Internationally renowned Bharathanatyam dancer and choreographer Christopher Gurusamy is the recipient of the EXPOUND Residency, the largest residency of its kind in Australia.

Christopher will receive $30,000 and up to six weeks of studio time at LOFT to develop his work Kalki, which seeks to explore Bharatanatyam, Carnatic Music and South Asian work can look like in 21st century Australia.

“I am so full of gratitude to be the recipient of the 2025 Expound Residency,” says Christopher, “Thank you to Australian Dance Theatre and CreateSA for this opportunity. I am very excited to share, create and learn in Adelaide and connect with its arts community. It will propel Kalki and broaden the trajectory of my practice.”

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Christopher is one of the world’s leading Bharatanatyam artistes, recognised as a trailblazer of his generation within India, Australia and globally. Born in Perth with mixed Singapore-Indian and British heritage, Christopher lived in Chennai for 17 years, becoming the only Australian to graduate from renowned arts conservatorium Kalakshetra.

A highly popular soloist, Christopher performs annually in Chennai’s prestigious December Season. He has received international praise including being named in ‘Best Dance of 2017’ (New York Times).

Christopher’s work Ānanda: Dance of Joy (2024) staged for Eternity Playhouse (Darlinghurst) and Dancehouse (Melbourne) received critical acclaim including in The Age and Fjord, receiving the ‘Outstanding Performer’ nomination at the Green Room Awards. His most recent work 5 Arrows premiered at Utp (Bankstown) in April 2025.

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Stay tuned for updates on Chris’ project and work.

Each explore resident receives $3,000, one week of studio time at LOFT and the opportunity to present a free workshop for the South Australian dance sector.

Our 2025 EXPLORE residents are:

• Ade Suharto (SA),
• Aimee Raitman (VIC)
• Alix Kuijpers (SA)
• Cheeky Chandler (NT)
• Kaine Sultan Babij (SA)
• Natalie Allen (WA)
• Thomas Bradley (NSW)
• Tyler Carney-Faleatua (NSW)

Stay tuned for information about their workshops throughout the year.

We're thrilled to announce Gabrielle Nankivell as the recipient of the PEAK Residency, who will continue development on Conjuring (or how to make the show between us), a thrilling choreographic experiment exploring live, collaborative performance making between performers and witnesses/audiences.

Ambitious, form-breaking and in equal parts unexpected, hilarious and poignant, Conjuring will receive time in the LOFT studio, a grant of $12,000 and support from Adelaide Fringe to bring the work to life.

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In addition to Gabrielle, South Australian artists Zoë Dunwoodie, Janelle Egan and Motus Collective will each receive a week of studio time and a grant to develop their projects at LOFT throughout 2025.