Melanie Lane has been appointed Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Lucy Guerin Inc (LGI), taking up the role in January 2027 as founder Lucy Guerin AO steps down after 25 years leading the Melbourne contemporary dance company.

The company will also adopt a new name, to be announced following Guerin’s departure at the end of 2026.

LGI Chair Peter Jopling said Lane’s “ambitious, collaborative and internationally recognised” practice made her a strong fit for the company’s next chapter.

“[The] Board is confident she’ll take LGI into an exciting new chapter,” he said.

Melanie Lane and Lucy Guerin. Photo © Gianna Rizzo

Lane is an Australian choreographer and performer whose work spans dance, visual arts, theatre and music. She has received commissions from organisations including Sydney Dance Company, Chunky Move, Australasian Dance Collective, Dance North and West Australian Ballet, as well as international companies and theatres.

Her choreographic work for theatre and opera includes Salome for English National Opera, The Trojan Women and Nosferatu for Vienna’s Burgtheater, and Die Orestie for Schauspiel Köln, directed by Adena Jacobs.

Lane won the Keir Choreographic Award in 2018 and the Leipziger Bewegungskunstpreis in Germany in 2017. She has also been a Creative Australia Fellow and Sidney Myer Fellow, and is Chair of the Dancehouse board in Melbourne.

“I feel privileged to build on this enduring home for dance, and I’m excited to work alongside the staff, Board and artists to shape a rigorous and adventurous program for the future,” Lane said.

Guerin said she had “always admired” Lane’s work and described her as “the perfect fit” for the role.

“I look forward to her daring artistic practice, bold collaborations and visionary leadership shaping the next stage of the company’s future,” she said.

Founded in Melbourne in 2002, LGI has developed an international touring profile while expanding from a company centred on one choreographer’s practice into an organisation supporting a broader community of dance artists.

Lucy Guerin will perform PLACE DANCES at Buxton Contemporary, Melbourne from 15 to 18 October. This new solo work is also a farewell as after 25 years as the founding Artistic Director of Lucy Guerin Inc.