The choreographer said goodbye to Lucy Guerin Inc by dancing in public for the first time in 13 years - which she found ‘incredibly confronting’

If there is one thing the professional dancer learns never to expect, it’s longevity. The physical demands on the body and increasing risk of injury tend to necessitate short careers. Melbourne-based choreographer Lucy Guerin has certainly bucked that trend, with a CV spanning decades and several international awards under her belt. But after 25 years at the helm of her eponymous company, she is now stepping away, conferring her artistic directorship on choreographer Melanie Lane.

Before she left, Guerin returned to the stage for an exquisite solo show, Place Dances, inside Melbourne’s Buxton Contemporary art gallery. It was the first time she had danced publicly in 13 years. “I have found it incredibly confronting, to be honest,” she says, hours before the premiere. “As a dancer, you always remember in your body what it feels like to do an arabesque or a jump. And part of me thought I could still do all those things if I just got back in the studio and trained a bit.” She laughs at her own hubris. “But I’m afraid that wasn’t the case.”

As house prices plateau, the gap between the cost of buying and renting is narrowing in dozens of suburbs

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

High rents and falling property prices have opened a rare window for Australian tenants to become homeowners, with mortgage repayments cheaper than rent in dozens of suburbs.

Guardian Australia’s analysis of Cotality data shows that median rents in inner-city Melbourne, suburban Canberra and Darwin are now nearly matching weekly home loan repayments.

In one in 10 suburbs and towns across the country, repayments are less than $200 a week higher than rent, for the typical property. In some suburbs, they are actually cheaper.