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Lucinda Dunn OAM, is an Australian, now retired, ballerina and current principle teacher at the Tanya Pearson Academy. She was born on the 10th of December 1973 in Sydney, Australia.

Dunn was trained initially at Tanya Pearson Academy, before proceeding to train at the Royal Ballet School in London after winning a scholarship at the Prix De Lausanne in 1988, age 15. At the age of 17 Dunn signed a contract with the Australian Ballet Company in 1991. She stayed with the Australian Ballet throughout her entire career, being promoted to a principal dancer in 2002. Dunn is currently Australia’s longest serving ballerina, after spending 25 years with the Australian Ballet, she performed her final role in April of 2014.

Dunn is currently pursuing her career as a mother of 2, teacher and author, while also supporting a number of Australian dance institutions.

Early Life
Lucinda Dunn was born in Sydney, Australia on the 10th of December 1973. Her mother, who raised her and her brother single-handedly, was a previously a performer in West End Musicals in London. Dunn often refers to her mother’s career as inspiring her own. Dunn began training in various styles of dance from the age of fouor, including jazz, tap, ballet and contemporary – mainly after school. She describes her childhood as being “an idyllic, suburban, happy childhood. I had everything I could have possibly wanted or ever asked for.”

Training and Development
Beginning her training at the age of four, Lucinda Dunn initiated her pre career development in various styles of dance. Although she was trained in jazz, contemporary, tap, hip hop and singing – her emphasis on ballet did not occur until she moved her training to the Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy at the age of 13. Under the guise of Tanya Pearson OAM, Dunn grew her repertoire and was accepted to compete in the prestigious 1988 Prix De Lausanne in Switzerland. Dunn, age 15 at the time, received a scholarship to study at the Royal Ballet School in London, England as a result of one of the Royal Ballet Company’s talent scouts recognising her talent throughout the week long competition.

After accepting her scholarship in 1988, Dunn moved to London to train with the Royal Ballet School for two years. During these two years she gained experience on stage, performing as a guest with the junior corps de ballet in companies such as the Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Succeeding her training at the Royal Ballet School between 1989 and 1991, she was offered two contracts on graduating. These were with the Birmingham Royal Ballet and with The Australian Ballet. She accepted the latter and began as a member of the Australian Ballet Company in 1991.

The Australian Ballet Company
After accepting the Australian Ballet Company’s offer to train with them, Lucinda Dunn began her career as a member of the Corps De Ballet, however rapidly accelerated up the ranks. After one year with the most junior rank of a ballet company, Dunn was promoted to Coryphée in 1992, then in 1993 to soloist. In her 4th year with the company Dunn was titled a Senior Artist in 1995, followed by her acceleration to Principal Artist with the Australian Ballet Company in 2002. She remained a principal artist for 13 years.

Dunn’s first performance as a Soloist was as Aurora, Sleeping Beauty, a role given to her after only 18 months with the company. From there she has performed the majority of all classical roles, including Odette in Swan Lake, Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Giselle in Giselle and Kitri in Don Quixote. In total Dunn has performed as over 60 roles from over 93 different ballets. Her final role with the Australian Ballet was as Manon in L’histoire de Manon. This role was chosen by her to be her final role as she described; “I wanted to end my career on a wonderful ballet that suits my physicality.”

Dunn concluded her final ballet with a 10 minute standing ovation at the Sydney Opera House on the 23rd of April 2014.

Other On-Stage Career Roles
Although Dunn only had a contract with the Australian Ballet Company, she also featured as a guest artist throughout her career. Whilst training at the Royal Ballet School she performed with the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Additionally, Dunn has made appearances with the Royal Danish Ballet, Le Jeune Ballet de France, World Ballet Festival, The Wheeldon Company, and the Sydney City Youth Ballet Company.

Career Off Stage
Succeeding her retirement, Dunn continued to remain connected to the dance industry. In January 2015 she returned to Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy in St Leonards, Sydney (the same studio at which she trained) as the new artistic director. Dunn describes her teaching focus a being ““pure, clean classical ballet technique. Explaining correct muscle use and [a] way of working that each student understands and can implement to their own body.” Dunn received the offer to take over as artistic director while she was still dancing with the Australian Ballet Company. Currently Dunn teaches a variety of classes, as well a specialised coaching for students at the academy training for large competitions, such as the Youth America Grand Prix and the Prix De Lausanne. Dunn’s role at the Tanya Pearson Academy also involves a variety of mentoring aspects.

Dunn has been described as “the Academy’s (Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy) most high profile graduate.” She describes her proudest teaching moment as being “guiding my students to a professional career in Australian companies direct from Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy.

Personal Life
Dunn is married to Danilo Radojevic, a former dancer with the Australian Ballet Theatre. Since retiring, Radojevic is currently the associate artistic director of the Australian Ballet Company. The couple have two young daughters, Claudia (11), and Ava (8), born in 2008 and 2011 respectively. The family currently live in Sydney, Australia.

Awards and Achievements
Aside from Lucinda Dunn’s vast repertoire, she has been subjected to a numerous amount of awards throughout her career. These include:

- Medal of The Order of Australia

- Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Performacne

- Green Room Award for Best Female Dancer

Links and References

 * 1) Francis, R. (2019). Lucinda Dunn on her new role: Teaching the next generation. [online] Dance Informa Magazine. Retrieved from: https://dancemagazine.com.au/2017/08/lucinda-dunn-on-her-new-role-teaching-the-next-generation/
 * 2) The Australian Ballet. (2011, December 14) Lucinda Dunn: A Glorious Career [Video File]. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ICHuwVUW-M&t=48s
 * 3) Ford, E. (2019). Energetiks talks with Lucinda Dunn. Retrieved from https://www.energetiksblog.com.au/blog/2017/8/3/energetiks-talks-with-lucinda-dunn
 * 4) Biarn, A. (2018). Spotlight on Lucinda Dunn. Prix De Lausanne. Retrieved from https://www.prixdelausanne.org/spotlight/lucinda-dunn/
 * 5) Raschella, A. (2014) Australian Ballet’s Star Principal Lucinda Dunn Hangs Up Her Tutu after 23 Years. ABC News Australia. Retrieved From https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-24/ballerina-lucinda-dunn-hangsup-her-tutu/5409158