Teresa Izzard
Theatre Practitioner: Director | Somatic Movement Educator | Dramaturg Movement Director/Coach for Stage and Screen
Artistic Director and Creative Producer of Feet First Collective
Creating embodied theatrical experiences: Inviting meaningful engagement and transformation
Mobile: +61 416 530 079
Email: teresaizzard@gmail.com
Website: teresaizzard.com
Socials: https://www.facebook.com/FeetFirstCollective & https://www.instagram.com/feetfirstcollective/
Overview
Teresa is an award and prize-winning theatre practitioner. Her rigorous directorial processes are underpinned by her background in Laban, Viewpoints and Somatics. She creates clear visual and physical dramaturgy for challenging, provocative texts and devised works. She leads Feet First Collective (FFC), a critically acclaimed independent theatre company that has consistently been funded to produce bold works across Australia. FFC’s works range from the intimate solo Shadow Boxing, described as “Raw. Visceral. Unrelenting.” (Scenestr) to the epic original immersive work Medusa, described as “An unforgettable experience” (ArtsHub). Additional highlights include the WA and SA premieres of S-27, original work Frankenstein and This Is Where We Live, described as “complex and tense ... compelling viewing” (Arts Hub). She has taught and directed at tertiary level since 1997, notably at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), most recently as the movement teacher for the BA in Musical Theatre (2019-25) and Curtin, where she directed the WA premieres of Machinal, Afternoon and Berkoff’s Metamorphosis. She has taught hundreds of workshops across Australia and internationally, both independently and as Feet First Collective’s training arm, established in 2021. She is a Certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst, a Dynamic Embodiment Practitioner and has studied movement with master teachers that include Lorna Marshall, Wendy Houston, Amy Matthews, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Martha Eddy, Wendell Beavers, Mary Overlie and the SITI Company. She is a trained dramaturg (Playwriting Australia) and has studied under prestigious directors Di Trevis, Elen Bowman, Lorna Marshall and Anne Bogart. She has recently taught her popular Embodying Character for Stage and Screen workshop in Perth and Sydney
Key Artistic Skills
• Directing productions with strong themes, high stakes and heightened states/content (consent/intimacy frameworks/protocols, ensemble building, ethical directing processes that are trauma informed and inclusive)
• Teaching movement for actors (specialising in Laban/Bartenieff, Viewpoints and Composition)
• Creating safe dramaturgical containers to support the generation of evocative, powerful and meaningful movement imagery for stage and screen productions with high stakes, strong themes and heightened states/content (Using Laban/Bartenieff and Viewpoints languages as unbiased, inclusive ways creating functional and expressive movement choices, relational palettes and embodied choreography as well as somatic support such as tools for nervous system regulation and entry/exit processes)
• Producing (feminist leadership, fundraising, budgeting, career coaching, team building, grant writing and project management)
• Mentoring emerging artists (directors, designers, actors, dramaturgs, stage managers, writers and producers)
• Dramaturgy and running feedback forums (artistic coaching to elicit and sharpen artistic ideas, asking effective questions and how to give and receive effective critique / feedback)
Key Qualifications / Training
PhD* in Theatre Directing, Curtin University / WAAPA, WA. (*Winner of the Phillip Parsons Prize)
Dynamic Embodiment Practitioner, Centre for Kinaesthetic Education, NYC.
Certified Movement Analyst, Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, NYC.
Graduate Diploma in Education (Drama and English), Edith Cowan University, WA.
MA in Theatre Directing, University of East Anglia, UK.
La MaMa International Directors Symposium, Spoleto, Italy. Tutors included Anne Bogart and Stacey Klein. Viewpoints Masterclass with Mary Overlie at Rose Bruford College, UK.
Dramaturgy Training with Peter Matheson - Playwriting Australia and The Blue Room Theatre, WA (2016-2017).
Summer Training Intensive (Viewpoints, Suzuki, Speaking and Dramaturgy) and Symposium Transformation through Training with SITI Company, Saratoga Springs, New York (2015 and 2017).
Lecoq Training with Simon Wood and Marian Masoliver at the Actors’ Space, Barcelona.
Directing and Movement (Lecoq) with Lorna Marshall at the City Literary Institute, London and WAAPA
Recent Experience
Year Production Role Company Venue
2026 Into The Yellow Wallpaper Creative Development
2026 Shadow Boxing by James Gaddas
2025 Shadow Boxing by James Gaddas
2025 Shadow Boxing by James Gaddas
2024 Shadow Boxing*** by James Gaddas
2023 Shadow Boxing by James Gaddas
2023 Medusa Original Immersive work (World Premiere)
2022 The Flower that Fell from the Sky by Heloise Wilson (World Premiere)
2022 This Is Where We Live by Vivienne Walshe (Melbourne Premiere)
2022 This Is Where We Live by Vivienne Walshe (WA Premiere)
2020-
Producer / Director / Movement Coach
Producer / Director / Movement Coach
Producer / Director / Movement Coach
Producer / Director / Movement Coach
Producer / Director / Movement Coach
Producer / Director / Movement Coach
Producer / Director / Writer / Dramaturg / Movement Coach
Producer / Director / Dramaturg /Movement Coach
Producer / Director / Movement Coach
Producer / Director / Movement Coach
2022 The Dirty Mother by Michelle Hall Movement Coach
Feet First Collective ReadyMade Works, Ultimo, NSW.
Feet First Collective REAF Festival, Karratha, WA
Feet First Collective Flight Path Theatre, Sydney.
Feet First Collective and Theatre Works Theatre Works, Melbourne.
Feet First Collective Jonesway Theatre Perth FRINGEWORLD 2024
Feet First Collective Erskineville Town Hall Sydney Fringe 2023
Feet First Collective The Rechabite Hall
Feet First Collective and Little y The Blue Room Theatre
Feet First Collective Theatre Works Melbourne Fringe 2022
Feet First Collective Girls School FRINGEWORLD 2022
Michelle Hall and the Dirty Others
State of Play FRINGEWORLD 2022 / Summer Nights 2020
2021 Next Stop: Reality by Madelaine Page Dramaturg Madelaine Page Girls School for FRINGEWORLD
20202022 (Creative development) Medusa Original work inspired by the Medusa myth
2020 S-27 by Sarah Grochala (SA premiere)
2019 S-27 by Sarah Grochala (WA premiere)
2016 Frankenstein: Some Assembly Required* Original work inspired by the novel by Mary Shelley (World Premiere)
2011 The Yellow Wallpaper** Adapted by Silvia Lehmann and Teresa Izzard from the story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (World Premiere)
Producer / Director / Collaborator / Movement Coach
Producer, Director and Movement Coach
Producer, Director and Movement Coach
Producer / Director / Lead Writer / Dramaturg / Movement Coach
Producer / Director / Coadaptor / Dramaturg
Feet First Collective (2021 Artists in residence at FAC) Fremantle Arts Centre (FAC) and Feet First Collective Studio
Feet First Collective The Breakout, The Mill Adelaide Adelaide Fringe 2020
Feet First Collective Fremantle Festival Fremantle Arts Centre
Feet First Collective and Fremantle Festival Moores Building, Fremantle
Movementworks The Blue Room Theatre and Denmark Civic Centre
(* Original work commissioned for the Fremantle Festival 2016 / **Nominated for ‘Best New Play’ by WA Equity Guild Awards) 2013 and winner of the Phillip Parsons Prize 2014 /*** Winner of a Weekly Prize for Theatre and Performance FRINGE WORLD 2024)
Referees
Crispin Taylor
Coordinator – Acting Program / Resident Director (Music Theatre)
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Tel: 0438 295 950
Email: crispin.taylor@ecu.edu.au
Sandie Eldridge
Co-Founder Monkey Baa Theatre
Independent Theatre Director
Tel: 0415 528 144
Email: sandie.eldridge@gmail.com