Matthew Lawrence

Queensland Ballet’s Ballet master, Matthew Lawrence was born in New Zealand and trained at the Australian Ballet School. He began his dance career with the Australian Ballet, where in 2004 he rose to the rank of Principal Dancer before relocating to Birmingham Royal Ballet as Principal Dancer in 2007. In 2013, he returned to Australia under the draw of working with former Queensland Ballet Artistic Director Li Cunxin.

During his 18-year career he performed the canon of classical repertoire alongside modern classics, and was coached by luminaries such as Anthony Dowell, Peter Wright, David Bintley and Patrice Bart. Since retiring in 2014, Matthew has taught extensively in a variety of settings, from the Australian Ballet and Queensland University of Technology (QUT), to Queensland Ballet’s Dance for Parkinson’s Program, Tinker Tailor Soldier – a pilot dance program at Queensland Ballet involving Australian Defence Force veterans - and as ambassador for the Royal Academy of Dance’s Project B.

Creatively Matthew has choreographed works for Birmingham Royal Ballet, Queensland Ballet, Elmhurst School of Dance, QUT and other leading dance institutions in Australia and abroad. Notably he was project coordinator and choreographic mentor for Queensland Ballet’s digital series and live show: 60 Dancers: 60 Stories. This was recently archived in the National Gallery of Australia, along with his life story. His piece, Tchaikovsky Mash (which premiered at Noosa Alive! in 2023) was part of the Queensland Ballet at Home program, and his latest piece, My First Ballet Cinderella has been adapted with additional choreography from Ben Stevenson’s version.

Matthew is also an active voice for the dance community, as a columnist for Dance Australia for the past 10 years, and a former panellist for the Ausdance Awards.