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AMELIA JEAN O'LEARY (she/they/yinarr)
Dance Artist | Director | Choreographer | Sound Designer | Writer
Amelia Jean O’Leary is a queer First Nations Gamilaroi and Wadawurrung Yinarr dance artist and storyteller based in Sydney, Australia. Their work is a contemplative exploration of the complex and often challenging terrains they inhabit, layering personal, cultural, and political narratives through movement.  

Amelia's practice transforms dance into an act of sovereignty, creating performances that are deeply authentic, emotionally resonant, and grounded in lived experience. Through their artistic work, they seek to foster genuine human connection, inviting audiences into spaces of reflection, honesty and vulnerability.

Since graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance) from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2021, O’Leary has rapidly emerged as a compelling voice in contemporary dance and performance. She debuted her first full-length solo, Yinarr, at Adelaide Fringe and Dancehouse in 2022, and performed in Collision by Jo Lloyd and Garabari by Joel Bray the same year.

In 2023, she presented A Certain Mumble with Darebin Arts Speakeasy as part of FRAME: A Biennial of Dance, and premiered STAUNCH ASF at Melbourne Fringe, winning Best Emerging Indigenous Artist and receiving a Green Room Award nomination.

Between 2024 and 2025, O’Leary expanded her practice nationally and internationally, including attending Matriarchs Uprising in Vancouver, developing CODED through Performance Space’s Queer Development Program, touring with The Australian Ballet’s Education and Outreach Team, and presenting major works such as CODED: A Night of Queer Storytelling, SAD EYES, and her debut theatre piece Peggy Sue.

In 2025 they presented their third full-length work of the year NGAMBAA at Melbourne Fringe and released her dance film Dhinawan: Before She Cut Her Wings, solidifying her reputation as a fearless, visionary, and boundary-pushing artist. She also curated and presented Dharriwaa Yulugi: A Night of First Nations Dance, where she began developing her new work Generation WTF. O’Leary continues to redefine contemporary dance and storytelling, creating work that is urgent, luminous, and unapologetically First Nations and queer. She is a bold, unmissable force in Australian and international performance. 2026 has started off with O’Leary touring Ngambaa to Vancouver for Matriarchs Uprising Festival 2026.Stay connected @ameliaa.jeann