Graeme Murphy AO (b. 1950), choreographer and dancer, was co-artistic director of the Sydney Dance Company with his wife Janet Vernon AM for three decades. Born in Melbourne, Murphy grew up in Mole Creek, Tasmania, taking dance classes in Launceston. At age fourteen he was the youngest male dancer to be accepted into The Australian Ballet School in Melbourne; he commenced with The Australian Ballet three years later and choreographed his first ballet, Ecco le Diavole, in 1971. That year he received an Australia Council Grant to study overseas, studying with the Joffrey Ballet in New York, and dancing with the Royal Ballet in England and Les Ballets Félix Blaska in France. Back in Australia, he was appointed artistic director of the Sydney Dance Company (then known as The Dance Company NSW) in 1976, helping it to become one of Australia's most successful dance companies. His most popular piece is perhaps Poppy (1978), a full-length ballet based on the life of Jean Cocteau, in which he danced the title role four years after announcing his retirement. In 2001 Murphy was presented with a Helpmann Award for Body of Work: A Retrospective; he won Australian Dance Awards for outstanding achievement in choreography for Tivoli in 2001 and Swan Lake in 2003. Named a Living National Treasure in 1999, Murphy retired from the Sydney Dance Company in 2007 after creating a repertoire of more than 50 works. Over the years he has also created productions for companies including Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, Shanghai Ballet and the Metropolitan Opera, New York. His honours include the 2009 Best Choreography Green Room Award for Firebird and the 2011 Fred & Adele Astaire Award for excellence in choreography for Mao's Last Dancer. He was named an Officer of the Order of Australia in June 2012 for his distinguished contribution to Australian dance. Murphy continues to direct and choreograph productions, including Turandot (2019) and The Merry Widow (2021) for Opera Australia.
