fascinating and interesting to be on the other side of the
curtain and get an audience perspective. It’s great to see what the audience sees and to watch how the dancers develop and grow. Plus I’ve been coaching them in various roles so I obviously want to see their development. But even just watching I still get the deep breath before the curtain goes up and the show begins.

The Australian ballet is a family affair with you as a Principal dancer and your husband as the Associate Artistic Director. How do you find working together?
I am very fortunate to be able to walk into Danny’s office or to see him in the studio and not leave home at 9:00am in the morning and only see him at dinner time at 7:00pm. Some days we really don’t see each other. If I’m not doing his class or I’m not being coached by Danny during the day, we sometimes might not see each other until we get home, but there’s that option of being in the same building and running into each other. I see that as a plus. It doesn't detract from our relationship and we’ve never had an issue the whole time we’ve been together. It’s great, as we are in a touring company and we get to tour together. I think it’s ideal. We are in Melbourne for the majority of our time because that’s our base but we spend about five months in Sydney for our seasons and also our Christmas break. Danny and I always spend it in Sydney because that’s where we have family and it’s another home base.  If you are away from Melbourne for half the year then it’s really difficult to have relationships outside of the company. It can work, but I imagine it would get expensive with flights. We’re very fortunate.

Did you meet Danny in the company?
Danny had a very long career in New York and in the United States. In 1997 he was invited back to the Australian Ballet by Ross Stretton who was then the Artistic Director, as a Ballet Master. When Danny joined in ’97 it was the first time I’d met him. So we’ve been together a long time now. It’s wonderful.

At the Australian Dance Awards you won the award Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer.
Tell us how it felt.
It’s interesting, as I have been nominated for many awards. We’ve got so many awards in Australia now which is fantastic.  I have been in different categories over my career and it’s really nice to be included in the nominees. Plus with the way that the awards are now presented it feels like you are going to the Arias or something. You know how you watch the red carpet on TV and the nominees are announced, a clipping is shown, music plays and the winner walks up onto stage and makes a speech?  – well it’s like that! It is a very big deal to be nominated and to be at those events.  When you are actually nominated and then to be given the award, it’s thrilling. I feel it is a privilege. Across Australia there are so many dance genres, and they are so varied.  You never really expect it, it could go either way. I am very humbled that I was presented with this trophy.  I am thrilled. 

You won the award for your role in After the Rain and Don Quixote. Tell us about your role in Don Quixote.
Did you enjoy playing Kitri?
Very much, it was something we came back to. The company had last performed Don Quixote in 1999 and I had done it previously before that. I think when you come back to a role you have a better understanding. Obviously as an artist you mature and have more experience on stage and you can bring that to a role, but it was very, very challenging.  It’s three acts. She’s a fiery character so there is a lot of energy in each scene., but then the second act is surreal and purely classical. So it covers a lot of different aspects and styles of ballet, which is nice.  I did find it extremely challenging mentally, physically and technically. It’s one of the hardest ballets, and classical ballet is such a unique and refined art form. To find performances that are fulfilling, challenging and that you are happy with is rare, which is why we come off stage and think ‘I did my best and I am happy with tonight’s performance’. I have to find that medium of being happy with what I’ve done. It’s really hard if you never think you are good enough. You always want to strive to do something better, but you have to have those times when you feel that you’ve done the best you can do.

As a Principal Dancer with the Australian Ballet for six years, you continue to perform at such a high level  with such longevity. How do you keep yourself going?
I think for me it is daily work - doing a class just because you have to do a class. I do a class for my body and I know what it needs technically to keep strong.  I have to push myself.  I can’t sit back and just let class happen. I have to be in control of my body. I suppose wanting to improve and wanting to better a performance keeps me motivated. I know how easily you can feel bad and come off stage disappointed. That’s what I try to avoid.  But you can’t just do that onstage. It has to be involved in the class every day, every morning. And you have to get the most out of every rehearsal you have.  I am lucky really, I have fantastic partners that I dance with that have the same work ethic. It’s about driving yourself and not waiting for somebody to push you or to say ‘come on you can do it’ or ‘let’s get better today’.  It’s wanting to constantly achieve and succeed.  Because ballet is so terribly difficult it can go terribly wrong so fast. 

As a dancer for the Australian Ballet for 18 years, how have you kept up your motivation and inspiration when working with the same ballet company for so long?
I suppose the repertoire is really interesting in this company.  I have had three different directors and I’ve enjoyed the changes in repertoire that they have brought. I love doing the classical ballets, but also the new ballets created on us and the master choreographers from yonder year that we have in the repertoire. It’s so varied and challenging from an audience’s point of view.  As an artist you can’t keep doing Swan Lake every year.  I don’t think that would challenge you or let you grow much either.  You can develop a role, but to a certain extent. I suppose when I feel I am developing and maturing it pushes me. 

I’ve visited some wonderful countries. Not every day is rosy in a ballet company and not every day is rosy in everyone’s life.  It’s just part of it, but I do feel fulfilled and challenged. I think David McAllister is a wonderful director.  He’s very approachable if you have something you want to say or need to do. So it is a great atmosphere and I think the company is at such a strong level. It is a wonderful company to be involved in daily.  Because of the variety and the calibre of dancers that we have, you can go to a performance and see a wonderful display by lots of different dancers. We are very lucky that the standard is so high. It keeps us all going and wanting to get better because we are surrounded by a high standard. I try to inspire myself rather than have inspiration handed to me or before someone is pushing behind me.  You actually have to be inspired yourself.

Tell us about your career highlights, your favourite performances, and your favourite tour.
Picking a favourite ballet is always such a difficult question. Every ballet takes months in the studio and you have to have rapport with your partner and your coach.  You have to trust your coach to be your eyes when you can’t see what you are doing.  So it’s the process that has to be enjoyable for me, as much as when the curtain comes down and it was a really good show.  It’s so long, drawn out and particular. I dance with Robert Curran quite a lot and it’s delightful  as we have a wonderfully special connection on stage and also in the studio.  We can talk to each other and work things out to the nth degree about what we’d like to do and what we are trying to achieve.  Unless that process is enjoyable and you get something from it, it’s just tedious and really, really hard work.  So for me I have had some wonderful highlights throughout my career. I have been in lots of different ballets where the process of perfecting has been part of the curtain up and curtain down for me. 

A highlight I suppose was in 2006 when I was in the World Ballet Festival in Tokyo. I was invited to dance with people from all around the world like Sylvie Guillem,  Alessandra Ferri  and Alina Cojocaru from the Royal Ballet,  who are really high profile.  We were all invited to dance as part of this festival.  That was a big thrill too. It was a highlight because the best dancers in the world were invited.  Japanese audiences are just amazing. They love ballet and they are not afraid to show it. Hundreds line up for autographs or for photos. It’s a different culture to Australia. Another highlight I can bring to mind is Stanton Welch’s Sleeping Beauty in 2005, in which the role was created around me. Many different ballerinas did it but I did the world premiere in Melbourne.  That was a really special time with the rehearsals and the lead up to the performance. Sleeping Beauty is probably one of the hardest ballets alongside Don Quixote.  That was a huge challenge too.  There is a lot of expectation when you do Sleeping Beauty, a signature ballet.  I had to carry that as well. That was a highlight, a scary one, but a highlight.

Do you feel the pressure?
Yeah I feel the pressure. It’s usually my own. It’s knowing how I would like to perform and knowing that I can perform at a high level, it’s not wanting to have self disappointment. It’s my expectations.  I never have anyone coming to the dressing room and say ‘you have to be good tonight’ You just expect that of yourself at this level anyway and you want the show to be as perfect and good as you possibly can.   

Do you still get nervous?
Yes, I don’t think it will ever go away.  I wish I didn’t, but there are different ways of dealing and coping with that.  The more you do a role and the more consistently, the less you get nervous, which is so great with this company as we do performance after performance, rather than European companies  who might get one Swan Lake a month. So we do feel that the more you do, the better you get.  Hence it can subside slightly, but yeah I do always have the nerves.  If you do have a bit of energy and excitement then that’s a good thing, but you do have to learn to control nerves because they can get the better of you.

What are your goals and aspirations at this stage of your life and career?
Motherhood is coming into the mix, which will be interesting.  That’s something that Danny and I have wanted for a long time - to start a family.  I suppose my goal is to keep going on the path that I am and in the direction I am, of improving and maintaining a high level. And just to take on the challenges that are presented to me in the next few years. I have no five year plan of where I want to be, who I want to guest with or ballets I would like to perform.  It’s pretty much what I have been doing at this stage.  Anything can happen.  I suppose there is no “I have to do this, I have to visit there” at this stage.

To read more about Lucinda Dunn and The Australian Ballet visit www.australianballet.com.au