Sarah Neville is an artist/practitioner whose research is in the area of digital performance
Sarah is informed by her background in contemporary dance and movement practices and kept up to date through her networks in human factors. Sarah has an honours degree from Flinders University in theatre and film, and a Research Masters in Creative Industries from The Queensland University of Technology in new media choreography. Sarah’s PhD in dance digitisation is was completed in 2022, she was a cotutelle research student at both Deakin University and Coventry Universities.
In 2021 Sarah was awarded an Arts South Australia Fellowship to research and develop Virtual Reality Dance works. Sarah is currently an Intern at The Empathic Computing Laboratory, University of South Australia as part of the Research Centre for Interactive and Virtual Environments. Sarah has been supported by the Australian Network of Art and Technology, The Besen Foundation, The Myer Foundation, Arts South Australia, and The Australia Council of Arts.
Sarah’s research and production outputs strive to extend the potential of live performance by augmenting it with digital design and creating immersive experiences that put the participant at the centre of the action. The dance is danced, choices open possibility, and feelings inform how the action unfolds. Productions are live performance for stage performance, immersive experience design and community engagement.
Publications
Sarah publishes her artistic research in academic journals, conference proceedings, art magazines, and cultural sites.
Neville, S., DeGaris, A., Thomas, M., Bevan, J., Mackness, C., & Lange, B. (2026, April). Agiles: Creativity and Mobility through embodied participation in Immersive Environments∗. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Movement and Computing (pp. 1-4).
Neville, S. (2026). Shifts in embodiment: Choreographic practice for virtual reality. In Contemporary Choreography (pp. 378-392). Routledge.
Neville, S., Sifis, E., DeGaris, A., Coleman, S., Thomas, M. J., & Lange, B. (2025). Collaborative care: Artistic reflection on the creation of'Agiles', an AR prototype for creativity and mobility. Australasian Drama Studies, (87), 219-239.
Neville, S. (2024). Embodied and Enacted Futures as Artistic Practice Scenario Design for Immersive Digital Experiences. Paper presented at the 29th International Symposium of Electronic Art, Brisbane
Neville, S., 2024. Embodied participation: Dance knowledge informing workplace training. Journal of Dance Studies and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1386/jdsp_00127_1
Neville, S., DeGaris, A., Hawksley, S., Malani, D. and Thomas, M., 2024. Digital kinship in a Glasshouse. International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, pp.1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/14794713.2024.2429531
Neville, S., Thomas, M., DeGaris, A., Hawksley, S. and Malani, D., 2022. Glasshouse: A Dance for Virtual Reality: Glasshouse-A three part virtual reality experience for Oculus Quest 2. In ACM SIGGRAPH 2022 Immersive Pavilion (pp. 1-2).
Neville Thomas, S., 2021. Immersive Participation: Futuring, Training Simulation and Dance and Virtual Reality (Doctoral dissertation, Deakin University).
Neville, S,. 2 May 2020, Online article:Virtual Stages for Dance, Delving into Dance, https://www.delvingintodance.com/dwords/virtual-stages-for-dance?rq=sarah%20neville
Neville, S.L., 2003. Choreographing newmedia dance through the creation of the dance project, Ada (Doctoral dissertation, Queensland University of Technology).