Leanne Benjamin

Leanne Benjamin
AM OBE
Leanne Benjamin curtain call for DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse, Royal Ballet
Born
Leanne Faye Benjamin

(1964-07-13) 13 July 1964 (age 60)
Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
EducationRoyal Ballet School
Occupation(s)Artistic director, Queensland Ballet
Years active1983–2013
Spouse
Tobias Round
​
(m. 2001)​
Children1
Career
Former groupsThe Royal Ballet
Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet
London Festival Ballet
Deutsche Oper Ballet

Leanne Faye Benjamin AM OBE (born 13 July 1964)[1] is a retired Australian ballet dancer who was a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London. She was appointed artistic director at the Queensland Ballet in 2024.[2] She stepped down from the position on 2 August 2024.

Early life and training

Benjamin was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, to Jill and Bernie Benjamin. Benjamin began ballet lessons at age three at a local dance school, and had attended The Range Convent and High School. In 1980, she was accepted into the Royal Ballet School at age 16.[3] Within a year, she won two prestigious awards, the Adeline Genée Gold Medal and Prix de Lausanne, and trained at the Royal Ballet for two years.[4][5] One of her teachers was Mona Vangsaae.[1] At her graduation performance, she and Jonathan Cope performed the two lead roles in Giselle.[6]

Ballet career

In 1983, at age 18, Benjamin joined the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet (now Birmingham Royal Ballet), and became a principal dancer in 1987.[7] The following year, she joined the London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet), directed by Peter Schaufuss, Vangsaae's son. In 1990, she moved to Deutsche Oper Ballet in Berlin, where Schaufuss went on to direct. In Berlin, she worked with choreographer Kenneth MacMillan on Different Drummer. Encouraged by MacMillan, she joined The Royal Ballet as a First Soloist in 1992, making her company debut as Mary Vetsera in Mayerling, though MacMillan died shortly before that performance. The following year, she was promoted to principal dancer.[1][6]

Benjamin is best known for dancing works by MacMillan. She was one of the last dancers to work with MacMillan, Royal Ballet founder Ninette de Valois and founding choreographer Frederick Ashton. She had also worked with other choreographers such as Christopher Wheeldon and Wayne McGregor.[1][6] She had performed with Wheeldon's company, Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company.[8]

In 2004 and 2009 she won the National Dance Award for Best Female Dancer.[9][10]

In 2013, she retired after two decades with the Royal Ballet. She reprised her first role with The Royal Ballet, Mary Vetsera in Mayerling.[6]

Repertory

Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Giselle, the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Nikiya, Kitri, Swanilda, The Firebird, Cinderella, Lise, Titania, Manon, Anastasia, Juliet (Ashton and MacMillan), Mitzi Caspar and Mary Vetsera in Mayerling, Irina, The Girl in The Invitation, The Judas Tree, Song of the Earth, Gloria, Requiem, Rhapsody, Elite Syncopations, Les Biches, Symphony in C, Apollo, Danses Concertantes, Etudes, Brünnhilde in Béjart's Ring, Carmen, Forsythe's Herman Schmerman and Ashton's The Leaves Are Fading, Swanilda in Coppélia.

She has created roles in Bintley's Metamorphosis, The Snow Queen and Earth as part of Homage to The Queen, Bruce's Symphony in Three Movements and in Mr. Worldly Wise, Two-Part Invention, When We Stop Talking, Masquerade and most recently Wayne McGregor's Qualia, "Infra", and "Limen", Robert Garland's Spring Rites, Alastair Marriott's Tanglewood, Liam Scarlett's Despite and Wheeldon's DGV.

Post-ballet career

In honour of her career with The Royal Ballet, the Leanne Benjamin Awards were launched at a public masterclass at The Royal Ballet School on 12 June 2014. The awards were created and will be administered by The Tait Memorial Trust, of which Leanne Benjamin is a Patron.[11] The awards are scholarships for young Australian and New Zealand ballet dancers studying in the UK.[12]

In January 2014, Leanne Benjamin was awarded the Critics' Circle de Valois award for outstanding achievement.[13]

Benjamin now works as a coach for both the Royal Ballet and other companies. She had also studied design and work as an interior designer.[14]

In 2021, Benjamin published her autobiography, Built for Ballet.[15]

In 2024, she succeeded Li Cunxin as artistic director of the Queensland Ballet.[2] She stepped down on 2 August 2024.[16]

Personal life

In 2001, Benjamin married Tobias Round, a theatre producer and son of Georgina Parkinson. The couple has a son, born in 2003.[1][17]

Honours

In the 2005 New Year Honours, Benjamin was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to dance.[18] Ten years later at the 2015 Australia Day Honours, Benjamin was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the performing arts, particularly ballet, as a dancer and role model.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "theartsdesk Q&A: Ballerina Leanne Benjamin". The Arts Desk. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b Katrina Beavan (20 December 2023). "Former Rockhampton ballerina Leanne Benjamin takes over from Li Cunxin as artistic director of Queensland Ballet". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  3. ^ Gately, Michelle (4 December 2021). "Ballet took Leanne Benjamin out of country Queensland all the way to Covent Garden". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Rockhampton ballerina recognised as of the greatest ever". The Morning Bulletin. 19 January 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  5. ^ Lacey, Hester (15 April 2011). "The Inventory: Leanne Benjamin". Financial Times.
  6. ^ a b c d "Leanne Benjamin To Retire After 20 Years with The Royal Ballet". DanceTabs. 4 April 2013.
  7. ^ Anderson, Zoe (10 April 2013). "Leanne Benjamin to retire". Dancing Times.
  8. ^ Sulcas, Roslyn (3 October 2008). "In Company's Second Season: Chaos, Order and 'What Happens Next?'". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  9. ^ "National Dance Awards Critics' Circle". Nationaldanceawards.com. 20 January 2005. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  10. ^ "2009 National Dance Awards Critics' Circle". Nationaldanceawards.com. 21 January 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  11. ^ "Tait Patrons – Tait Memorial Trust". 14 March 2018.
  12. ^ "The Leanne Benjamin Awards 2015". Taitmemorialtrust.org. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  13. ^ "Christopher Wheeldon, Natalia Osipova and Leanne Benjamin win at National Dance Awards". NetworkDance.com. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  14. ^ "Leanne Benjamin 'In Conversation' with Dame Monica Mason". The London Ballet Circle. 18 February 2019.
  15. ^ "The Royal Ballet's Leanne Benjamin: Built for ballet". Dance International. 5 February 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  16. ^ Brown, Phil (31 July 2024). "Shock exit: Leanne Benjamin to depart Queensland Ballet only six months after filling Li Cunxin's formidable shoes". InReview. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  17. ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (18 December 2009). "Georgina Parkinson, Star at Royal Ballet, Dies at 71". New York Times.
  18. ^ "No. 57509". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2004. p. 9.
  19. ^ "Member (AM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division" (PDF). Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia. 26 January 2015. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.