QL2 Dance Staff
ALICE LEE HOLLAND
Artistic Director/CEO
Alice is an Australian dance artist - director, choreographer, teacher and mentor.
Originally from Boorloo (Perth) Alice is a graduate of WAAPA (Bachelor of Arts, Dance) and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Master of Fine Arts, Performance and Choreography). Over the past 20 years she has lived and worked in Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland, with organisations including Dancenorth, Chunky Move, Circa and Strut.
Alice has mentored countless young dance artists as sessional lecturer at WAAPA and the VCA, and as Artistic Director of STEPS Youth Dance Company. During her tenure, STEPS received seven nominations for the Australian Dance Awards and won in 2015 for Fights and Flights – and performed at the Dance and the Child International Congress in Taiwan (2012) and Copenhagen (2015). In 2019 Alice was the Artistic Director for the ‘Australian Youth Dance Festival – International Revolutions per Minute.’
Alice has also worked deeply in the community space. In 2019 she created SIMULCAST for Chunky Move, which featured 300 dancers aged 8-80. From 2019-2024, Alice led the Community Experience Program for Dancenorth Australia. Alongside the ongoing outreach programs, Alice led two new creations with and for the community – SAFETY NET featuring 24 local teenagers, and DEEPER THAN DANCING – an inclusive, celebratory three-year program that generated three short dance films, a new production and immersive dance experiences in Gurambilbarra (Townsville).
Photo: Olivia Wikner
Emma Batchelor
Development Manager
Emma Batchelor is a queer writer, performer and arts advocate from Kamberri (Canberra).
Emma's debut novel, Now that I see you, was the winner of the Australian/Vogel Literary Award in 2021 and was released in the U.S in 2023. The development of her second novel, Doing Good Work, was awarded project funding from artsACT. Emma's short-form work has been published in Portrait Magazine, Vogue, HerCanberra and RiotACT. She is currently the recipient of a screenwriting fellowship from Screen Canberra.
As a dancer, Emma has performed for QL2 Dance in both regional and international tours as well as for brother, choreographer James Batchelor. In 2024, she is a resident artist at the Street Theatre where she is developing an interdisciplinary live performance work. For this work, Emma was also the recipient of a Canberra Theatre Centre New Ideas Lab mentorship and was selected as part of the Force Majeure INCITE program.
Alongside her creative practice, Emma is an active member of the arts community. She is the Chair of MARION, a centre dedicated to elevating writers and their art, a board member of Stellar Company, an inclusive dance company, and sits on the Minister’s Creative Council. Emma is a mentor for the Audrey Fagan Board Program and also an ambassador for the ACT Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge. She is particularly interested in advocating for fair and safe working conditions for artists and in promoting youth practice.
Her professional background is in corporate governance, operational management, community organising and communications.
Photo: Jesse Petrie
natalie wade
Community Coordinator
Natalie has dedicated over a decade to community building. She has developed inclusive programming in collaboration with schools and organisations, engaging a diverse cross section of the community. Natalie has a strong focus on skills development, fostering a sense of belonging and empowerment, and working with young people living with disability.
Natalie has trained in ballet, gymnastics, and commercial dance. She has a love of dance as an artform, with a particular passion for ballet and contemporary dance. Natalie raised her two boys in country towns in NSW whilst studying Visual Arts and was a gymnastics, tumbling and dance teacher in Goulburn for many years.
Natalie joined the QL2 community in 2016 as a parent volunteer and has been connected to the organisation ever since.
Photo: Lorna Sim