Danni Cook is a freelance artist of Mā’ohi-Norf’k, Māori (Ngāpuhi), and English settler descent, working internationally as a dancer, choreographer, and facilitator. Raised on the lands of the Yuin and Dharawal peoples in so-called Australia, she currently works between Australia, Europe, and India.
Since graduating from the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts in 2023 with a Bachelor of Dance, Danni has collaborated with a wide range of companies, choreographers, artists, and communities. Notable collaborations include TasDance, Jenni Large, Legs on the Wall, Mobius Dance, and Akira Yoshida.
In 2024, Danni co-choreographed and premiered two thread alongside Karlia Cook. Following a successful tour in 2025, the work received multiple accolades, including Best Independent Production and Most Outstanding Duet at the Performing Arts Western Australia Awards, as well as Outstanding Direction at the Blue Room Theatre Awards.
Alongside her independent choreographic practice, Danni is a member of the co-led pan-Indigenous collective to-gather, currently developing their new work Tough Love through a series of residencies and creative exchanges. She has also undertaken solo residencies in both Italy and Australia for her evolving work a meeting point for woven bodies.
Through movement and choreography, Danni explores the deep knowing, stories, and ancestral voices held within the body. Her practice is rooted in curiosity, connection, and embodied research, creating spaces where personal and collective histories can be witnessed, remembered, and transformed.
Teaching Practice
This session is rooted in the physical experience and ongoing research of the body.
A practice of simultaneously cultivating softness and strength, both internally and externally, the class invites participants to access a deeper capacity within themselves by exploring the intimacy between these seemingly opposing qualities.
Danni encourages both vigour and care, tending to the body as our home: something that requires nurturing, yet is also capable of thriving through challenge, resilience, and physical exploration. Classes will draw on floor work, fluidity, somatic investigation, play within technique, and movement as a form of meditation.
Whether you are experienced in contemporary dance or completely new to the practice, there will be an entry point for all abilities.
Creative Practice
This session is dedicated to a creative practice rooted in story, listening, and honouring.
Together, we will explore the body as an intricate network of energies, places, histories, and relationships that travel with us wherever we go. Through movement, dialogue, and embodied exploration, we will investigate the intersection between bodies and stories, practicing autonomy, reciprocity, and the willingness to sit within the unknown, allowing what seeks expression to gradually find form.
The process invites an open dialogue between self and others, between internal and external questions, and with the unseen threads that connect them.
How can we witness one another’s stories with care, and allow our own stories to be witnessed?
How can we cultivate empathy for ourselves and for all that we carry within our bodies and practices?
How can we honour our own histories, serve the communities we come from, while also listening deeply to the histories and people of the lands upon which we stand?
And how can we invite audiences into our worlds with honesty, integrity, and presence?
Through this inquiry, participants will be supported to deepen their creative voice while remaining connected to the wider web of relationships, histories, and responsibilities that shape it.
