Leanne Benjamin leaves Queensland Ballet after just six months as Artistic Director
Leanne Benjamin will leave her position as Artistic Director of Queensland Ballet in Australia, after just six months in the post.
Li Cunxin left the position at the end of 2023 and the former Royal Ballet principal dancer took over. Benjamin, now 60, was born in Queensland so her appointment, after ten years of coaching at The Royal Opera House and elsewhere, seemed ideal.
A statement from the company said:
Despite the best intentions from both parties, the current economic environment has posed challenges, making it difficult to realise Leanne’s vision and it has been mutually agreed for Leanne to depart Queensland Ballet as Artistic Director on 2 August 2024.
Queensland Ballet’s Assistant Artistic Director Greg Horsman will take over the finalising of the 2025 season, and Executive Director Dilshani Weerasinghe reassured donors, partners, audiences, community and Academy families that Queensland Ballet will still have a full complement of productions, engagement programs and training opportunities next year. She said:
Queensland Ballet’s circumstances are such that Leanne has not been able to infuse our 2025 offerings with her own artistic aspirations as much as she was hoping. This has been understandably dispiriting for Leanne and, although she might not be sitting with us as our Artistic Director in 2025, we will most certainly feel her legacy in Queensland Ballet’s investment in Australian and female voices, amongst other elements that she has inspired.
Although Queensland Ballet’s management team has workshopped several scenarios for the 2025 Season, it is evident that the company needs to lean heavily into its existing repertory in the near future, while also in-housing more activity into our newly revitalised home, the Thomas Dixon Centre.
It seems odd that Benjamin’s ‘artistic aspirations’ were not discussed in context with the company’s economic situation before her contract was signed. Benjamin explained:
It is with great sadness that we have shared the news this week with the Queensland Ballet team. Ultimately, as we have worked together to design a vibrant season for 2025, it has become very clear that my artistic aspirations for our company, including the opportunity to engage diverse choreographic voices, both international and Australian, and venture outside of the traditional theatre environment with immersive opportunities, is not immediately possible within the funding constraints faced by the company.
No reading between the lines is necessary here.
She added:
Queensland and Queensland Ballet will always have a very special place in my heart, and I look forward to our continued relationship. I have had a wonderful time getting to know the amazing dancers, staff, stakeholders, audiences, and supporters of Queensland Ballet over the past six months, and I feel privileged to have led this wonderful company. I wish the Queensland Ballet family and all our arts colleagues in Queensland the very best as they continue to channel excellence despite the odds. I will miss them but will see them soon.
Queensland Ballet will launch its 2025 Season in late October.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
Eloquently written.