ALICE TOPP
ARTIST BIO
A VISUAL JOURNEY
Alice is co-founder and creative director of Project Animo, Resident Choreographer with The Australian Ballet and one of Australia’s most exciting and acclaimed young choreographers.
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Born and raised in Bendigo, Alice started dancing at the age of four. After two years dancing with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, she joined The Australian Ballet as a dancer in 2007, where her choreographic identity first emerged. Her first work, Trace, was created for The Australian Ballet’s 2010 season of its choreographic showcase ‘Bodytorque’. Between 2011 and 2014, Alice would go on to create three more works for Bodytorque, refining her craft and gaining the attention of critics and company directors alike. In 2016, Alice choreographed the critically acclaimed work Little Atlas, which appeared on The Australian Ballet’s mainstage 'Symphony in C’ program in 2016 and 2017.
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In 2018, Alice created her first mainstage one act work Aurum, which premiered as part of the company’s ‘Verve’ program, and went on to its international debut the following year at New York’s leading contemporary dance venue, The Joyce Theater. In 2018, Alice was appointed one of The Australian Ballet’s Resident Choreographers. In 2019, she was invited to spend a month with Studio Wayne McGregor in the United Kingdom, creating a piece for The Grange Festival. The duet she created on the company, Clay, went on to form the basis for a larger work titled Logos for The Australian Ballet’s 2020 ‘Volt’ program, which included two works by McGregor.
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Alice has been nominated for a Green Room Award (Little Atlas, 2017) and for three Australian Dance Awards (Aurum, 2018, Same Vein, 2014, Trace, 2010). In 2019, Aurum saw Alice and her creative team win the Helpmann Award for Best Ballet, and a nomination for an Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography. She has choreographed music videos for artists including Megan Washington, LANKS and Ben Folds, and has been invited to create works for Houston Ballet II and Queensland Ballet.
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Choreographic Works:
Logos - 'Volt' Triple Bill program, The Australian Ballet, 2020
Clay - Studio Wayne McGregor, Grange Festival UK, 2019
Aurum - ‘Verve’ Triple Bill program, The Australian Ballet, 2018
Lighthouse - Houston Ballet II, Houston USA, 2018
Warm Tears - part of Dance Dialogues, Queensland Ballet 2017
Little Atlas - part of Symphony in C program, The Australian Ballet 2016
Same Vein – part of ‘Bodytorque DNA’ season, The Australian Ballet, 2014
Tinted Windows – part of ‘Bodytorque Technique’ season, The Australian Ballet, 2013
Scope – part of ‘Bodytorque Muses’ season, The Australian Ballet, 2011
Trace – part of ‘Bodytorque a la mode’ season, The Australian Ballet, 2010
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Awards:
2019 - Helpmann Award Winner: Best Ballet for 'Aurum' (The Australian Ballet)
2019 - Australian Dance Award Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography
2018 – Green Room Award Nomination: Shirley McKechnie Award for Excellence in Choreography
2015 - Lissa Black Scholarship, The Australian Ballet: a scholarship for professional development awarded to Alice to further develop her skills as an emerging choreographer. Alice spent 5 weeks in Europe and participated in the Barcelona International Dance Exchange (BIDE).
2015 - Australian Dance Awards Nomination: Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for ‘Same Vein’ (The Australian Ballet)
2010 - Australian Dance Awards Nomination: Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for ‘Trace’ (The Australian Ballet)
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Dance Experience:
DANCER, The Australian Ballet 2007 - 2020 - Promoted to Coryphée 2017
DANCER, Royal New Zealand Ballet - 2003 - 2005
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Key Repertoire:
Dyad 1929 – choreographed by Wayne McGregor, 2009 & 2013
Chroma – choreographed by Wayne McGregor, 2014
Petit Mort – choreographed by Jirí Kylián, 2014
In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated - choreographed by
William Forsythe, 2016
Infra – choreographed by Wayne McGregor, 2017
Filigree and Shadow – choreographed by Tim Harbour, 2015
Squander and Glory – choreographed by Tim Harbour, 2017
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