Beyond the Bones

Beyond the Bones is an exploration of movement between two bodies.

Beyond the Bones is a new interdisciplinary performance by emerging artist Nicole Tsourlenes and mentor Dr Melinda Smith. Using AirSticks — wearable instruments that translate movement into sound — the work explores how two bodies communicate through motion, sound and image. The work will combine improvised music and responsive visuals drawn from photographic practice.

Beyond the Bones is an Alter State event with Melbourne Recital Centre and Monash University’s SensiLab.

The Bold Stage Series is generously supported by an anonymous donor.

Tickets

Standard $10

Please note, seating in the Primrose Potter Salon is General Admission.

A Transaction Fee between $4 and $8.50 applies to orders made online and by phone. Delivery Fees may also apply. A ticket limit of six is in place online to ensure fair ticket access for all. Want to bring a bigger party? Call our Box Office during business hours on (03) 9699 3333 to book.

Artists

Nicole Tsourlenes
Dr Mel Smith

Nicole Tsourlenes is a Melbourne-based photographic and digital artist and founding member of Nimbus Studio at Arts Access Victoria. Her practice centres on perception, identity and connection —inviting audiences to see beyond assumptions of disability and to encounter the world through her unique lens.

Nicole works across environmental portraiture, event photography, exhibition documentation and studio photography alongside my fine art projects. Her work explores self-image, transformation and multiplicity. In Self-Image: Many Sides of Me, developed at Bundoora Homestead Art Gallery, Nicole extended her photographic practice into sculptural form through moveable boxed images that could be deconstructed and reassembled. The work examined identity as something continually reshaped through lived experience and growth.

In 2025 Nicole expanded into performance, music and dance through Monash University’s SensiLab ‘In The Round’ mentorship program led by Dr Melinda Smith. As a power wheelchair user, she was interested in how her body moves differently — and how technology can amplify that movement. This program culminated in a performance as part of Melbourne Recital Centre’s Bold Stage.

Dr Melinda Smith is a poet, dancer, musician and visual artist living with cerebral palsy. She also mentors young people with cerebral palsy and complex communication needs around the world.

Since 2008, Melinda has promoted the health and wellbeing benefits of dance for people with disabilities. In 2018, Melinda created her first solo work, Spasmotive, and later developed a series of audio-visual pieces exploring life in social isolation. The following year, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Deakin University, where she now lectures in Inclusive Arts as part of the Disability and Inclusion team. In 2020, she also joined the Board of Directors at Melbourne’s Women*s Circus.

That same year, Melinda met Dr Alon Ilsar, a researcher at Monash University’s SensiLab, and joined his AirSticks team to co-design new accessible music-making experiences for people with physical disabilities. Together, they have collaborated on several projects including In The Round, most notably, the Green Room Award winning Conduit Bodies (Time Out and Australian Arts Review) and Melinda’s new album ‘Time is Just a Thing’ with the ABC Classic Commission.