Meet the Core Team

Johnny is an established dance leader and award-winning choreographer, specialising in multidisciplinary choreography, street theatre and contemporary dance, with over 20 years of experience in professional, community, and educational dance projects.

He has been commissioned to create new work by international organisations such as Arts Connect, Dance Hub Birmingham, British Council, Sampad Arts, Macerata Opera Festival (Italy), and Muda Africa (Tanzania). Johnny holds the position of Associate Dance Artist
at Midlands Arts Centre, where he leads a youth dance programme and he serves as a dedicated trustee on the board of Dancefest, Worcester.

As the founding director of the renowned outdoor arts company Autin Dance Theatre, Johnny’s mission is to inspire, educate, and initiate positive social changes through world-class arts activities delivered to communities in theatres, outdoors, and non-traditional
spaces.

Annalise graduated from Coventry University in 2018 with a First Class BA with Honours in Dance with Professional Enhancement. She has worked with Autin Dance Theatre on several of their national and international tours, starting as a Creative Intern in 2016
to now working with the company as Associate Producer.

She joined Man Made Youth Company in 2015 as a participant and since then, has performed for Birmingham Opera Company, Gaby Agis, Mercurial Dance and more recently ‘sirenscrossing’ by Carolyn Deby in 2019. As a dance maker, Annalise produced a solo ‘Ecstasy’
for the 2018 Follow Me Out Festival.

Additionally, she supports community projects, outreach workshops and young people’s programmes for Dance Xchange, Man Made Youth Company and Ascension Dance Company. More recently, Annalise produced a digital event called ‘2 Metres Closer’ in July 2020 as
part of Beatfreeks Southside Producers.

Kirsten is an Independent Producer and Project Manager within the arts, specialising in dance and movement. She works on a freelance basis with a range of individuals and organisations, working on an on-going regular basis with Autin Dance Theatre as their
Learning and Participation Manager.

Kirsten trained in Contemporary Dance at DeMontfort University leaving with a first-class degree. Her early experiences include teaching in community and educational settings, alongside performing, providing platforms of opportunities and sharing her belief
that arts is for all.

As a freelancer Kirsten loves to work with lots of different people, share her passion for dance and the arts, and support people’s potential from very first experiences through to making and touring professional work.

Paulina Ozynska is a creative content designer and an admin for AutinDT but always a passionate photographer as her main profession.

She started her freelance practice after graduating from BA in Visual Communications at Birmingham City University focusing on experimental photography and various methods storytelling.

Followed with another adventure during her master’s degree in MA Future Media – Digital Advertising and Marketing from Birmingham City University, she is always excited to dive into creative strategy and develop ideas into many great projects.

Adam has been a Creative Producer and Consultant for Dance Organisations since 2005. He has been involved in the development of dance organisations, strategising on production ideas and concepts and supporting the distribution of award-winning live performances that have taken place across the UK, Europe, Asia and Australasia. Adam is a creative and critical thinker, challenging and exploring innovative ways of delivering and executing processes. His passion is creating mutually beneficial partnerships between communities and cultural organisations, charities and education settings, funding bodies and artists.

Jim lives in Birmingham and is currently doing an internship with Johnny and Autin DT. He is hoping to use this experience as a stepping stone into his professional career and formal training.

Jim has been dancing for around 4 years and for most of that time he was a part of Johnny’s Man Made Youth Company. This allowed him to explore dance in a different way and pushed him to wanting a professional career.

Emily is a Birmingham based multi-disciplinary freelance artist, specialising in drama, physical theatre and movement. She graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with a first class honours in Drama, Applied Theatre and Education in 2022. She has worked for a variety of drama/dance companies; Riverside Performing Arts, performing highly physical children’s theatre across the country at festivals, schools and community groups 2016-2019, a facilitator with Women + Theatre 2022-2023 creating performances with children in care, and The Playhouse 2023-present, on a variety of research focussed drama sessions in schools across the Midlands, and assistant practitioner with Open Theatre using highly physical clowning skills to work with young people disabilities. She is also a spoken word/ dance artist, performing across the open-mic scene in Birmingham and UK wide festivals, and performing/facilitating dance workshops for Project OK with Kate Taylor (2024-present.)

Emily hopes to continue her drama facilitation, especially working with young people with additional needs, to express themselves and share their lived experiences. She also hopes to develop her skills in performing/directing to create storytelling dance to spoken word as a form of activism for environmental, women’sand animal rights.

Natasha is a UK-based circus and dance artist with a strong foundation in Rhythmic Gymnastics. Competing at an elite level for 10 years, she also performed nationally and internationally.

She trained in Contemporary Circus and Physical Theatre at Circomedia, specialising in aerial straps, dance and solo and duo acrobatics. Since graduating, Natasha has primarily worked in outdoor arts, collaborating with companies such as Citrus Arts (2023),
Full Tilt Aerial (2022), Bassline Circus (2022), and Above and Beyond (2022).

Currently, Natasha is the Education Coordinator at Autin Dance Theatre, where she leads and develops educational outreach projects. Passionate about inclusivity, she strives to create environments where all participants feel valued and supported—whether in
teaching, performance, or creative projects.

Alongside her artistic work, she is also a freelance social media manager and press officer for extreme sports teams.

Meet the Core Team

Johnny Autin

Annalise McIntyre

Kirsten Tranter

Paulina Ozynska

Adam Towndrow

James Mist Clark

Emily Clare White

Natasha Boyes