Leanne Benjamin
Encyclopedia
Leanne Benjamin is a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London.
Born in Rockhampton
, Australia in 1964, she trained at the Royal Ballet School and won the Adeline Genée
Gold Medal and Prix de Lausanne
. She joined the Company in 1992 becoming a Principal by the spring of that Season. She has also been a Principal with Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet, English National Ballet
and Deutsche Opera Ballet and danced with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company
at New York City Center
in 2008.
/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.
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. She was awarded an OBE
in the 2005 New Year's Honours.
, and has a son, Thomas, born in the summer of 2003.
"Ms. Benjamin’s limpid purity in the central female role was extraordinary, as if personality had been erased, leaving nothing but pure being. It was a performance of greatness". ROSLYN SULCAS Published: October 17, 2011 New York Times
Born in Rockhampton
Rockhampton, Queensland
Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....
, Australia in 1964, she trained at the Royal Ballet School and won the Adeline Genée
Adeline Genée
Dame Adeline Genée DBE was a Danish/British ballet dancer.-Early years:Anina Kirstina Margarete Petra Jensen was born in Århus, Denmark. Her uncle, Alexandre Genée, gave her dancing lessons from the age of three. When she was eight, Alexandre and his wife, the former Antonia Zimmerman, adopted her...
Gold Medal and Prix de Lausanne
Prix de Lausanne
The Prix de Lausanne is an International dance competition held annually in Lausanne, Switzerland. The competition is for young dancers seeking to pursue a professional career in classical ballet, and many former prize winners of the competition are now leading stars with major ballet companies...
. She joined the Company in 1992 becoming a Principal by the spring of that Season. She has also been a Principal with Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet, English National Ballet
English National Ballet
English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin and based at Markova House in South Kensington, London, England. Along with the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Scottish Ballet, it is one of the four major ballet companies in Great...
and Deutsche Opera Ballet and danced with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company
Christopher Wheeldon
Christopher Wheeldon is an international choreographer of contemporary ballet. Born in Somerset, England, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dancer at the age of 8. He attended the Royal Ballet School between the ages of 11 and 18...
at New York City Center
New York City Center
New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
in 2008.
Repertory
OdetteOdette
Odette may refer to:*Odette School of Business, a school at the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario*Odette , people with the given name Odette* The White Swan in the ballet Swan Lake...
/Odile
Odile
St Odile of Alsace is a saint venerated in the Roman Catholic Church, although according to the current liturgical calendar her feastday is not officially commemorated. She is a patroness of good eyesight.She was the daughter of Etichon , Duke of Alsace. She was born blind...
in Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
, Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
, the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Nikiya, Kitri, Swanilda, The Firebird
The Firebird
The Firebird is a 1910 ballet created by the composer Igor Stravinsky and choreographer Michel Fokine. The ballet is based on Russian folk tales of the magical glowing bird of the same name that is both a blessing and a curse to its captor....
, Cinderella
Cinderella (Prokofiev)
Cinderella is a ballet, Op. 87, composed by Sergei Prokofiev to a scenario by Nikolai Volkov. It is one of his most popular and melodious compositions, and has inspired a great many choreographers since its inception. The piece was composed between 1940 and 1944. Part way through writing it he...
, Lise, Titania, Manon, Anastasia, Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
(Ashton and MacMillan), Mitzi Caspar and Mary Vetsera in Mayerling
Mayerling (ballet)
Mayerling is a ballet created in 1978 by Kenneth MacMillan for the Royal Ballet, London.- Synopsis :Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria is forced into a marriage of state with Princess Stéphanie of Belgium; Countess Marie Larisch von Moennich, the mistress of whom he is tiring, introduces him to the...
, Irina, The Girl in The Invitation, The Judas Tree, Song of the Earth, Gloria, Requiem, Rhapsody, Elite Syncopations, Les Biches
Les Biches
Les biches is a ballet by Francis Poulenc, premiered by the Ballets Russes in 1924. The composer, who was at the time relatively unknown, was asked by Serge Diaghilev to write a piece based on Glazunov's Les Sylphides, written seventeen years earlier...
, Symphony in C
Symphony in C (ballet)
Symphony in C, originally titled Le Palais de Cristal, is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Bizet's Symphony in C , which he wrote at the age of 17 while studying with Charles Gounod at the Paris Conservatory...
, Apollo
Apollo (ballet)
Apollo is a ballet in two tableaux composed between 1927 and 1928 by Igor Stravinsky. It was choreographed by balletmaster George Balanchine in 1928, the composer contributing the libretto...
, Danses Concertantes, Etudes
Études (ballet)
Études is a ballet by Danish dancer and choreographer Harald Lander with original score by Carl Czerny and piano studies arranged by Knudåge Riisager. It is considered Lander's most famous choreographic work and brought him international fame....
, Brünnhilde in Béjart's
Maurice Béjart
Maurice Béjart was a French born, Swiss choreographer who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He was the son of the French philosopher Gaston Berger.- Biography :...
Ring, Carmen, Forsythe's
William Forsythe (dancer)
William Forsythe is an American dancer and choreographer resident in Frankfurt am Main in Hessen. He is known internationally for his work with the Ballett Frankfurt and The Forsythe Company...
Herman Schmerman and Ashton's
Frederick Ashton
Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...
The Leaves Are Fading.
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
Wayne McGregor
Wayne McGregor CBE is a British choreographer of contemporary modern dance. His work is highly distinctive in its vocabulary of movement, for its integration of dance with film and visual art, and for his active interest and incorporation of computer technology and biological science...
's Qualia, "Infra", and "Limen", Robert Garland's Spring Rites, Alastair Marriott's Tanglewood, Liam Scarlett's Despite and Wheeldon's
Christopher Wheeldon
Christopher Wheeldon is an international choreographer of contemporary ballet. Born in Somerset, England, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dancer at the age of 8. He attended the Royal Ballet School between the ages of 11 and 18...
DGV. She was awarded an OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in the 2005 New Year's Honours.
Personal life
She is married to Tobias Round, manager of the Donmar WarehouseDonmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
, and has a son, Thomas, born in the summer of 2003.
Reviews
Folowing a performance of McMillan’s “Requiem,"for The Royal Ballet in October 2011 a leading critic commented."Ms. Benjamin’s limpid purity in the central female role was extraordinary, as if personality had been erased, leaving nothing but pure being. It was a performance of greatness". ROSLYN SULCAS Published: October 17, 2011 New York Times