Lissa Twomey named executive director of the Australian Ballet
New executive director Lissa Twomey joins the Australian Ballet as the company heads into its 60th anniversary season.
New Australian Ballet chief Lissa Twomey has made her career as an arts administrator and festival director, but started out with ballet classes when she was growing up in the NSW Riverina town of Leeton.
Currently the executive director of national Indigenous dance group Bangarra Dance Theatre, Twomey will succeed Libby Christie as executive director of the Australian Ballet from January.
She said that working with Bangarra and soon with the Australian Ballet had brought her back to one of her first loves.
“I’ve come full circle, back to dance again,” she said after her appointment was announced on Friday. “I spent a lot of my youth at the ballet school in country NSW – all Saturday and a couple of afternoons a week.”
Twomey joins the Australian Ballet as it emerges from the pandemic and enters its 60th anniversary season next year, under artistic director David Hallberg.
The company was forced to cancel about 100 performances last year because of the pandemic, ending with an operational loss of $15.1m.
It faces further disruptions from 2024 with the closure of its home venue, the State Theatre, as part of refurbishments at Arts Centre Melbourne and the neighbouring arts precinct.
Bangarra also faces a period of transition as Frances Rings prepares to succeed Stephen Page as artistic director early next year.
Twomey, whose career has included an executive role at the Australia Council for the Arts, and a term as artistic director of the New Zealand International Arts Festival, said the post-pandemic rebound was uneven across different parts of the arts sector.
“Audiences are returning and I’m hugely optimistic about that, and the work that David (Hallberg) is intending for the future,” she said. “Based on the conversations we’ve had, that journey into the future excites both of us.”
Australian Ballet chairman Craig Dunn said Christie was stepping down after 10 years of “outstanding service”. He said Twomey had been appointed after a global search and was an experienced, thoughtful and inspiring leader.
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