, Frankie and long time artistic partner Madeleine Krenek have founded GUTS Dance // Central Australia. As GUTS’ founder and Co-Artistic Director, Frankie has conceived and brought to life every platform and project offered by the organisation, as well as maintaining her professional dance practice through choreography and performance of works (The Perception Experiment, The Lost Dance Project and Dance (a short homage)), and as a collaborating performer and producer on commissioned works (Value for Money, COLLISION, SUB). Frankie has also performed these works across Australia and abroad. 2026 will see her debut 2 brand new works - one short solo Mother Witch for the SWEATBOX studio season, and a full length work for the large-scale Desert Hothouse platform. 

Frankie believes fiercely in the importance of regionally based practice, and advocacy and representation in the arts and beyond. She regularly lends her ideas and experience to committees, panels and advisory groups.

MADELEINE KRENEK

Originally from Aotearoa, Madeleine is a dancer, choreographer, teacher and facilitator who has worked broadly across dance in myriad platforms across Australia and abroad. As a dancer she has performed with leading companies and independent choreographers, and has had her choreographic work presented in Australia, Aotearoa and the USA. Madeleine is a dedicated dance educator with extensive experience teaching in tertiary training institutions, dance companies, schools and regional and remote communities across Australia. Her international work includes guest tutoring and ongoing professional development through creative residencies, workshops, and classes across Europe, the UK and North America. In 2018, alongside long-time artistic co-conspirator Frankie Snowdon, she co-founded GUTS Dance // Central Australia which has since become an important fixture in the contemporary dance landscape, delivering a multitude of artistic offerings in professional work and touring, community and youth engagement and artist development.

Madeleine believes that dance is for EVERY body and is an important driver of human connection and experience. She is committed to creating work that is inclusive, accessible, and non-alienating. Her choreographic practice often explores ways to dissolve the traditional boundaries between performer and audience, inviting engagement through immersive environments, structured improvisation, and participatory elements, creating opportunities for meaningful, collective encounters. Madeleine sees dance as a communal language, one that transcends barriers of background, ability, and experience, and is a means of building community and empowerment. Whether working in professional, educational, or community settings, Madeleine prioritises collaboration and inclusivity, and aims to use dance to amplify voices, provide a sense of belonging and celebrate the discovery of the body’s endless potential. 

THE GUTS FAMILY

  • Ashleigh Musk (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, dramaturg and community arts facilitator based on unceded Arrernte Country (Mparntwe/Alice Springs) in the Northern Territory (Australia).

    Ashleigh has performed and toured with artists and companies including Marrugeku, GUTS Dance, Jenni Large, Liesel Zink, Daniele Constance, STOMPIN, Jamaal Burkmaar, Denada Dance Theatre and Tami Dance Company. She recently collaborated with Daniele Constance to create the large-scale community work ‘Looks Like a Tourist’, premiering at Horizon Festival (Gubbi Gubbi Country) in 2022.

    Her work ‘Fertile Ground’, co-created with Michael Smith, premiered at Metro Arts in May 2021 before touring to SPRING.LOADED.DANCE (Mparntwe, NT) and MONA FOMA 2022 (lutruwita, in collaboration with STOMPIN). Through the Sunshine Coast Council’s Place to Play program she created ‘Beats x Caloundra’ a site responsive participatory work presented at the Caloundra Regional Gallery. She presented From Infancy (supported by Red Hot Arts Central Australia and Arts NT) at the 2022 Desert Festival in Mparntwe. She currently developing SUB (in partnership with GUTS Dance, Darwin Festival and Tasdance).

    She was the co-founder of AGITART (Figueres, Spain), an an annual international dance festival - Figueres es mou, audience engagement projects, a touring dance company, theatre programming and collaborations with international partners.

    Ashleigh has a long history working with young people, using dance as a tool for expression, confidence and creativity. From 2013-2018 she was a facilitator for COSMOU and CONARTE (Catalunya, Spain), leading movement workshops and creating multidisciplinary performances with young people. She has been a choreographic collaborator for ‘Alice Can Dance’ with GUTS Dance since 2018, creating large-scale contemporary dance works with over 250 young people in Mparntwe. She has also worked in remote communities as part of Artists on Tour with Artback NT since 2019.

    She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance Performance) (QUT) as well as a Postgraduate Diploma of Contemporary Dance from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance (UK) and a Postgraduate in Production and Cultural Event Management from the University of Barcelona (Spain).

  • Casey Natty is a proud Kamilaroi man from the Guinbaraay clan from Gunnedah NSW at a place called

    Burburgate a stretch of land that once belonged to his ancestors along the Namoi River.

    Casey’s Great great great Grandfather was a man who was heavily documented in the 1800’s in the Upper Hunter, Liverpool Plains and the Gunnedah/ Burburgate area. His name was Yawiriawiri Murri Ganuur but he was also known by the name ‘Natty’ which was the name given to him by the White settlers in the Burburgate area. The descendants of this Man than took on the surname of Natty.

    When graduating year 12 Casey went on to study at NAISDA Dance College on the Central Coast to become a professional dancer. After graduating from NAISDA dance college in 2014, gaining a Diploma in Professional Dance Performance he went on to study a further year at Sydney dance Company Pre-professional year.

    After spending six months at Sydney Dance Company Casey decided that his passion for community work was what he wanted to pursue more than a career in Professional dance and gained employment in many schools as a tutor, Aboriginal mentor, and a Student Learning Support Officer. During this time Casey taught many Aboriginal dance and didgeridoo workshops and performed Traditional Aboriginal dance at many festivals not only in Australia but overseas.

    Casey has lived in many remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory and has a close relationship with the Yolngu people of North-East Arnhem land where he has lived and worked as a Youth Sport and Recreation Coordinator. During this time Casey was lucky enough to get to experience a deeper knowledge of the Yolngu culture and participated in many ceremonies that ranged from funerals to boys becoming men. This is also where Casey extended his knowledge on how to play the Didgeridoo or what the Yolngu people call the Yidaki and learnt their style of playing.

    Casey also has a close connection to the Torres Straits, and one main island he visits and works closely with called Moa Island which is a part of the near western cluster of Islands.

    Casey has a deep and broad knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and has many permissions from Elders of the Datiwuy clan of North-East Arnhem land to share knowledge about Yolngu Kinship, Dance, Yidaki and Lore and the Dance and Culture specific to Wug Village, Moa Island in the Torres Straits.

  • Kady is an emerging freelance dancer, facilitator, and choreographer based on Dja Dja Wurrung and Taungurung Country in Macedon Ranges. Her practice centres on inclusive, participatory experiences that invite collaboration with broad and diverse audiences. She is passionate about using dance to support mental and physical well-being and is committed to exploring its role in fostering healing and belonging within communities.

    Kady’s desire to engage deeply with local contexts has led to collaborations with organisations such as GUTS Dance and Tasdance (Beacon 2025), where she continues to explore how movement can create shared experience across regional and urban settings. Her choreographic practice magnifies collective shared experiences and transforms them into encounters which question, satirise, and examine the society we inhabit. Her works have featured in Dancehouse’s Inertia (Kady and Michaela Were Here, 2021), Temperance Hall’s Fringe Season (Two Women Enter the Toilet Cubicle, 2022), and Stephanie Lake’s Escalator (Menstruation the Musical, 2023).

  • Caitlin is an award winning dance facilitator and arts practitioner, bringing with her a huge amount of experience, respect and admiration for dance with young people and communities. Most recently, Caitlin steered the incomparable Stompin Youth Dance company in Launceston (TAS) as Artistic Director from 2016 - 2024, as well as undertaking training as a producer with Performing Lines and  working as a creative producer for Junction Arts Festival (TAS). 

    Caitlin has been guest teaching and choreographing with GUTS in small doses in 2024/2025, so we are thrilled to have her (and her wonderful family) join the organisation and the Central Australian community on more permanent basis from May 2026. 

  • Toni Lord (she/her) is a proud Arrernte/Yankunytjatjara woman from Central Australia, who has had a passion for dance and the performing arts from a young age.

    Toni Attended NAISDA Dance College in 2012, beginning a journey into the world of dance where she elevated her abilities as an artist, and had opportunities to perform in College dance works throughout her studies. During her time with NAISDA Dance College Toni was also honoured to be involved within Cultural Residencies on Elcho Island, Galiwinku and MUA Island, Torres Strait where she was embraced into the community traditions learning culture, songs and dances. Toni also took part in teaching opportunities with Bangarra Dance Theatre’s Rekindling Youth Program, and Indigenous youth in Campbell Town, NSW.

    In 2017 Toni returned to Alice Springs, Central Australia taking up an offer to be a Youth Mentor, Dance Co-ordinator and Choreographer with the Yapa Styles Fashion, Alcohol and Other Drugs Preventative Program. At Yapa Style’s, Toni built upon her experience not only as a choreographer, creating performance pieces for the program, but as a dance teacher working with youth teaching dance technique while encouraging their development as future performing artists. Toni has worked with GUTS since 2020 as a choreographer on Alice Can Dance, and developing and facilitating the Brave Bodies Program. In 2022, Toni choreographed her first 20 minute work Kwatye, which premiered as part of Parrtjima Festival.

    Toni’s dream moving forward is to continue to develop herself as an artist, dancer and choreographer, embracing her heritage and belief as an Aboriginal woman - “we were dancers from the very beginning; we danced in the stars, now we dance on land sharing culture and stories”, and continue her love for working with all youth/members of the Alice Springs Community inspiring them to understand their bodies as artistic instruments, and their ability to come together through the fun of dance.

  • Jasmine McGinness is a Gurdinji and Kungarakan woman. Jazzy has been dancing with GUTS dance since she was 8 years old, participating in many of GUTS’ programs and youth activities.

    Jazzy has performed in Alice Can Dance, Parrtjima Festival, DesertMob and toured with GUTS to lutruwita as part of the Brave Bodies x Stompin exchange. She also appeared in local musician RONA’s music video.

    Jazzy is currently in her first year at NAISDA.

  • Chandler Connell (also known as Cheeky) is a young emerging Indigenous story teller from The Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal countries. Chandler graduated with a Diploma in professional dance from NAISDA Dance College in 2020. Since graduating Cheeky has worked as a collaborating performer on the highly acclaimed Jurrungu Ngan-ga by Marrugeku which has toured extensively nationally and internationally, as a performer for Gary Lang's NT Dance Company and has joined the team of Alice Can Dance, an award winning youth dance initiative created by GUTS Dance // Central Australia. In 2022 Chandler will also join the cast of Garabari by Joel Bray. 

    As he learns to rise within the performing arts industry Chandler has been influenced by many surrounding Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists who have become his leaders and mentors. These mentors have and continue to guide Chandler on his journey as he continues to share, inspire, and Gari Yala (speak the truth). 

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

  • Susan Congreve has worked with many arts organisations over the past 21 years, in leadership roles as a manager and consultant and maintains a strong commitment to community development. She has a fine arts background and started her career as an art centre manager at Warlukurlangu Artists in Yuendumu in the mid-1990s. In 1999, she moved to Darwin and coordinated the Telstra Aboriginal Art Awards in her role as Assistant Curator of Aboriginal Art at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. A year later she was appointed as the Manager of ANKAAA, the Association of Arnhem, Northern and Kimberley Aboriginal Artists.

    Since 2003, Susan has worked closely with arts organisations and peak agencies developing business and strategic plans as well as conducting several key reviews. In recent years she has been the Manager of Tracks Dance Company and completed her PhD as part of the CRC-REP - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Economies project. Susan is well known as an advocate for the arts and recognises the importance of art and culture in communities and their far-reaching impact on health, wellbeing and local economies.

  • See bio in CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR above

  • Claire grew up in Scotland and Melbourne and moved to Mparntwe for two years, 14 years ago. She has a Bachelor of Development Studies (with Honours) and a Graduate Diploma in Law and a Graduate Diploma in Business (Governance).

    Claire has spent the last 14 years working in the social and community sector in Central Australia with a particular focus on industrial relations, gender and family violence and sat on several other boards before joining GUTs in 2023. 

    Claire loves Central Australia and the vibrancy , creativity and passion of the  NT’s community sector. Claire is a parent and has a dog and lots of chickens. 

  • Aakanksha Sidhu is an artist manager, writer, and designer with work spanning across multiple cities and countries in Australia and South Asia. Entrepreneurially spirited, Aakanksha has experience across cultural and creative industry projects within music, theatre, fashion, cultural policy and audience development. Aakanksha currently works as Manager of Operations and Logistics at Australia’s leading arts and culture think tank A New Approach (ANA) while developing an artist service – Daalee, a holistic and flexible management practice for creative and artistic decision-making. Aakanksha also volunteers her time to the MusicACT committee. Living and studying in multiple regions across India, South East Asia, West Asia, Europe, and now a foothold in Australia, Aakanksha holds a unique global perspective which has cultivated her interest in independent artistry, cultural management, design thinking and permanent forms of equity.

  • See bio in CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR above

  • Rose is a dedicated arts manager with extensive experience in fundraising, stakeholder management, and strategic development across Queensland’s cultural sector. Known for a collaborative approach, she works to support the future of artists and communities with a focus on ethical, sustainable practices. With a strong background in the dance and live performance sector, Rose is committed to fostering creative problem-solving and building meaningful, long-term relationships across the community and arts sectors. For RMIT University, Rose worked with Architect, Jack Murray, on an award-winning and verbatim thesis titled “On Difficulty” that explored the intersection of art and philosophy with architecture, and with Setting Line Theatre Consultancy to conduct “venue health checks” across Queensland.  She is currently working as the Development Manager for Queensland Ballet.


  • Laura Harris has diverse experience developing and managing social equity-focused programs, traversing the arts, community, government, impact investment, and social innovation spaces.

    She is passionate about working collaboratively and placing community at the centre of decision making. Laura also specialises in gender equality and social impact analysis, strategy, training, and facilitation.

    Laura has completed the AICD Not-For-Profit Governance Fundamentals training and was previously an advisor to the board of Nightingale Housing.

    Laura grew up on Dharug Country and now lives on Wurundjeri Country, where she leads ILBIJERRI’s Social Impact program, producing performances with and for community, and supporting First Nation’s artists to bring their creative vision to life.

    She also has a woodworking practice making furniture from recycled and reclaimed timber.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN (PAST STAFF)

  • Mary Jane “MJ” Warfield is an arts management professional who lives and works on Arrernte Country in Mparntwe/ Alice Springs. Armed with training in dance and theatre at Rusden (Deakin University), MJ started her arts management career in 2007 and has since worked across Local Government, arts organisations, not-for-profit organisations and community groups. Her work has primarily been focused on working with communities to develop and deliver arts programs and events. These have spanned all art forms and structures, from film festivals to exhibitions, school holiday arts workshop programs to outdoor improvised community dance projects. She directed Warburton Harmony Festival in 2012 and Alice Desert Festival 2013-2015.

    Since 2015 she has been working for Regional Arts Australia managing the Regional Arts Fund and overseeing the delivery of this program at national level. She has an interest in seeing arts organisations thrive and, to this end, has completed Governance training with the Institute of Community Directors. MJ is the Chair of Incite Arts. In 2019 she started working with GUTS Dance Central Australia, assisting to set up this new contemporary dance company.

PAST MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEMBERS

  • Sally Scales is a Pitjantjatjara woman from Pipalyatjara in the far west of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in remote South Australia. She was elected as Chairperson of the APY Executive Board Council in 2019 and was the second women to hold the position. Sally has worked with the APY Art Centre Collective until 2021 in cultural liaison, elder support and spokesperson roles.

    Sally is part of the youth leadership team for the Uluru Statement reform, having been involved in the Referendum Council's Constitution regional dialogues in Ross River, Adelaide and the national convention in Uluru in 2017. Since then Sally has been involved with the Uluru Dialogue leadership. Sally is an independent elected board member of the Australian Childrens Television Foundation and a board member on the Alinytjara Wilurara Landscape Board.

  • Angela O’Donnell holds a Masters in Arts Administration and is a Churchill Fellow.

    Her work history spans Education, Media, Performing Arts Producing and Touring and Arts management. She has worked in a variety of contexts and locations including Government, not for profits, institutions and independent practice in very remote, regional, national and international settings. She has a fierce commitment to the Northern Territory and the development of the Arts and Cultural sector.

    Angela is currently the Executive Officer for the Creative Industries Steering Committee at the Chamber of Commerce NT, leading and developing the NT's first Creative Industries Strategy.

  • Alex Kelly is an artist, filmmaker and organiser based on Dja Dja Wurrung Country. With decades of experience across film, theatre, communications strategy and troublemaking, Alex has developed a deeply collaborative practice that purposefully connects the disciplines of art and social change.

    As director and producer, Alex has worked on award-winning documentaries including Queen of the Desert, Island of the Hungry Ghosts, and In My Blood it Runs. Based for many years in Mparntwe, Alex worked as creative producer on Ngapartji Ngapartji and co-founded the Something Somewhere film festival. With direct action experience including blockade camps at Jabiluka and autonomous zone organising at la zad in France, Alex brings the tools of grassroots organising and independent media to creative practice. Alex has engaged in global action for climate justice at all levels, including as the Global Impact & Distribution Producer on Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything project.

    In 2013, Alex was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to research documentaries and their social impact in the UK, Canada and the USA; Alex has been further supported by a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship in 2016 and a Bertha Challenge Fellowship in 2020.

    Alex’s artistic focus is The Things We Did Next, a long-term, multi-platform futuring practice, a hybrid of theatre, imagination and democracy co-created with David Pledger from not yet it’s difficult. Alex is a founding member of social impact film company The Unquiet Collective.

  • Libby Collins is currently a Producer with GARUWA. She has a strong national profile, working in production, marketing, communications and community engagement across the country for more than a decade.

    Libby’s credits reflect a diverse body of work from feature film to TV documentaries. Her most recent works include roles with Channel 10 and NITV collaboration ‘First Inventors’, due to be released in 2023. Libby also worked as a Production Manager (Tiwi Islands) on feature film Top End Wedding.

    After a decade in New South Wales where she fulfilled a national facing community engagement role with Bangarra, Libby returned to the Northern Territory, working with Aboriginal health leaders to get clear messaging into communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her connection to community and culture drives the work she does and through her personal life.

    She is passionate about creating opportunities that advance First Nations people and communities to bring about change.

  • Georgie Sutton (she/her) has been living and learning on Western Aranda and Arrernte Country since 2016. She has worked in various educational roles with young people in Ntaria and Mparntwe, as well as working in policy and advocacy. She met and fell in love with her artist wife while teaching in Mparntwe and enjoys moving and creating, especially with her young son. Georgie is invested in supporting the Arts in Mparntwe as she has experienced the empowering impact it has on the lives of young people and she hopes that her son will one day be able to enjoy a vibrant and dynamic arts community.

  • Joanna Byrne holds a Bachelor of Fine Art with a major in Time Based Art from the College of Art and Design in Sydney (University of New South Wales). This led to her first job as a studio manager at a remote Art Centre on the APY Lands in central Australia. Since then, she has spent ten years working in the Aboriginal Arts sector in central Australia, managing several remote and regional Art Centres. Jo’s experience as an Art centre manager has given her an intimate knowledge of the way arts organisations (both government and non government) in Central Australia work. She has also gained extensive experience growing grass-roots arts organisations in a Central Australian context. Since 2021, Jo has held the position of Operations Manager for the APY Art Centre Collective, based in Adelaide.

    Most crucially, what underpins Jo’s work is being able to identify and nurture artistic talent, facilitating artistic and cultural expression as a way to strengthen community, and to socially and economically empower people.

  • Erin Chew was born in Malaysia and moved with her family to Western Australia to complete her secondary education, before going on to study marketing at Curtin University. A Chartered Accountant with a Masters in Accounting, Erin has spent the majority of her career working in the entertainment & media sector, as well as working with a wide variety of individuals and businesses. Erin is incredibly excited to be involved with GUTS, an organisation showcasing a fierce commitment to creativity driven by a heart that beats for community. Equally, she is grateful to be bringing up her daughter on Arrernte country in Mparntwe/Alice Springs.

  • Zoya Godoroja-Prieckaerts is a practicing visual artist and arts worker based in Mparntwe/Alice Springs. She has a passion for art and its importance in the development of social and cultural change. Zoya has varied experience in the workforce, nationally and internationally, where her first four years in Central Australia were spent as the Director of Watch This Space ARI. Now she is a freelance arts worker, practicing visual artist and has a small slow-fashion label, god of roger.

    With a practice based in drawing, Zoya primarily works in areas of painting, printmaking, soft sculpture and installation. Underpinning her work is a concern with emotion and its capacity to facilitate introspection and change. Informed by personal and collective experiences and an intersectional feminist framework, she confronts issues surrounding social oppression and mental health, hoping to create intimate anti-patriarchal acts that stimulate contemplation and reflection within both the viewer and herself. Recent career highlights include solo exhibitions 'Caving in' at Sawtooth ARI and 'Building Walls' at Watch This Space; 'The Attempts' intensive collaboration and performance at 2019 Hobiennale; touching review, 'A Kind Revolt', of 'Building Walls' exhibition by Dan M. Procházka; 'Speachless group' exhibition at Rubicon ARI; and collaborations with GUTS Dance and The Samaya Wives in Mparntwe/Alice.

  • Lilly Alexander was born and grew up in Mparntwe Alice Springs before moving to Melbourne to complete her tertiary studies. At Monash University she completed a Bachelor of Arts (Australian Indigenous Studies & Anthropology) and completed Honours (Australian Indigenous Studies) where she received First Class for her thesis Under the Town: Contesting Place in Mparntwe Alice Springs. Lilly returned to Mparntwe in 2018 to take on her current role as Community Development Manager for Children's Ground, a local change organisation led by Arrernte people. Although in the early stages of her career, Lilly has also worked across investment and communications in the non-profit sector. Lilly sees both her work with Children's Ground and as Board Member of GUTS as an opportunity to strengthen the social and creative fabric of Mparntwe Alice Springs, and safeguard it as a creative, inspiring and nurturing community for all people in Central Australia.

  • We've also welcomed Mparntwe local Sunder Madabushi to the board. Sunder is a  professional accountant (CPA) with over 25 years of international experience in Finance, Accounting and Auditing. His professional experience encompasses a wire variety of Industries Including Statutory Corporate Audits of Large Public Limited Companies (Pricewater House Coopers), Tax Audits, CFO of  internationally funded start-up MicroFinance Initiative (India), Telecommunications Sector (New York, USA) and over 15 years as CFO in the not-for-profit sectors in India and Australia. In 2017 Sunder decided to become a stay at home dad and to start a small home-based Bicycle Mechanic Service Enterprise in line with his love for all things cycling. He is also currently a volunteer Snake / Reptile relocater volunteering with the Alice Springs Reptile Center.