Benedicte Bemet
Benedicte Bemet is an Australian ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer for The Australian Ballet.
Benedicte Bemet | |
---|---|
Born | |
Education | Australian Ballet School |
Occupation | Dancer |
Known for | Principal dancer with The Australian Ballet |
Awards | Telstra Ballet Dancer Award |
Early life and education
[edit ]Bemet was born in Mackay, Queensland,[1] in about 1994, the daughter of Steven and Andrée Bemet, who are both school teachers.[2] She has one brother.[2] She grew up on the Gold Coast, Queensland, where she learned ballet at the Ransley Ballet Centre,[1] and then lived in Hong Kong with her family.[2] There, she trained at the Jean M. Wong School of Ballet.[1] She then returned to Queensland to live with her grandparents in order to apply to the Australian Ballet School, which she entered in 2008, aged 14.[2] [3]
Career
[edit ]Bemet began dancing with the Australian Ballet in 2012.[3] She was promoted from coryphée to soloist in 2016,[2] [4] after having been chosen in 2015 by the then artistic director of the Australian Ballet David McAllister to take on the role of Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty .[2] A dance reviewer commented that, "in her 40 years of "ballet-watching", [she] ha[d] not witnessed a debut like it ... it was extraordinary."[2]
In 2017, Bemet suffered a severe tendon injury which caused her to take a year off from ballet,[5] [6] during which she explored psychology and read books about resilience and wellness.[7] By September 2018, she was dancing as a soloist again, in the role of Flavia in Spartacus .[8] A reviewer commented, "Benedicte Bemet paints a fragile yet fiercely passionate persona as Flavia, and her commitment to emotive storytelling through dance is stunning to watch."[8] She was promoted to principal dancer in December 2019.[1] In 2023, The Australian Ballet, with Bemet, performed at Covent Garden for the first time in 35 years. A reviewer wrote of her performance there in George Balanchine's Jewels:
"Bemet’s musicality was notable, allowing her to shade between her movements and to let the choreography breathe; she made the overlong central pas de deux into a vision of classical purity, while the third and fourth sections saw her unleash impressive but never over-showy virtuosity. This was a notable assumption of a very difficult role; while Caley is a familiar dancer one was delighted to see again, Bemet is an unfamiliar artist one longs to see again."[9]
Selected roles
[edit ]Bemet's repertoire with The Australian Ballet includes:
Year | Ballet | Choreographer(s) | Role |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland | Christopher Wheeldon | Alice[5] [10] |
2023 | Swan Lake | Anne Woolliams | Odette/Odile[11] [12] [6] |
2023 | Jewels | George Balanchine | Diamonds - Lead Couple[9] |
2023 | Don Quixote | Rudolf Nureyev (after Marius Petipa) | Kitri[13] |
2023 | The Dream | Frederick Ashton | Titania[14] |
2022 | Romeo and Juliet | John Cranko | Juliet[15] |
2022 | Harlequinade | Marius Petipa and Alexei Ratmansky | Columbine[15] |
2022 | Kunstkamer | Sol León, Paul Lightfoot, Crystal Pite and Marco Goecke | Performer[16] |
2022 | Anna Karenina | Yuri Possokhov | Kitty[17] |
2020 | Capriccio | François-Eloi Lavignac | Solo dancer[18] [19] |
2019 | Giselle | Maina Gielgud | Giselle[20] |
2018 | Spartacus | Aram Khachaturian and Lucas Jervies | Flavia[8] |
2016 | Coppélia | George Ogilvie and Peggy van Praagh | Swanilda[21] |
2016 | In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated | William Forsythe | Performer[4] |
2016 | Grand pas classique | Viktor Gvosky | Performer[4] |
2016 | DGV©: Danse à grande vitesse | Christopher Wheeldon | "Second Region" Pas de deux[4] |
2016 | Symphony in C | George Balanchine | Third Movement Principal[4] |
2015 | The Sleeping Beauty | David McAllister | Aurora[2] [5] |
2015 | The Sleeping Beauty | David McAllister | Princess Florine[4] |
2015 | Giselle | Maina Gielgud | Peasant Pas de deux[21] |
2014 | The Nutcracker | Peter Wright | Clara[4] |
2014 | Suite en Blanc | Serge Lifar | Sérénade Variation[4] |
Awards
[edit ]- Telstra Ballet Dancer Award, 2015[5] [3]
- Green Room Award nomination for Clara in The Nutcracker, 2014[4]
- Telstra People’s Choice Award, 2013[4]
Personal life
[edit ]Bemet loves baking and cooking anything involving chocolate[4] and has an aversion for tight fitting clothes.[22] In order to relieve stress before shows, Bemet likes to sew pointe shoes.[23]
References
[edit ]- ^ a b c d "The Australian Ballet promotes two dancers". Dance Informa. 14 December 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Milsom, Rosemarie (23 September 2016). "Meet Benedicte Bemet, The Australian Ballet's rising star". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ a b c Boon, Maxim (4 December 2015). "Benedicte Bemet crowned Telstra Ballet Dancer of the Year". Limelight. Sydney, Australia. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The Australian Ballet | Benedicte Bemet". The Australian Ballet. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d Story, Hannah (16 February 2024). "A very important date: Australian Ballet's biggest ever production is back". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ a b Bendall, Susan (20 November 2023). "Total immersion". Dance Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
- ^ Player, Bree. "Principal ballerina Benedicte Bemet's pre-show wellness rituals". Body + Soul.
- ^ a b Dowler, G.J. (2 August 2023). "Jewels – George Balanchine's glittering triptych of abstract ballets". Classical Source. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
- ^ Selar, Paul (16 March 2024). "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland©". Australian Arts Review. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ "'Sublime': Mackay dancer Benedicte Bemet wows Brisbane audiences in Swan Lake". The Courier Mail. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. 25 October 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ Byrne, Tim (22 December 2023). "Australia on stage: the best theatre, musicals, dance and opera of 2023. Swan Lake". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ Selar, Paul (26 February 2023). "The Australian Ballet: Ballet Under the Stars". Australian Arts Review. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
- ^ Lancaster, Lynne (18 November 2023). "The Australian Ballet In The Dream / Marguerite And Armand : A Double Bill To Savour". Sydney Arts Guide. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
- ^ a b Lois, Leila (14 December 2022). "How The Australian Ballet is drastically cutting injury rates". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ Bailey, John (14 April 2022). "The ballet unlike any you've seen before – and why it'll set a new standard". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
- ^ Mercer, Margaret (28 February 2022). "REVIEW: The Australian Ballet's 'Anna Karenina'". Dance Australia. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ Russell, Stephen A (4 August 2020). "Australian Ballet puts Spartacus, The Merry Widow and Bodytorque online". TimeOut. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
- ^ "Capriccio. Bodytorque.Digital". The Australian Ballet. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
- ^ Jones, Deborah. "Benedicte Bemet's Giselle". deborah jones: FollowSpot. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
- ^ a b Fortescue, Elizabeth (1 December 2016). "Benedicte Bemet set to pass the torch on the Telstra Ballet Dancer Award at opening night of Coppelia". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney, Australia. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ Gordon, Georgie (27 April 2024). "'I love feeling comfortable': What you'll never see this ballerina wearing". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ The Australian Ballet (23 September 2014). A DAY IN THE LIFE OF BENEDICTE BEMET . Retrieved 30 December 2024 – via YouTube.