Leanne Benjamin

Leanne Faye Benjamin (born 13 July 1964) 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. 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. One of her teachers was Mona Vangsaae.

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. 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.

In 2004 and 2009 she won the National Dance Award for Best Female Dancer.

In 2013, she retired after two decades with the Royal Ballet. She reprised her first role with The Royal Ballet, Mary Vetsera in Mayerling. The awards are scholarships for young Australian and New Zealand ballet dancers studying in the UK.

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

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.

In 2021, Benjamin published her autobiography, Built for Ballet.

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

Personal life In 2001, Benjamin married Tobias Round, a theatre producer and son of Georgina Parkinson. The couple has a son, born in 2003.

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. 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.