Join Lisa Maris McDonell for a two-day weekend workshop for adult dancers with any level of experience. Over the two days, participants will have the opportunity to be exposed to Lisa ‘s movement making practice, engaging in exercises that encourage deep listening to the body. These exercises allow the participant to access the stories that live within the body and prepare the dancer to become available to choreographic prompts. Over the course of the workshop Lisa builds live choreographic structures which the dancers can respond to in real time, creating a scaffold for a performance which will be presented to friends and family on Sunday afternoon.

When Saturday 29th November – Sunday 30th November 2025

Where Coalcliff Community Hall (Home of AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre). 270 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Coalcliff NSW 2508

For whom This workshop is suitable for dancers over the age of 16 with any level of experience (beginners welcome) and from any dance discipline

Cost. $185 (early bird before 28th October), $200 after 28th October, $160 (un / under employed) Please get in touch if your financial circumstances are a barrier to your participation.

Timetable (subject to change)

Saturday 29th November

2:00-3:00pm Arrive, settle into space, introduction to the weekend

3:00-4:00pm Warm up / instructor led tasks

Break

4:15-5:00pm Introduction to Lisa’s practice - building personal physical scores and live choreographic structures

Break

5:15-6:00pm Creating material and building live choreographic structures

Finish 6pm

Sunday 30th November

10am-10:30am Arrive and check in

10:30am-11:15am Warm up / instructor led tasks

11:15am-12:15pm Building and rehearsing live choreographic structures

Break

12:45-2:30pm-Final rehearsals and run through

3:00pm Performance for invited guests

4:00pm Finish

BOOK HERE

ANNOUNCING HAPPY HOUR #20: THE BUDGET!

 
ReadyMade Works presents Happy Hour #20 :The BUDGET.

Dates: Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th December
Time: 6pm
Tickets: $15
GET THEM HERE
 

Happy Hour #20 is curated by Lisa Maris McDonell who has reimagined this iteration of Happy Hour as the third stage development of her ongoing project, The BUDGET.

Lisa says "This Happy Hour I'm bringing a handful of Sydney's most respected and experienced artists out from behind their desks (where they work in order to survive and also support our ever more fragile dance community) for a new work development that doubles as a performance. The BUDGET does just as our funding overlords would like us to do and places The BUDGET at the centre of creative output. The BUDGET looks at an artist’s relationship to money in a world that requires everything to have a dollar value.

I'm asking myself a few questions as I enter this stage of development, including;

• How can I creatively work within the budget that I've been given by ReadyMade while completing an entire stage of development for this project AND provide an enjoyable evening out for our audience, while making important statements and sticking to the rules I've made to contain the project?

• Why do mature dance artists in Australia (often female) end up putting their choreographic practices aside to work behind a desk?

• Should I be doing that (working behind a desk) instead of this (making more dances)?

• What if Australia got to see their choreographers work over a lifetime making dance, like sometimes happens in other places?"

Performers: Jane McKernan, Maya Gavish, Emma Saunders, Lizzie Thomson, + others TBA. 

Live projection: Martin Fox

Happy Hour is supported by the NSW government through Create NSW