The Board of Critical Path is thrilled to announce the appointment of esteemed arts manager Agnès Michelet in the role of Artistic Director & CEO.
Migrating from France to Australia in 2000, Agnès has carved out a career as a highly respected individual in the national dance sector. Agnès joins Critical Path from FORM Dance Projects in Western Sydney, where she has been Program Manager since 2017, and is currently Acting Executive Producer. Previous roles include General Manager of Darwin’s Tracks Dance Company, and Director of STRUT Dance in Perth, which she developed into an established choreographic development centre in collaboration with choreographer Sue Peacock.
Brendan O’Connell, Interim Chair:
“In searching for the next inspiring leader of Critical Path, we met with an incredibly impressive field of candidates. Agnès demonstrated her unabated passion for – and deep knowledge of – the dance community in Australia, and has a particular affinity with artists in Western Sydney through her work at FORM. Agnès promises to be a great connector and advocate for independent dance artists, and we look forward to welcoming her to the team.”
Prior to her career in Australia, Agnès worked with a broad range of performing arts organisations in France, including the European Centre for Contemporary Mimodrama, street theatre company Friches Theatre Urbain, and multimedia dance artist Jean-Marc Matos.
Agnès has served as a Peer Assessor and Dance Board Advisor at the Australia Council for the Arts; is an Asialink Residency alumnus; holds a Masters in Cross-Disciplinary Art and Design from UNSW; and also a classically trained pianist!
Agnès Michelet, incoming Artistic Director & CEO:
“Critical Path was born at a turning point in my Australian dance journey, when I became the Director of STRUT Dance in 2005. From its Sydney base, the organisation struck me as a formidable force of support and inspiration for independent dance artists. Almost twenty years later, I very much look forward to dedicating myself to this gem of a choreographic centre, which embraces the power of ideas to imagine what dance might be.”
Agnès joins Critical Path at a time of organisational renewal, alongside new team members Jasmin Sheppard (First Nations Curator), Ira Ferris (Producer), and Neil Godfrey (Finance and Administration Manager) who are already hard at work on our 2023 program and readying to welcome Agnès to The Drill Hall in late March.
In making the announcement, the Board of Directors would particularly like to acknowledge the incredible tenure of outgoing Director, Claire Hicks, whose vision, leadership, and resilience have been an absolute foundational support for the breadth and diversity of artists that comprise Critical Path’s community. We wish Claire all the best for her new role as Senior Curator, Performance at Carriageworks.