Inclusive dance, performance and belonging
Dancekin is an integrated dance collective where people with and without disability move, create and belong together. Our work brings together community dance, performance, research and disability-led practice, centring dancers with Down syndrome and neurodivergence as artists, collaborators and cultural contributors.
Follow us on instagram @dancekin_collective
Dance with Us!
Dancekin is a space you can be part of.
We’d love to hear from disabled and non-disabled people interested in dancing with us, or getting involved through collaboration or volunteering.
Weekly Sessions in Pascoe Vale
Sessions run from a welcoming community hall in Pascoe Vale, in Melbourne’s north.
Fridays
6:30pm – 8:30pm
Saturdays
10:00am – 1:00pm
Using NDIS funding
Some Dancekin participants use NDIS funding to support their attendance. This depends on your individual plan, goals and funding arrangements.
Dancekin is a supported community participation program where dance and social group time is the shared activity through which participants build connection, confidence, belonging and creative agency.
The program may relate to goals around social participation, community connection, wellbeing, confidence, creative expression and recreational activity.
The relevant NDIS area is often Core Supports — Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation.
'Bare'
Melbourne Fringe Festival 2025
About Dancekin
Dancekin is an integrated and inclusive dance collective led by artist, educator and counsellor Tristan Sinclair. We create dance, performance and social experiences where people with and without disability move, collaborate and belong together.
Our Approach
Our work centres dancers with Down syndrome and neurodivergence as artists, creative collaborators and cultural contributors. Grounded in contemporary dance, community practice and research with RMIT University, Dancekin treats access not as an add-on, but as part of the art itself.
How Dancekin Was Formed
Dancekin was founded following a research project led by Dr Belinda Johnson (RMIT University) and Tristan Sinclair.
Within this work, dancers with Down syndrome were invited to participate as researchers. They engaged with global practice and contributed their perspectives and preferences, shaping the direction, structure and founding culture of Dancekin.
What We Do
Dancekin’s practice sits between art, access, research and community. We make performances, run weekly classes, collaborate with researchers and artists, and build spaces where disability-led creativity and genuine belonging can grow over time.
Meet Some of the Team
Dancekin has over 30 members. As an inclusive collective most our members have lived experience with Down syndrome, or neurodivergence.
Here are a few of our leading contributors.
Tristan Sinclair
Founder / Director
Catherine Annable
Choreographer / Lead Company Member
Belinda Johnson
Researcher / Lead Company Member
Emily Woodward
Choreographer / Lead Company Member
Tamsin McLinden
Facilitator / Lead Company Member
Kylie Miro
Facilitator
Georgia Bettens
Facilitator
Recent Projects
Fringe Front Row April 2026
Catherine, Kylie, Fintan and Tristan lighting it up in LED style to Aussie artists Kylie Minogue and Ngaiire in their performance at an event for the donors, partners and supporters who help sustain the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Fringe is a lifeblood for local and community arts, and we’re always grateful to be involved.
RMIT Lecture - Disrupting Discourse on Vulnerability March 2026
Cath, Tristan and Be delivered an online RMIT lecture on disability, dance and vulnerability, exploring access, authorship and the relational ethics of inclusive performance practice.
'Bare' in Melbourne Fringe Festival October 2025
A co-created theatrical contemporary dance work performed over four nights, Bare brought together eight dancers with Down syndrome and five dancers without intellectual disability in a funny, moving and gently unsettling challenge to who gets to author contemporary performance.
'Duo Piece' Social Sciences Week September 2025
A Social Sciences Week event hosted by RMIT’s Social Equity Research Centre, “Duo Piece” brought together Dancekin dancers, artists and researchers for live performance, panel conversation and shared movement exploring how dance with people with Down syndrome can create connection, embodied knowledge and social change.
'What Dance Ideas Do You Like?' - Research Workshops November 2024
Across four creative workshops, dancers with Down syndrome, dance artists and RMIT researchers explored what kinds of dance, movement and collaboration felt exciting to them, laying the foundations for the inclusive, curious and artist-led practice that became Dancekin.