STAFF
Jacinda Richards
FOUNDER, CEO & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Jacinda is the Founder, CEO and Artistic Director of L2R Dance, which she established in 2009. Jacinda has extensive professional dance experience spanning many genres, including, jazz, ballet, hip hop, contemporary, Latin and West African styles. Jacinda has had the opportunity to work as a dancer and choreographer both in Australia and internationally, including performances and workshops in remote Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley’s,
Ghana and Korea.
Since 2009, Jacinda has worked as the Community Development Officer at Western English Language School (WELS) in both the Braybrook and Wyndham campuses where she is responsible for community outreach, fundraising and the design and development of the free afterschool activities program.
In 2014, Jacinda graduated from Deakin University with distinction, completing an Honors degree with her research project, The role of Hip Hop dance in young people’s sense of well-being. In 2019 her research was published, co-authored with Dr Sally Gardner in "Dance and the Quality of Life" edited by Professor Karen Bond and published by Springer, 2019. In January 2018, Jacinda was awarded the Brimbank Australian Day award - Educator of the Year.
Jacinda is committed to amplifying marginalised and creative voices to ensure the arts are enjoyed and representative of everyone who lives in Australia,
David Prakash
YOUTH ARTS COORDINATOR
'David Prakash is an Indian/Samoan artist who began his journey into the realm of street dance in 2012. During this time, he has explored multiple genres such as Popping, Hip Hop freestyle, House, and Krump. David has judged at various street dance battles in Melbourne and competed nationally/internationally. Since 2018, David has been co-facilitating ‘Jam On Toast’, a weekly dance jam for the Melbourne dance community to dance, hang out and connect with new people.
David’s recent venture into the contemporary dance space has seen him in development with Chunky Move and in multiple creative projects with Jennifer Ma & Collaborators including: Home(s), Submerge at Dancehouse, Art Echoes commissioned by Bunjil Place, ACCUMULATING commissioned by Hyphenated Projects and is currently in development for We Are Here.
David brings to L2R a blend between youth work, an understanding of the mechanisms that allow street dance to act as a catalyst for connection and experience in the industry as a working artist.'
Hëna Memishi
ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE
Hëna Memishi is a professional movement artist of Albanian descent based in Naarm. She immerses herself in street dance and choreography and completed her formal studies of Performing Arts at Patrick Studios, Australia.
Hëna has an unyielding desire to evolve as a dancer and has travelled internationally to further develop her skills. Her credits include Jessica Mauboy, Baker Boy, Tony award winning musical “In the Heights, Joyce Wrice, Google and has performed at major Australian festivals including Laneway, Falls Festival, Beyond the Valley and Meredith.
Since 2011, Hëna has used dance to engage with youth and the next generation of performing artists, by using dance as a vessel to enrich the community through the Arts. Hëna has been a Teaching Artist with L2R since 2015 and in 2019 she was appointed the role of Community Development and Events Coordinator, striving to explore new ways to create, engage and innovate, while celebrating diversity in the Arts.
Hëna has a profound passion for dance, and it’s how she identifies herself. Dance allows her freedom to be an explorer and a creator while inspiring her to create positive change through the power of movement.The invaluable experiences and possibilities dance have offered her throughout her practice have been instrumental in making Hena the person she finds herself today.
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Bec Reid
RELATIONSHIPS
& DEVELOPMENT
Bec is an Australian based performer, producer, director, choreographer and engagement specialist. Bec encourages people to experience their worlds in new ways through highly physical, participatory, practical, collaborative and celebratory actions. For 20+ years, Bec has passionately worked in the space where professional artists and communities converge, collaborating across projects locally, nationally and internationally. Bec is a part of All The Queens Men and Everybody NOW! 2017- 18, Bec was a Fellowship recipient from the Australia Council for the Arts. Bec regularly mentors young and emerging artists and her true loves are Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Ceilidhs and Italo Disco. Bec has been in love with L2R since its inception and is ecstatic to formally join the family portrait.
Alec Pernes
DIGITAL MARKETING COORDINATOR
Alec Pernes is an artist, dancer and teacher, with training in House dance and Hip-Hop, and has joined the L2R Team in late 2019. Since then, Alec has been steadily gaining a lot of experience and notoriety in the Melbourne dance scene and industry through teaching, performing and competing, placing and winning in competitions of both underground and of a high-profile nature. He had begun his new venture at L2R to foster his career in dance as a teacher, professional and artist, with the purpose to use his craft to give to others the same opportunities that helped him realise his passion.
As a 2020 Monash Graduate of Bachelor's of Business (Marketing), he has used his marketing expertise for many arts-centred entities - local university dance and arts clubs, for small businesses that operate in the arts, and now for L2R Dance. Alec believes in the importance of small businesses, creative ventures and community, and hopes to continue to use these business-minded skill sets as a way to propel the arts forward and to continue contributing to communities and small businesses.
Kerstin Paulsen
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Kerstin is a multi-disciplinary Creative Producer and Programmer. Her work celebrates ambition, diversity and inclusion, curating programs that unite artists and audiences to create and share meaningful experiences.
Kerstin has spent over a decade in the performing arts and has held key roles as Creative Producer and Programmer at Arts Centre Melbourne and Melbourne Recital Centre.
Kerstin believes that dance has the power to help us better understand the world and to relate to one another more sensitively and effectively. It serves as a connector and opportunity for sharing across cultures, borders and oceans, creating a compassionate global community.
She also strongly believes in collaboration and working in partnership with like-minded organisations and good people!
Lowell Demetita
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR
Lowell Demetita is a Filipino artist, born and raised in Melbourne. He has been dancing since 2005, joyfully exploring the many forms within street dance. His practice of dance comes in the form of choreography, freestyle, stage and film direction, mentorship, and program/event development. He is greatly known in the Melbourne community for his easy-going nature and knowledgeable, yet fun, teaching style.
He has created award-winning choreography shows, including the champion title for Grounded: Battle of the Arts in 2015 and 2016. He has initiated and worked collaboratively in delivering several dance community initiatives such as Project Humble: Blueprint, AUS and NZ Dance Leader Fellowship, ‘support the homies’ fundraiser, and Melbourne’s Own.
In 2017 he started Inner Movement, which provides dance-related coaching programs and events that are focused on self-discovery and personal development.
His journey has led him to L2R ,where he hopes to feed his hunger in understanding how to facilitate dance in ways that can positively influence a community and its’ culture, empowering the individuals that are exposed to it.
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Monica Yan
ACCOUNTS & BOOKEEPER
Monica is CPA qualified accountants with over 8 years extensive financial and management experience from Public Practicing Accounting Firm to various industries. Monica is passionate about combining acuity with numbers and analysis with communication skills to lead and potentiate people and companies. Monica believes L2R empowers young people to make positive changes through dancing to stay young, healthy and happy.