Co3 Contemporary Dance Australia Names Charmene Yap and Cass Mortimer Eipper Co-Directors
The pair, both trained in Western Australia, will jointly succeed founding Artistic Director Raewyn Hill.
Co3 Contemporary Dance Australia has announced that Charmene Yap and Cass Mortimer Eipper have been appointed Co-Artistic Directors, sharing the artistic leadership of one of Australia's most distinctive contemporary dance companies from January 2027. The couple will relocate with their family to Boorloo/Perth to take up the role – a return for two artists whose early careers were shaped by Western Australia long before they forged their creative partnership on the East Coast.
The appointment sees Yap and Mortimer Eipper jointly succeed inaugural Artistic Director Raewyn Hill, whose twelve years of bold, boundary-pushing leadership have shaped Co3 into a company recognised for its artistic ambition and its connection to Western Australian audiences and artists.
Co3 Chair Margrete Helgeby Chaney said, “Charmene and Cass are two of the most awarded and respected dance artists this country has produced, and both have Western Australia running through their creative DNA". "Between them they bring three Helpmann Awards, an Australian Dance Award and a West Australian Dance Award, careers spanning our leading dance companies, theatre, opera, film and public-space work – and, critically, a long-standing creative partnership of their own. Theirs is a proven collaboration built on complementary strengths and shared vision, and the Board has every confidence they will take Co3 somewhere thrillingly new as they continue to build on the company's present strengths and programs.”
“The Board's decision to appoint a co-artistic leadership model reflected both the calibre of the two artists and their deliberate vision for the company's next chapter”.
Incoming Co-Artistic Directors Charmene Yap and Cass Mortimer Eipper said, “This isn't simply a move west for us - Western Australia shaped us both as artists, so the opportunity to return and lead Co3 together means a great deal. We're excited to reconnect with the dance community, work alongside dancers and artists across the state, and to build on this company's foundations with care. We see Co3 as a place where ambitious dance is made, where artists can take risks, and where work born in Western Australia can resonate nationally and internationally.”
Outgoing Artistic Director Raewyn Hill said, “After twelve extraordinary years, I am delighted to see Co3's next chapter entrusted to two exceptional artists whose creative partnership is founded on collaboration, generosity and a shared vision for what dance can be. Welcoming Charmene and Cass home to Western Australia with their young family feels especially significant, bringing their experience, creativity and deep connection to this place back to the community that first nurtured them. I look forward to seeing Co3 continue to evolve under their shared leadership and wish them every success for the journey ahead."
Charmene Yap is an award-winning Australian dance artist, choreographer, rehearsal director and movement director whose practice spans contemporary dance, theatre, opera, film and site-responsive work. A graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, her choreographic and movement work has been commissioned and presented by Sydney Dance Company, Sydney Festival and Co3, with creative credits across Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir and Opera Australia. Alongside these collaborations, she has developed an independent practice spanning dance-theatre, moving image and public space. Her acclaimed performing career includes work with Sydney Dance Company, Chunky Move, Lucy Guerin Inc, Dancenorth and Tasdance, and has been recognised with two Helpmann Awards and an Australian Dance Award. Her leadership experience as Sydney Dance Company's Rehearsal Associate has encompassed creative development, staging and dancer development. Grounded in her experience as both performer and maker, Charmene brings detailed physical intelligence and a rigorous, collaborative approach to movement and ensemble practice.
Cass Mortimer Eipper is an award-winning Australian choreographer and director whose practice spans contemporary dance, live performance, film and installation. His work across these forms has been presented by the majority of Australia's major dance institutions, including Sydney Dance Company, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Australian Dance Theatre, Australasian Dance Collective, West Australian Ballet and Queensland Ballet. International commissions include Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal and Milwaukee Ballet. Cass began his professional performing career with West Australian Ballet, where he also received his first choreographic opportunities. Further support from STRUT Dance and his role as co-director of Perth-based dance and media company Ludwig helped shape his early practice. He has developed a substantial multidisciplinary independent practice, with work presented through Sydney Festival, RISING and Vivid Sydney, alongside further international presentations. Cass's choreography has been recognised with a West Australian Dance Award for Best Choreography, while as a performer he received several national and international honours, including the 2015 Helpmann Award for Best Male Dancer. Grounded in dance, he brings a distinctive physical and visual language to movement, image and space.
Together, Yap and Mortimer Eipper co-created Grey Rhino, a large-scale dance-theatre work presented at Sydney Festival in 2022 - the clearest evidence of an already-proven creative partnership, rather than two careers simply sharing a title.
A shared model, distinct strengths
Under the co-artistic leadership model, Charmene and Cass will share responsibility for Co3's artistic vision, ensemble practice, commissioning and programming. They will co-choreograph major ensemble works and jointly curate and commission artists across the season. Charmene also brings extensive experience in dancer development, youth and education, while Cass brings an interdisciplinary approach extending into film, installation and other digital initiatives. These complementary strengths will inform the company's direction as a whole.
Co3 will continue to champion and extend the boundaries of highly physical contemporary dance and dance theatre under their shared direction. Charmene and Cass's committed focus is to support Co3's growth as a proudly West Australian contemporary dance company: locally connected, artistically distinctive, nationally visible and increasingly engaged in international conversations.
Raewyn Hill remains Artistic Director through to December 2026, and in 2027 as Co3 Creative Fellow will present her next world-premiere work – a fitting celebration of a tenure that redefined what contemporary dance from Western Australia could be. The 2027 program will be announced later this year.
Charmene Yap and Cass Mortimer Eipper will begin shaping Co3's artistic direction together from 2028 onward and in 2027 they will begin to share glimpses of what is to come. The company looks forward to hosting them in Perth in November this year. Amongst other opportunities and events to welcome them, it is anticipated they'll hold a two-day workshop; their first steps to meeting WA's current community of artists.
