Leanne Benjamin

After a dancing career that took her to the very top, Leanne Benjamin now uses her wealth of experience to nurture a new generation of dancers.

She was a Principal of the Royal Ballet for 21 years, before retiring in 2013.  She then began to coach for her former company and at major companies around the world including American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet and Australian Ballet.  She has also established the Leanne Benjamin Awards to support pre-professional Australian and New Zealand dancers wishing to study in the UK and in 2023 launched All England Dance’s UK Young Dancer competition with theatre director and choreographer Dame Arlene Phillips.

Her expertise and knowledge make her much in demand as an international competition judge and motivational speaker.

Benjamin was born in Rockhampton, Australia before joining the Royal Ballet School at the age of 16. The following year, she won the Prix de Lausanne.  Her exceptional talent was quickly recognised, and made Principal ballerina of the Royal Ballet touring company at the age of 22, before joining first English National Ballet and then the Deutsche Oper Ballet in Berlin, also as Principal dancer.

There she met the renowned choreographer Kenneth MacMillan; he invited her back to the Royal Ballet where she stayed until her retirement at the age of 49.  By then, she had tackled virtually every leading role in the repertory, gaining particular acclaim for her performances of Swan Lake, Coppelia, and Giselle and in ballets by MacMillan such as Requiem, Mayerling and Manon, but also winning admirers in works by Christopher Wheeldon and Wayne McGregor. She was famous for her virtuosity but also for the drama of her interpretations of works, new and old.

Since leaving the stage, she has dedicated herself to staging and coaching ballets to their new interpreters at ballet companies world-wide including the Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and the Australian Ballet.

Benjamin was Vice Chair of the governors of the Royal Ballet Companies, overseeing the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School. She was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2005 and made a member of the order of Australia (AM) in 2015.  Among the many accolades she received during her career are the De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance, and the Critics Circle Best Female dancer award, and represented Australia at the Coronation of King Charles III.

As a motivational speaker, she has addressed audiences in Britain and Australia on themes that include specific advice for dancers but also stretch well beyond her own profession, offering thoughts on women in society and culture.  In 2021, she published her autobiography, Built for Ballet.

A significant milestone in her career, Leanne Benjamin has become the first woman to hold the position of Artistic Director of the Queensland Ballet, a role she will serve in until August 2024.