The Australian choreographer and dancer Lucy Guerin AO will step down as Artistic Director and CEO of Lucy Guerin Inc (LGI) at the end of 2026, bringing to a close a 25-year tenure that has reshaped the landscape of contemporary dance in Australia and established the company as an internationally recognised force.

Lucy Guerin. Portrait © Ross Coulter

Guerin founded LGI in 2002 as a vehicle to support the creation and touring of her own choreographic work. Over more than two decades, the organisation has grown into a major centre for contemporary dance practice, supporting artists, developing new work and fostering experimentation, collaboration and discussion across the sector.

“After 25 years, I’ve decided to step down as Artistic Director of LGI to explore new directions in dance,” Guerin said. “I founded the company in 2002 to support the making and touring of my dance productions, but over the years it has become so much more than that.”

Guerin said the opportunity to investigate and expand her choreographic practice through LGI had been “rare and precious”, adding that her ongoing relationship with dance would continue beyond the company.

“I have an ongoing dialogue with dance that will never end,” she said. “It’s about the strange complexity of being a physical human, and all the parts of us that are in conversation.”

LGI Chair Peter Jopling paid tribute to Guerin’s contribution, describing the company she built as a lasting legacy for Australian dance.

“Lucy Guerin founded this company with a singular artistic vision and the determination to build something lasting – not just for audiences, but for the entire ecology of Australian dance.”

Joplin added that Guerin would leave LGI “artistically vital, financially sound, internationally respected” and supported by a strong community of artists and audiences.

Lucy Guerin. Photo © Amber Haines

Dancer and choreographer Lilian Steiner, who worked with Guerin for 14 years, said her influence had been felt across generations of dance artists.

“The traces and impressions Lucy and her company have left in generations of dance artists is remarkable and admirable,” Steiner said. “This is truly the end of an important era.”

Guerin has presented her work in most of Australia’s major festivals and venues, and toured extensively in Asia, North America and Europe, including at Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Venice Biennale and the Shanghai International Festival.

She has been commissioned by companies nationally and internationally, including Chunky Move, Dance Works Rotterdam, Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project, Lyon Opera Ballet, Skånes Dansteater, Rambert and The Australian Ballet.

Her awards include the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award, a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie), and multiple Green Room, Helpmann, and Australian Dance Awards. In 2016 she received the Australia Council Award for Dance, and in 2020 was awarded the Order of Australia.

Guerin will continue to lead LGI through 2026 and will perform a new solo work in October 2026, marking her first performance since 2013 and her final appearance with the company. LGI’s recent works will continue touring through 2027 and 2028.

The LGI board will begin a search for a new Artistic Director and co-CEO, to commence in 2027.