MOTION STUDIES: VOL 1 - An Evening of Dance Works in Progress
OPEN STUDIO

On the last Monday of each month, Gasworks is giving our Studio Theatre over to the independent artists of Melbourne. Come and see the next generation of works at Gasworks. 

Curated by: Yuiko Masukawa

Co-produced by: Sam Akins

Artists: Geoffrey Watson, Simon Dow, and Lee Serle

MOTION STUDIES: VOL. 1 is an intimate evening of works-in-progress, bringing together leading independent dance artists to share and discuss works in-progress. Curated by Yuiko Masukawa, this first edition gathers Geoffrey Watson, Simon Dow, and Lee Serle in a shared space of experimentation. Each artist presents a developing work, offering audiences access to choreography in its living, evolving state.

Join the creative team for a post show Q&A from 7pm – 7.30pm.

About Yuiko Masukawa

Yuiko Masukawa is a Japanese choreographer based in Naarm whose practice bridges classical ballet and contemporary performance. Her work combines deep technical expertise in ballet with an inclusive, iconoclastic contemporary ethos, creating a dialogue between her two homes, Japan and Australia. She is the recipient of The Australian Ballet’s Telstra Emerging Choreographer’s Award for her work 3, which premiered in full-length form in 2025. In 2026, she will premiere This Moment, a new commission for The Australian Ballet’s Signature Works season at Regent Theatre, following earlier presentations including Standing on a Rising Wave (Bodytorque). Yuiko is also a recipient of Lucy Guerin Inc and EkosDance Company’s Naarm/Solo Exchange (2025–26), developing work between Indonesia and Australia, culminating in the premiere of Mekar yang Diam at Dancehouse. Her projects span ballet, contemporary, and experimental forms, including Running Machine, co-created between Australia and Japan. Her work has been presented at Arts House, Dancehouse, Lucy Guerin Inc, and The Australian Ballet. She continues to build sustained intercultural collaborations across the Asia-Pacific region.

About Sam Akins

Sam Akins is an African American dancer previously with the Paris Opera Ballet and currently performing with The Australian Ballet. Expanding his practice beyond the stage, Akins works across performance production, marketing, and the development of live artistic experiences. With a strong commitment to storytelling, he produces projects that bring artists’ visions to life while engaging and educating new audiences. His work is driven by a belief in the power of shared narrative – creating platforms where art is both accessible and transformative.  Currently, Akins works alongside Yuiko Masukawa, serving as Creative Director on upcoming projects.

About Geoffrey Watson

GB Watson is a d nce artist

About Simon Dow

Simon Dow is a performance and visual artist with a lifelong, professional, international background in dance, theatre, choreography and artistic direction.

Until recently, Simon directed a gallery initiative, EDGE galleries, in Maldon in central Victoria, Australia. Simon has worked as a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Washington Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet as well as international invitations as a guest artist.Simon’s photographic work is in private collections, and he is working on a book of portraits in addition to previously self-published photography books. He was named a finalist in the 2023 and 2025 Martin Kantor Photographic Prizes. Simon studied photography at Photographic Studies College in Melbourne and currently works primarily in project-based, fine art series and portraiture photography allied also with performance. Simon creates installation performance works involving butoh ( studied with Carlotta Ikeda, Masaki Iwana and Anzu Furukawa ), dance theatre and visual arts, including still photography and film. He has held the position of Artistic Director with the Milwaukee Ballet and West Australian Ballet and Associate Artistic Director with the Washington Ballet. Simon has been a member of the dance panel of the Australia Council for the Arts and an international jury member for several important international dance competitions. He has created over 50 original choreographic/theatre works in Australia, Europe and the U.S. and in 2022 completed eleven years teaching as Resident Choreographer at The Australian Ballet School. In 2023, Simon completed six months performing with The Australian Ballet as a guest artist and is currently developing several site-specific performance art works. Simon’s latest photographic series in development, ‘TRACES’  is included alongside the music of artistic collaborator, composer Tim Dargaville, as part of the 2026 Castlemaine State Festival in March.

About Lee Serle

Lee Serle is a Melbourne/Naarm based choreographer and performer graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Dance in 2003. Lee has presented his choreographic work to critical acclaim worldwide, creating dances on all scales, from grand stages to the intimate and personal, and has been nominated for numerous Australian Dance and Greenroom awards as a dancer and for his work. Commissioned by the Trisha Brown Dance Company (USA), Lyon Opera Ballet (France), Lucy Guerin Inc, Zoukak Theatre Company (Lebanon) Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Sydney Dance Company, Dancenorth, among others, he is an in demand choreographer and collaborator. Lee choreographs within varied contexts and forms creating proscenium works, site-specific and interactive performance, intimate solo dances, and within the gallery, engaging a broad range of artistic collaborators. Lee is a highly sought-after performer, contributing to the works of Trisha Brown, Lucy Guerin, Tere O’Connor, Gideon Obarzanek (Chunky Move), Shelley Lasica, Jo Lloyd, Stephanie Lake, and many others. In 2010, he was awarded a prestigious Fellowship from the Rolex Arts Institute to be mentored by seminal American choreographer Trisha Brown. He has since received Fellowships from Creative Australia (formerly the Australia Council for the Arts), City of Sydney and the Chloe Munro Bequest, and was Lucy Guerin Inc’s Resident Director in 2025. A highly regarded educator Lee has lectured and choreographed at tertiary institutions in Australia, USA and Europe, and was Education and Licencing Director for Trisha Brown Dance Company in 2017 facilitating the dissemination of Brown’s work.