Lucinda Dunn OAM

Classical Ballet Coach

Lucinda Dunn received her early training in Sydney with Janece Graham and Tanya Pearson before going on to win a Prix de Lausanne scholarship to study at The Royal Ballet School, London. While in London she also performed with Birmingham Royal Ballet and in 1991 Lucinda joined The Australian Ballet and was promoted to principal artist in 2002. She has also been awarded several scholarships to study overseas and has been partnered by many international guests of The Australian Ballet. A diverse and musical dancer with a strong technique, Lucinda excelled in the pure classical ballets and enjoyed portraying characters in story ballets, as well as the physicality of contemporary pieces.

In addition to the ballerina roles in all of the major classical ballets such as Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake and Coppélia, a particular career highlight for Lucinda was dancing the world premiere of Stanton Welch's The Sleeping Beauty in 2005 and more recently, dancing Firebird and Nutcracker - The Story of Clara by Graeme Murphy. Other highlights include her performances on The Australian Ballet's tours to London, Tokyo, Italy, Shanghai and New York, as well as dancing lead roles in contemporary works by Christopher Wheeldon, Jiří Kylián, Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Nicolo Fonte and Stephen Baynes.

Lucinda has won numerous awards including Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Performance 2008, Helpmann Award nomination for Dance Performer of the Year 2007 and 2004, Mo Award nomination for Dance Performer of the Year 2006, 2005 and 2001, Green Room Award for Best Female Dancer 2005 and Helpmann Award nominations for Best Female Dancer 2011, 2010.

In 2008, she won an Australian Dance Award for An Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer for her role of Kitri, in Don Quixote, and the same title again in 2015, for her performance in The Australian Ballet’s Manon.

As Australia’s longest-serving ballerina, Lucinda announced her retirement in 2014 and received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), for her service to the performing arts through ballet.

In 2014 Lucinda was appointed to succeed Tanya Pearson OAM, as the Artistic Director of the Tanya Pearson Academy and the Artistic Director of the Sydney City Ballet. She held a successful 8 year tenure and continued the Academy’s international recognition and success, leading countless of students to the Prix de Lausanne, Youth America Grand Prix, Asian Grand Prix, European Tours and many national awards. Lucinda also produced a myriad of programs and productions, and secured employment contracts and placements throughout the international dance community for graduating students throughout her directorship.

In early 2016, Lucinda attended the Prix de Lausanne ballet competition in Switzerland as one of the members of the jury, and has been guest coach and juror on other reputable competitions.

Lucinda was appointed a board member for Create NSW for Dance and Physical theatre.

In early 2023, to celebrate The Australian Ballets 60th Anniversary, Lucinda returned to the stage to dance with the Australian Ballet, with seasons at The Sydney Opera House and Melbourne’s State Theatre. Lucinda is an Ambassador for the Australian Ballets, “The Ballet Society”.

Lucinda continues to be a guest teacher with The Australian Ballet Company and has been invited to adjudicate, host seminars, and impart her ideas and expertise for different programs and workshops.

She is married with 2 young daughters.