Miriam Nicholls / Artlands 2023

Miriam Nicholls trained as a dancer at the Victorian College of the Arts and the National Capital Ballet School, and has worked with companies and choreographers including QL2 Dance, Cadi McCarthy, Elizabeth Cameron Dalman, Buzz Dance Theatre, Tracks Dance, Strings Attached and GUTS Dance. As a scholarship recipient at Impulstanz (Vienna), she worked with choreographers across Europe before performing with project-based companies in the UK. Miriam came to Alice Springs for a one-year position as a dance and drama teacher in 2006, and loved it so much she stayed. She founded Dusty Feet Dance Collective and SPRUNG Youth Dance, teaching community classes and choreographing original work, including performances at the Australian Youth Dance Festival, Short Sweet Dance in Canberra, and recently the Desert Festival and Darwin Fringe Festival. Miriam has worked as a dance, drama and music teacher in schools both in Alice Springs and remote communities, mentored Incite Arts’ “stArts with D” artists with disability, and led many student and community performances. Miriam learnt African dance and drumming in Ghana with Wild Moves and Asanti Dance Theatre through an Ian Potter Fellowship, and now dances regularly with Afo Afro in Alice Springs. As a mum of three young kids, Miriam is passionate about developing dance in Central Australia that creates joy, sustainability, connection and inspiration.