Larissa Behrendt AO
Sydney Dance Company
Sydney Dance Company is proud to announce that Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt AO will join its Board in February 2023.
Announcing the appointment, Chair of Sydney Dance Company, Brett Clegg said, “I am thrilled to announce Larissa Behrendt’s appointment to Sydney Dance Company’s Board. Larissa’s impressive knowledge and wealth of experience across the sector will be invaluable to Sydney Dance Company and I’m delighted that Larissa will play a role in strengthening the governance of Australia’s leading contemporary dance company going forward. Larissa has made an extraordinary contribution to the Australian arts and cultural landscape and we are extremely fortunate to have Larissa onboard.”
Incoming Sydney Dance Company Board Member, Larissa Behrendt said, “I feel privileged to join Sydney Dance Company who I have long admired for their energy and innovation under Raf’s creative leadership. I look forward to working with the board and staff to ensure this remarkable company continues to enthrall audiences across Australia and around the globe.”
Larissa is a Eualayai/Gamillaroi woman and a Laureate Fellow at the Jumbunna Institute of Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology, Sydney. She is a graduate of the UNSW Law School and has a Masters and SJD from Harvard Law School.
She has long played an active role in supporting arts organisations, serving on several Boards, including Board Member of Bangarra Dance Theatre from 2008 – 2010 and Chair from 2010-2014, Board Member of Museums and Galleries NSW from 2012-2022, Board Member of Museum of Contemporary Art, Chairing their Indigenous Advisory Panel from 2007 – 2012 and Board Member of Sydney Writers’ Festival since 2015.
Larissa is currently a Trustee of the Australian Museum, Chair of the Australia Council’s First Nations Arts and Culture Strategy Panel and a member of the NSW Literature Board. She was awarded an Order of Australia for her work in Indigenous education, the law and the arts in 2020. Larissa received the Human Rights Medal 2021 from the Australian Human Rights Commission. She is an award-winning author and the host of Speaking Out on ABC Radio.
Sydney Dance Company Board Members are; Brett Clegg (Chair), Emma-Jane Newton (Deputy Chair), David Baxby, Jillian Broadbent AC, David Friedlander, Emma Gray, Alexa Haslingden, Mark Hassell, Catriona Mordant AM, Sandra McCullagh, Paris Neilson.
