Bianca Melchior is a true triple threat.  Before making her musical theatre debut in Toronto's 2019 run of Bend It Like Beckham: The Musical, Bianca cut her teeth as the inaugural Female Best Dancer at The Dance Awards and as a supporting vocalist to Canadian pop star Alessia Cara. A few years later, she was acting in Apple TV+'s Schmigadoon!, starring in and choreographing Delacey's music video for "Too Poor to Live in LA", and soon, she'll be gracing the silver (or green?) screen in the upcoming two-part film adaptation of Wicked.  Here, we speak to Bianca about doin ..read more

"What's this, an excuse to watch more film?" we actors excitedly hope. It may well be. In the world of athletes, especially in the US, film analysis has become standard. This is as true for college gymnasts as it is for NFL teams. The "film room" exploits the fact that more than half of us are visual learners and allows athletes and coaches to analyse, correct, track and compare performance. It has become a vital cog in the training wheel. ?? Continue reading at The Stage Thoughts / feedback / challenges? We'd genuinely love to hear. Need some 1-On-1 attention? Book your coaching session ..read more

As y'all know, we've been kicking around the sport science world for some time now, and if there's one name that brings a smile to everyone's face, it's Peter Clarke's.  Born and raised in Barbados, the avid cricketer moved to Australia by himself at 18, and less than eight years later, secured a coveted spot on the team at Cricket Australia — albeit as a psychologist, not a player. Here, we speak to Peter about identity, the freedom of controlling little, and being a high-vibe human.  ..read more

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin We've been dancing around writing this post for a while, but given we consider spirituality a key component of holistic well-being in our (working) model of actor peak performance, decided it was better to attempt — even if imperfectly — than not at all.  Before we dive in, however, let's clarify what "spirituality" means in Dojo land. Although we recognise it's a word that often comes with unhelpful connotations, it's the most accurate one we've fo ..read more

Here's a reality I never thought would be mine: six of the last 18 months were spent living the digital nomad life — working remotely from my laptop while travelling Asia. And it was easily one of the most game-changing experiences of my life. I don't disclose this to brag. In fact, #realtalk: it took almost two years of intentional life systemisation to get to a place where doing so was possible. But that it was even seen as possible and that we followed through is a conversation worth having. Experiencing the digital nomad life is by no means on everyone's bucket list, but it was on min ..read more

Yep. We doin' it. A few years back, we posted a list of our top five finance reads for actors. While we've kept that accurate and up-to-date, managing money well continues to be a conversation with the actors we jam with here at the Dojo. Two main obstacles seem to stand in the way of our Dojo homies being where they want to be financially: guilt and overwhelm. The good news is neither need to be a thing. The additional good news is we'll do our best to dispel both below. Before we dive in, it's worth reinforcing that we aren't financial advisors and don't pretend to play them on the internet ..read more

Courtney Cavallaro is one of those people you want to be friends with. She's both a true talent and a true delight to banter with. The Brisbane native moved to Perth in 2018 to study Performance Making at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Upon graduation, Courtney was awarded the Belinda Dunbar Prize (recognising the most outstanding student) and was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Performing Arts WA Awards shortly after. Since then, she's gone from strength to strength, being selected for the AFTRS National Talent Camp in 2022, gracing our screens in Netflix's ..read more

Well. This is a bit exciting, 'innit? Previously, our working model of actor peak performance has been known only to Dojo coaching clients. But right here, right now, we're releasing this bad boy out into the world ? We call this our "working" model because, until we have this fella scientifically verified (currently underway), we consider our framework a constant work in progress — as our badass Dojo coaching clients would well know. That said, we now have enough personal and anecdotal evidence to support where the model stands today, hence why we're cautiously optimistic it's ready to be sha ..read more

Richard Fryer is one of the outrageously awesome people we've had the pleasure of meeting since commencing our MPhil at the University of Queensland's School of Sport Sciences (more on this here). A registered psychologist in both Australia and the United Kingdom, Richard specialises in high-performance sport, from water polo to skeleton to archery — where he's now Archery Australia Inc.'s National Lead — to almost everything in between. Adding another string to his bow (we couldn't resist ?), Richard also acts as the Senior Cognitive Performance Specialist for the Royal Australian Air Force ..read more

If there's anything Ann Akinjirin can't conquer, we're not aware of it. Although best known as an actor, the British star has also written, directed, and produced both stage and screen productions — and to critical acclaim. You'll most likely know Ann's work from the Marvel / Disney+ series Moon Knight or Michaela Coel's modern classic I May Destroy You, but keen UK theatre-goers will no doubt also recognise her as the face of Harts, the theatre company she was Artistic Director of from 2010 to 2020. Now, she's back on our screens in the BBC adaptation of Enid Blyton's The Famous Five ser ..read more