Leanne Benjamin Author

Leanne Benjamin, OBE, AM, is a highly acclaimed and awardwinning dancer, who was a principal ballerina with Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Berlin Ballet and ultimately a principal for 20 years with the Royal Ballet. Born in Queensland, Australia, she started her professional ballet career at the age of 18 and retired from the stage at the age of 49, after a world- class career. She now devotes herself to coaching for major ballet productions around the world for companies including the Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet, the Australian Ballet and Queensland Ballet. She is Vice Chair of the Board of Governors for the Royal Ballet Companies, and patron of the Tait Memorial Trust. She is also much in demand as an international judge and motivational guest speaker. Sarah Crompton (Co-Author) is one of Britains most respected writers and broadcasters, commentating on all aspects of culture and the arts. Her work appears in the Guardian, the Sunday Times, The Times, the Observer, British and American Vogue among others. She reviews dance for the Observer and theatre for Whatsonstage. She is a regular contributor to the BBCs Front Row. She was previously the Arts Editor in Chief and dance critic of the Daily Telegraph. Her first book was Sadlers Wells: Dance House, a study of the recent creative history of Sadlers Wells.