Australian Ballet chief Lissa Twomey leaves national company after brief tenure

The Australian Ballet’s executive director Lissa Twomey will leave the national company after just 18 months in the role.

Lissa Twomey will leave her position as executive director at the Australian Ballet. Picture: Daniel Boud

The Australian Ballet’s executive director Lissa Twomey will step down after just 18 months in the role.

The arts administrator and former festival director is working with the company to ensure a “smooth transition”, according to chair Richard Dammery in a statement.

Australian Ballet artistic director David Hallberg. Picture: Getty Images

At the time of writing, however, Twomey’s staff profile could not be found on the company’s website.

The Australian Ballet confirmed the departure.

Twomey’s exit from the David Hallberg-directed AB comes weeks after the company reported a consolidated loss of $200,000 for 2023, down from a profit of $8.6m a year earlier, weighed down by impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic (on an underlying basis, its loss narrowed to $3.8m, from $6.1m).

Wrote Dammery: “With David Hallberg, Lissa has navigated numerous challenges in her role, including the delivery of last year’s 60th anniversary program.”

Endorsing her “dedication” to the company, Dammery praised Twomey for her leadership on the company’s move from the State to the Regent theatre in Melbourne.

“Lissa’s achievements have been undertaken against the background of personal challenges of being away from her home and family in Sydney,” he added.

Formerly executive director at Indigenous dance company Bangarra, Twomey took the administrative reins at AB in October 2022. She replaced Libby Christie, who was the ballet’s executive director for a decade. Christie died last year.