Jack Lister
Jack Lister is an Australian dancer, choreographer and creator, working across stage, screen, movement direction and large scale performance events.
After graduating from The Australian Ballet School, Jack joined Queensland Ballet (QB) in 2014 performing and originating many featured roles in the vast classical ballet and contemporary repertoire.
After creating his first work for QB in 2015, Lister quickly established a name as a respected emerging maker, recognised in The Australian as “a young choreographer who is going places.” With an extensive portfolio of work made for Queensland Ballet and Australasian Dance Collective, Lister has also created internationally for the Birmingham Royal Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet, presented throughout Australia, United Kingdom, USA, China and Germany to critical and audience acclaim.
In January 2020, Jack joined Australasian Dance Collective (ADC) as a company artist and was appointed Associate Choreographer with Queensland Ballet, under the tenure of Li Cunxin.
Since joining ADC, Jack has performed in creations by celebrated Australian and international choreographers, including Hofesh Shechter, Maxine Doyle, Melanie Lane, Alisdair Macindoe, Gabrielle Nankivell, Cass Mortimer Eipper, Kate Harman and Amy Hollingsworth, as well as creating three mainstage works for the company.
For ADC, Lister has choreographed Aftermath, a co-creation with ADC Artistic Director, Amy Hollingsworth, and The Kite String Tangle’s, Danny Harley. The sold-out season was met with audience and critical acclaim, and went on to feature in three major festivals across Australia. Still Life, premiering in the first iteration of THREE at QPAC in 2021 and was hailed as “exquisite, absorbing and poignant”. Most recently, Lister created Halcyon, a multidisciplinary immersive dance-theatre work, lauded as “pushing contemporary dance into new areas” and “must been seen to be believed”.
In January 2022, Jack was appointed Creative Associate of ADC, a position created for him.
Internationally, Jack has created A Brief Nostalgia for the Birmingham Royal Ballet, staged at both the Birmingham Hippodrome and Sadler’s Wells in 2019, with recognition in Dancing Times such as, “Lister is just 25 years old, yet the piece appeared to be of exceptional maturity and depth.” He was also a finalist in the 2019 International Ballet and Choreographic Competition, presenting two works in Beijing. Perfect Strangers, performed by QB, premiered at The Royal Opera House in London, 2022, and 2024 saw the North American premiere of his work, Mr Sheen, a “radical choreography” for Milwaukee Ballet.
Since 2018, Lister has also collaborated with director, Ryan Renshaw, creating dance films which have screened at film festivals globally. Their creations have gathered countless awards, nominations and screenings at prestigious film festivals and online platforms.
Continuing his off-stage collaborations, Jack has been engaged to creatively direct numerous campaigns, events and performances including fashion shows, marketing campaigns, music videos and season campaigns for Queensland Ballet and ADC.
In January 2024, Jack was appointed as Associate Artistic Director of ADC.
