"My journey through this special career has been marked by many unforgettable experiences . . . but it is time to retire.”
Above: Taking her very last bow as principal of the Australian Ballet on the stage of the Joan Sutherland Theatre.
A promotional image by Justin Smith for ‘Paquita’.
“I adored the partnership I had with Robert Curran for the best part of a decade. We pushed each other in the studio to be better, so we could have freedom on stage. Some very special memories and highlights have been with Robert both in the studio and on stage. We laughed and cried together, but mostly learnt a lot about what can be achievable.”
“This picture is of a very young Lucinda in the bluebird solo from the ‘Sleeping Beauty’,” Dunn writes. “It was probably one of the first soloist roles I danced with a couple of partners, being Campbell McKenzie and David McAllister. As the bluebird doesn’t appear until the 3rd act, I would spend most of the performance in the studio warming up, and going through the pas de deux and solos alone, over and over until 3rd act as I felt the more I practised in the studio, the easier and less nervous I would be on stage.”
Another very young Lucinda Dunn, this time performing with the Dancers Company in “Suite en blanc” with Stanton Welch (now artistic director of the Houston Ballet).
Lucinda Dunn, together with her husband Danilo Radojevic, will take charge of the Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy in Sydney as well as be a mother to her two children.
This article first appeared in the June-July 2014 issue of Dance Australia.