Jacob Watton is a Queensland-based choreographer, performer, and teaching artist working in Magandjin (Brisbane). Jacob has built a dynamic career spanning contemporary dance, children’s theatre, and cross-disciplinary performance.

Jacob’s original works have been presented nationally and internationally. His dance-technology work 1:1 toured to Ars Electronica Festival (Austria, 2017), followed by JULIET and 9 to Forever at Busan International Dance Festival (South Korea, 2019). His solo work Alexa, Turn on the Lights (2020) has toured extensively since 2021 in partnership with Cluster Arts. He is co-creator and performer of The Great Beach Adventure, a children’s theatre work that has presented at Backbone Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, and North Australian Festival of Art as well as most recently at Adelaide Fringe and the Kingston Butter Factory.

As a performer, Jacob has worked with leading Australian creatives across theatre and dance. He appeared in the touring sensation, Trent Dalton’s Love Stories (Brisbane Festival/QPAC), directed by Sam Strong, and in The Next 14 Seconds by Phluxus2 Dance Collective. He regularly tours with RAVA Productions (Charlotte’s Web, The Wind in the Willows) and co-devised their latest prodution Fractured Fairytales (2026). He was a key collaborator in Angela Chaplin’s If Only I Could, presented at QPAC.

Jacob Watton - Co-creator/Performer
Courtney Wagner - Co-creator/Performer
Riley Camejo - Sound Designer and Programmer
Backbone Youth Arts proudly supported The Great Beach Adventure through their Hub Residency Program.

The Great Beach Adventure offers a unique, highly physical children’s theatre experience designed to captivate kids aged 3–10. Its playful, pantomime-inspired style encourages authentic interaction, inviting young audiences to actively participate in the adventure without ever feeling staged. Drawing on Jacob and Courtney’s extensive experience working with primary-aged children in both educational and performance settings, the show carefully balances engagement across ages. This expertise creates a joyful space and an ideal choice for families with siblings spanning toddlers to early primary. The result is an imaginative experience that delights a range of children and adults alike.

The show’s marketing package includes a complete suite of key visuals and video content, professionally produced by KTB Media and Vivid Visuals. This includes key hero imagery in a range of sizes for print and web. A library of video content for horizontal and vertical web locations. We also have teacher resources and pre and post show family activities that are available upon request.

Beyond the performance, Jacob and Courtney offer a rich suite of engagement activities tailored to schools, community groups, and broader audiences. As sought-after teaching artists with extensive experience across drama, dance, and visual arts, they can deliver workshops that extend the creative world of The Great Beach Adventure into participatory learning experiences. Targeted primarily at primary-aged participants, these workshops are adaptable for a wide range of ages—from babies and toddlers in parent groups through to high school students and adult professional artists.

In school contexts, workshops can directly support the arts curriculum, providing hands-on opportunities for students to explore movement, storytelling, and creative collaboration. In community settings, they foster connection and belonging, encouraging playful engagement between families, children, and local participants. These activities are designed to create meaningful, shared experiences that extend the impact of the performance, inspiring curiosity, imagination, and confidence in young people.

The cultural legacy of the tour is grounded in the belief that all young people deserve meaningful access to the arts. It offers multiple layers of engagement, from observing and reflecting, to participating, experimenting, and creating.