Indonesian-Australian Juliet Burnett was born on Gadigal land (Sydney). She is one of Australia’s most recognised dancers after her years at The Australian Ballet, where the roles of Giselle, Odette in Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake and abstract classical works by the likes of George Balanchine, Glen Tetley and Stephen Baynes became her signature, as well as her versatility in the contemporary repertory of choreographers such as Wayne McGregor, Stephen Page and Jiri Kylian. After 13 years there she left to pursue a freelance career, working with contemporary choreographers such as Melanie Lane and guesting with Chunky Move, Dutch National Ballet and West Australian Ballet. In 2016 she moved to Europe to take up a role as dancer with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Belgium, where she danced the repertory of Pina Bausch, Alain Platel, William Forsythe, Akram Khan (in the title role of his contemporary production of Giselle) and Trisha Brown amongst others, and had creations made on her by Édouard Lock and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. In 2022 she returned to Australia as a freelance artist, and is based on Kombumerri-Yugambeh country (Gold Coast).
Her work in her mother’s country of Indonesia includes performing contemporary and classical work, master classes for local ballet students and in 2015 founding a series of community workshops for marginalised children called Ballet Goes To… in collaboration with Ballet.Id and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. Juliet has been trained in her grandmother’s art of Javanese classical dance, and other traditional Javanese dances and art forms including the martial art of Pencak Silat. In 2024 she starred in renowned Indonesian director Garin Nugroho’s Samsara (2024).
As a choreographer she co-created a dance film commissioned by MONA for Dark MOFO, Letting Blood (2016), choreographed and performed in music clips for Melbourne indie band Cool Explosions (2018), and Icelandic artist Gyda Valtysdottir (2022), and a dance theatre work in situ (2019) for Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, featuring actor-dancer Victor Polster and gamelan music by Will Guthrie. She is currently in development for new cross-disciplinary work Kasekten in collaboration with fellow Indonesian diaspora, extreme metal vocalist Karina Utomo, and Australian installation artist Michaela Gleave; new dance theatre work Miasma with music by experimental composer Dylan Sheridan; and new solo dance work RORO XENO with music by Kasimyn (Gabber Modus Operandi, Björk, Samsara film).
In her practice Juliet explores a hybrid of Javanese dance and arts with Western classical and contemporary forms, navigating the confluence of dance, theatre, film and music. Coming from a rich artistic heritage through her Javanese bloodline, this culture is the pulse of her work, in particular the meditation techniques and philosophies passed down to her from her uncle, renowned poet, playwright and activist W.S. Rendra.
In 2021 Juliet was named winner of the Arts and Culture category of the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian Awards. She is currently completing a Master in Leadership online at Deakin University.
Juliet is founder and director of A_PART, a platform connecting Australian and Indonesian artists and communities, which has produced films featuring First Nations dance artist Yolanda Lowatta, Javanese dance artist Razan Wirjosandjojo, filmmaker Cass Mortimer-Eipper and composers Alyx Dennison (Warrang, Australia) and Cahwati Sugiarto (Java, Indonesia). Juliet is passionate about the role of art as a mirror to the world we live in.
