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Maggi Sietsma

Artistic Director / Choreographer

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Function: 
Artistic Director / Choreographer

A graduate of the Australian Ballet School, Maggi toured extensively with the Australian Ballet and as a soloist with the London Festival Ballet before pursuing her interest in contemporary dance. In 1979, she co-founded the French multi-media company “Muance”. Moving back to Australia in 1982, Maggi became resident choreographer of the North Queensland Ballet Company and was a prime mover in effecting the transition of the company into a professional organisation, now Dance North.  From 1983 to 1987, parallel to establishing Expressions Dance Company, Maggi lectured in dance at QUT, where she was involved in developing the first Bachelor of Arts Dance course in Queensland. In 1995, she was awarded an MA in dance (research based) from QUT.

She founded Expressions Dance Company in 1985 and under her direction the Company won several awards including the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award, Australia’s most prestigious performing arts award. The company also toured extensively in Australia and internationally to 15 countries, including the U.S.A., the U.K and China. Maggi’s desire to forge cross cultural links saw the company undertake several Cultural exchanges with performers from diverse cultural backgrounds including artists from Papua New Guinea, India, and China.

In 2000, she was awarded an Asialink fellowship to choreograph and teach in Beijing and in 2002 Maggi was appointed a member of the Order of Australia (AM)  for services to dance and dance education. 2003 saw Maggi again honored by the Australian government this time receiving an Australian Centenary Medal for her extensive work with dance and society. Her passion for the development of dance literacy and personal empowerment through  the arts saw her create what became the most extensive dance education program run by a performing arts company in Australia.

She became the recipient of a Churchill Fellowship in 2003.

Maggi was appointed Dean of Dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2005.

During her tenure in Hong Kong, she led the development, accreditation and implementation of the school’s first MFA in Dance and re aligned and saw through the successful revalidation of the BFA Arts, Honours program.

In 2009, Maggi took up the position of Resident Artistic Director of the new multi genre, Franco Dragone, water based theatre / circus production, The House of Dancing Water.

Two years later, after ensuring over 160 performances of The House of Dancing Water, Maggi moved to Singapore to take up the post of Resident Artistic Director/Manager, of Voyage de la Vie, based at Resorts World Sentosa.

Maggi sits on numerous Artistic, Government and Academic boards and advisory committees and acts as a consultant and mentor to various independent organizations and artists.