Hi there, lovely to see you here. Welcome to an introduction to the work of Australian contemporary dancer and emerging writer/actor for film, Jana Castillo. Currently based in Sydney, Jana has performed worldwide with ADT and other companies on stages, film sets, mountain tops and hillsides. She's won the highest award for a female dancer in Australia and worked closely as a mo-cap actor with Sir Richard Taylor on The Hobbit among other adventures. Underpinning everything is a lifelong passion for storytelling, movement and collaboration (and tea). Read on more for info.
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News – March 2023 – Solo show Castillo invited for performance at la Théâtre National de Chaillot, Paris, Jan 2024
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News – March 2023 – Jana Castillo nominated for 'Best Performer' by the Green Room Awards 2023. Date of awards event TBC.
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Motion-capture actor in feature films:
The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies (Director: Sir Peter Jackson)
and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Director: Matt Reeves).
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Subject of recent SBS documentary series
Perspective Shift (2019, Australia).
Director: Genevieve Clay-Smith.
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Winner of the Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer, 2018. Article here.
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Contemporary dancer with the ADT
(Australian Dance Theatre), 2017-2019.
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Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group member at Sydney Dance Company from 2020
Documentary Perspective Shift: Jana (SBS, Dec 2019).
Watch in full by tapping play above.
Gallery
I believe Jana is one of Australia’s top female dancers at the moment.
She is absolutely powerful, yet she has this beautiful subtlety
about her. She is really exciting. She is fearless.
Craig Bary, independent choreographer and dancer, Dec 2019
Strength, flexibility and the ability to illustrate raw and empathic emotions – in ways which left audiences and critics in awe.
The Australian Dance Awards judging panel, describing Jana's award-winning performance in the ADT’s revival of the late Tanja Liedtke’s Construct
Contact
Interested in connecting with Jana? Drop her personal assistant Angie a line here. Jana is always on the lookout for interesting new projects and collaborations, as long as there's a pot of black tea involved. She also welcomes the opportunity to contribute to deeper understanding on disability and inclusivity in the arts, as a guest-panelist or interviewee. To share details or enquire about Jana's availability, please don't hesitate to get in touch with Angie. Have a lovely day!
She has this ability to be quite asynchronous, which is really delightful for a choreographer – to be able to work with someone who can naturally take their body into an interesting disco-ordinated place.