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.

Richard is an experienced fundraising and development lead, specialising in community and stakeholder engagement, organisational development, and capacity-building. This is across many sectors, supporting organisations to work effectively together, communicate with clarity, and engage diverse audiences across cultural contexts.

He has led and contributed to successful bid and grant writing initiatives, securing resources for impactful programmes across healthcare and the creative industries. As part of AutinDT, Richard is supporting the next phase of the company’s growth as it expands its activities through the development of new partnerships, funding strategies, and innovative programmes.

Alongside his development work, he brings with him a background in executive coaching, equipping teams with the communication skills needed to collaborate effectively, articulate their vision, and maximise their impact.

Passionate about the transformative power of the performing arts- particularly dance – he is committed to enabling work that inspires, educates, and creates positive social change.

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.

Laura Hague is a dance artist and choreographer based in London. She has worked nationally and internationally in stage and screen across the Jazz, Commercial, Contemporary and circus industries. Since leaving professional training she has performed with Alleyne Dance, Ascension Dance, Incandescence Circus, Boomtown Festival, FILA, NIKE and The Royal Albert Hall. Laura’s choreographic credits to date include Sky Arts, The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (UK), The Distance Disco Project (USA) and The Vintage Circus (Palestine) and her full length indoor show ‘Do You Understand Me?’. Laura has been developing her own work in recent years with her main aims of creating work that educates the audience on social and political topics through emotive and entertaining movement.

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.

Currently in her third year studying Dance at Bath Spa University, she has specialised in contemporary dance, developing skills in improvisation, collaborative and independent choreography, and somatic practices. Alongside her contemporary training, she has studied hip-hop and contact improvisation and has explored exciting opportunities to combine dance with technology.

She has a particular interest in multidisciplinary practice, bringing together dance with technology, photography and videography. Passionate about both performance and choreography, she aspires to pursue a career as a contemporary dance performer after graduating.

Meet the Core Team

Johnny Autin

Annalise McIntyre

Kirsten Tranter

Paulina Ozynska

Richard Tuck

James Mist Clark

Laura Hague

Natasha Boyes

Mia Neri