Everybody NOW! create participatory performance experiences that generate joy.
Led by Co-Artistic Directors Ian Pidd, Kate Baggerson and Bec Reid, we are dedicated to the creation of high-quality, community-engaged arts projects, that are made with and for community, alongside outstanding professional artists.
Our work extends across art-forms; from slam poetry for seniors, inter-generational radio stations, roller skating rock shows, artists-in-residencies, digital programs, large-scale social dance works, to industry and community workshops and talks.
We work in small towns and big cities, on major festival stages and in town halls, on basketball courts, in schools, aged care facilities, in people’s homes and in the streets.
We exist in collaboration with communities
Real People. Real Stories. Every Body Now.
Play Video about IADA Hawthorn Arts Centre_(c) Everybody Now! Image by BryonyJackson
Our Purpose
To Move Communities
Our Vision is for more people on the planet to feel connected, empowered and valued in their communities through active participation in the arts; telling stories that make us who we are and who we can become – past, present and future.
Our purpose and vision is actioned by generating movement in people’s lives; socially, emotionally, physically and culturally. We exist in collaboration with communities; real people, real stories, everybody now!
Our Values
Inclusivity
We create inclusive, democratic and inter-generational creative spaces. Our projects bridge social capital; celebrating difference and amplifying the collective.
Quality
We are dedicated to high-quality artistic outcomes and meaningful collaboration with communities, exploring ambitious, curious and contemporary artistic ideas.
Joy
We celebrate and showcase the local. We are joy generators who work with heart and passion to increase participation in the arts, and nurture a sense of connection and belonging.
Integrity
We treat the stories shared with us with integrity and respect. We cultivate an honest, accountable and ethical culture. We value relationships as central to our work.
Our Story
Everybody NOW! was founded in 2015 when Co-Artistic Directors Ian Pidd, Kate (McDonald) Baggerson and Bec Reid, came together to create their first dance and theatre work, The Inaugural Annual Dance Affair, commissioned by Bleach Festival on the Gold Coast, Queensland.
They have since reached over 50,000 people aged between 3 – 100 years young, in 200 communities across Australia, attracting commissions and presentations from major festivals and events nationally including Brisbane Festival, Darwin Festival, Festival 2018 for the International Commonwealth Games, The Woodford Folk Festival, Lost Lands Festival, The Wanderer and Bleach* Festival.
They have toured to over 100 regional communities working with presenters, venues and local governments; employed over 500 artists and initiated new, cross-sector partnerships into health and aged care.
Based on the beautiful Yugambeh Country of the Gold Coast, Everybody NOW! are now a resident ‘HOME Company’ at HOTA Home of the Arts, the Gold Coast’s $117M Cultural Precinct.
‘The Goldie’ is the place where we come together to create new works, dream up new big ideas, and present locally before sharing those projects across the country.
Our Artistic Leadership model brings together three nationally based creatives with 50+ years of experience spanning dance, theatre, music and community and participatory practices.
In 2019 Everybody NOW! formalised into a Company Limited by Guarantee with a skilled and engerised volunteer board of directors.
We are supported by The City of Gold Coast, Arts Queensland part of Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities and the Arts, The Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund – An Australian Government Initiative, and HOTA Home of the Arts, as well as various project partners and collaborators which you can read about here.
Through our suite of popular touring works, festival favourites and our ability to create new, bespoke, place-based projects with communities anywhere, we have established a dynamic, national reputation for our inclusive and joyful brand of participation and access to the arts.
Central to all our work, is local storytelling, intergenerational participation and an arts-led approach to nurturing social cohesion and belonging.
Want to collaborate or dream up a project for your community? Get in Touch>
