Sydney Dance Company (SDC) and The Balnaves Foundation have announced the launch of a new residency program, The Balnaves Foundation Artist In Residence. The new residency invites an emerging choreographer to work across all of SDC’s departments, while developing their own practice concurrently.

Contemporary Tagalaka choreographer, dancer and director Jasmin Sheppard has been named as its inaugural recipient.

Jasmin Sheppard. Photo supplied

“Thank you to The Balnaves Foundation for supporting New Breed, and now the Artist in Residence position,” said Sheppard. “These opportunities are so vital for independent artists to explore what is possible for our choreographic practice.”

Sheppard is a Tagalaka woman who has worked as a dancer for Bangarra Dance Theatre for 12 years, performing in producations including Patyegarang. In 2021, she was one of four participants in SDC’s program for emerging choreographers, New Breed, where she developed the work Given Unto Thee. Her major work for Bangarra,...