Biography: LILY TURNER

Lily Turner (she/her) is an emerging contemporary dance artist based in Naarm/ Melbourne, originally from Albury NSW, (Wirajudri). Lily’s dance pedagogy began from participation in the school dance extra-curricular at The Scots School Albury, in genres of jazz, musical theatre, contemporary, and lyrical hip-hop. When completing her High School Certificate (HSC) Lily studied dance via distance education at James Fallon High School. Through this course, Lily learnt about the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), and Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance) program and applied. Upon selection Lily uprooted her entire life and made the daunting move the Naarm/ Melbourne, leaving her support system for the past 18 years, initially residing at Trinity College of The University of Melbourne on the Ange’s Tait Scholarship for the Creative Arts from 2022-2023.

At Trinity Lily had to opportunity to curate, participate and lead the Trinity Arts Community. In 2022, Lily performed in ‘Step Up’ a Fresher Dance Intercollegiate Competition, Trinity Musical “Maegia: A Musical Fable” and produced the Trinity Play “Cosi” by Louis Nora. In 2023, Lily choreographed the Trinity ‘Step Up’ Competition Dance and the Trinity Musical “The Addams Family” and produced the Trinity Play “The Great Gatsby”. Additionally, Lily was the Treasurer of the Arts Society and Co-founder/ President of the Dance Society.

Lily’s time at VCA has allowed her to delve deeper into her artistic interests, letting her curiosity drive her exploration and understanding of dance. In 2023, Lily was selected as a dancer for the Governor’s Performance Series Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) Variety Show at the Government House Victoria. She also completed a Secondment at FLING Physical Theatre (Bega), which significantly impacted her outlook on youth dance and the practice of teaching dance, particularly the importance of facilitating a creative outlet for youth to explore, create and have fun. Additionally, Lily was awarded a government grant as part of the “New Colombo Plan Resonating Spaces: The Two Island Project” for a cultural exchange in the Cook Islands (Rarotonga and Aitutaki). This enabled personal growth and understanding of the importance of song and dance.

2024 marked Lily’s final year of studies and her first year as a part of the Yellow Wheel Youth Dance Company. Through the Yellow Wheel program, Lily choreographed a 6-minute exert ‘Gear + Tooth’, which explored the multifaceted structure of the mind and human function. This work premiered at Chunky Move as a part of the YellowWheel Choreographic Season ‘Trip the Light’, under the mentorship of Kyall Shanks Artistic Director of YellowWheel. Lily also performed in the YellowWheel 2024 Major Season. Additionally, Lily performed in ‘PLANT NATION’ by Gregory Lorenzutti and ‘OCEAN (an arrangement)’ a re-staging of Merce Cunningham’s’ work Ocean (1994) by Melissa Toogood. Lily was also a part of VCA 2024 3rd year graduating season ‘(Un) Tethered’, featured in Chimene-Steele Prior and Luke George’s works. (see more).

Lily looks forward to being a part of the Stephanie Lake ‘MASS MOVEMENT’ project at the Adelaide Festival in 2025 at the end of February. She is eager to develop her practice, hoax out the meaning behind her movement and artistry and delve deeper into her choreographic passions by building on ‘Gear + Tooth’.