Jasmin Sheppard is a contemporary dancer, choreographer and director, a Tagalaka Aboriginal woman with Irish, Chinese and Hungarian ancestry. 

Jasmin spent 12 years with Bangarra Dance Theatre, performing numerous lead roles such as 'Patyegarang', in which critics described her performance as “powerfully engaging, fluent dexterity” (Sydney Morning Herald). She choreographed one major work for the company, ‘MACQ’, on the 1816 Appin Massacres under Governor Macquarie which toured Australian capital cities, regional Australia and Germany. In 2012 Jasmin was nominated for an Australian Dance award for ‘Best Female Contemporary Dancer’, and her work ‘MACQ’ was nominated for a Helpmann Award for best dance work as a part of ‘OUR Land People Stories’ in 2017, and in 2018 received a Helpmann for best regional touring program. Other works include: ‘No Remittance’ for Legs on the Wall and ‘Choice Cut’ for Yirramboi festival, which was presented at Toronto’s Fall For Dance North Festival, 2019.

Jasmin will premier her first full length work “The Complication of Lyrebirds” in 2020 at Campbelltown Arts Centre. This work was also supported by The Australia Council for the arts in conjunction with CAC and Native Earth Theatre Company, Toronto. In 2020 Jasmin will create works for: NAISDA Dance College, Sydney Dance Company’s PPY program, and Catapult Dance. 

 Her work is passionate, political and has been described as “surreal and highly evocative” (The Australian).Her choreographic credits include Accidental death of an anarchist (Sydney Theatre Company); Jasper Jones, Atlantis, Seventeen, Peter Pan (Belvoir); Girls like that (ATYP); #Killallmen, Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown (NIDA); The Incredible here and now (NToP); Double Beat (new work in development); untitled (Readymade Happy hour); Taction (Sydney dance company PPY); Act of contact, Nexus (QL2); Seven deadly sins (Sydney conservatorium of music); E-volve (CDDC); Pitch Black (Seekae live event); Sensation Trigger Action, Glitch (Flipside); Fresh Produce (Rogue, Next Wave Festival Event); Gravitas (Short film currently in development). Her assistant choreographic credits include Obsidian (Iceland Dance Company); Shane Warne the Musical (Eddy Perfect and Neil Armfield); and Woyzeck (Malthouse Theatre). 

Sara’s short works include; InAnimate (Lucy Guerin Inc); Parental Guidance Recommended (Dancehouse) and TunnelVisioned (Short Film Dancehouse). As a founding member of Rogue dance collective Sara co-created and choreographed new works Puck, Ocular Proof and Persona. Over the last eleven years she has performed and collaborated with Punchdrunk (UK), Protein Dance (UK), The Australian Ballet, Lucy Guerin Inc, NYID (David Pledger) and as a main collaborator and performer for Gideon Obarzanek’s Chunky Move where she toured extensively internationally. 

In 2008 she was awarded a Helpmann Award for best performer in a dance/physical theatre piece and has since been nominated for two Green Room awards in the same category. Sara has worked extensively with both Australian and international independent artists including Narelle Benjamin, Erna Omarsdottir, Damien Jalet, Martin Del Amo, Elissa Goodrich, Bagryana Popov, Stephanie Lake, Lloyd Newson, Wendy Houstoun, Carlee Mellow, Antony Hamilton and Byron Perry.