Margot Politis is an impassioned artist and leader in the space of Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) best practice, whose focus is to advocate and make space for the expression of people who do not have neurotypical access to professional arts practice. For nearly 20 years, Margot has worked as a performer, director, choreographer, film director, and devisor of interdisciplinary and immersive performance works comprising theatre, movement, light, sound and set design. She proudly identifies as living in recovery from addiction and mental health issues.
Margot began her career performing with Adelaide’s Restless Dance Theatre in 2004, after graduating from the Flinders University Drama Centre. After moving to Sydney she worked until 2015 as the Accessibility Director at Shopfront Arts Co-op; directing the Bodylines and Harness Ensembles of young people with disability in various works; including the film Reaching Out Over & Over, an official selection of the 2016 NYC Indie Film Festival. Independently Margot has worked and studied with various companies and artists in Australia, the USA and the UK. In May 2015 she was artist in residence at Tasdance, Launceston, to facilitate skills development in inclusive practice, and in 2016 premiered her independent work, The Forest Unyielding. In 2017 Margot choreographed the Shopfront Arts Co-op and ATYP co-pro, Dignity of Risk alongside Natalie Rose, which won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Production for Young People.
Margot was appointed Artistic Director of Milk Crate Theatre in 2018, designing and directing the company’s major productions Natural Order (2019), Tiny Universe (2021) with Natalie Rose (Shopfront Arts Co-op), MCT: A Retrospective (2022), and DUST (2022). Margot is currently deeply engaging with set design, aesthetics, space, DIY and ASMR.