Jenna Roberts is a retired Australian ballet dancer, formerly a principal dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB)
Roberts was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, and trained at the Marie Walton-Mahon Dance Academy in Newcastle, Australia, and the Royal Ballet Upper School. [1] Joining Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2003, she quickly rose through the company. [1] In 2006 she starred as Juliet for the "Ballet Hoo!" project, a collaboration between BRB, Channel 4, the charity Youth at Risk and local authorities. [2] She suffered a setback after a severe injury in 2007, returning to achieve a promotion to company principal at the end of the 2011–12 season. Roberts has been acclaimed as a masterful Balanchine interpreter, credited for combining ethereal elegance with outstanding stamina to craft leading roles. [1] After her younger sister Callie Roberts joined the company the two siblings performed together in works including Cinderella . [3]
Roberts has recently created roles in a number of short ballets, working with the contemporary American choreographer Jessica Lang in Lyric Pieces, and dancing as the Fairy in Michael Corder's Le Baiser de la fée. [1] In 2014 The Observer reported that an "incandescent Jenna Roberts steals the show" in Alexander Whitley's new ballet Kin. [4]
Having retired from dancing, she now teaches Pilates, and she and husband Joseph Caley relocated to Australia in 2022, where Caley has become a principal artist with The Australian Ballet [5]
Ballet | Role | Choreographer |
---|---|---|
Agon | Principal couple | George Balanchine |
Allegri diversi | David Bintley | |
Apollo | Terpsichore | George Balanchine |
Beauty and the Beast | Belle | David Bintley |
Checkmate | Ninette de Valois | |
Cinderella | Summer | David Bintley |
Concerto pas de deux | Kenneth MacMillan | |
Coppélia | Swanilda's Friends and Prayer | Peter Wright |
The Dance House | David Bintley | |
Dante Sonata | Frederick Ashton | |
Daphnis and Chloë | Chloë | Frederick Ashton |
Dumbarton Oaks | Michael Kopisnki | |
E=mc² | Mass | David Bintley |
Elite Syncopations | Bethena Concert Waltz | Kenneth MacMillan |
La Fille mal gardée | Lise's Friends | Frederick Ashton |
Five Tangos | Hans van Manen | |
The Four Seasons | Oliver Hindle | |
Giselle | Harvest pas de deux | David Bintley |
Hobson's Choice | Salvation Army | David Bintley |
Kin | Alexander Whitley | |
The Lady and the Fool | John Cranko | |
Lyric Pieces | Jessica Lang | |
Monotones II | Frederick Ashton | |
The Nutcracker | Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Fairy | Peter Wright |
The Nutcracker Sweeties | Chinoiserie | David Bintley |
The Orpheus Suite | David Bintley | |
The Rite of Spring | Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer (reconstruction) | |
Romeo and Juliet | Juliet | Kenneth MacMillan |
Scènes de ballet | Frederick Ashton | |
The Shakespeare Suite | Juliet | David Bintley |
Solitaire | Girl | Kenneth MacMillan |
The Sleeping Beauty | Princess Aurora | Peter Wright |
The Sons of Horus | David Bintley | |
Symphonic Variations | Frederick Ashton | |
Symphony in Three Movements | George Balanchine | |
The Two Pigeons | Frederick Ashton | |
Western Symphony | First movement | George Balanchine |
Dame Darcey Andrea Bussell, is an English retired ballerina and a former judge on the BBC television dance contest Strictly Come Dancing.
The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 by Dame Ninette de Valois. It became the resident ballet company of the Royal Opera House in 1946, and has purpose-built facilities within these premises. It was granted a royal charter in 1956, becoming recognised as Britain's flagship ballet company.
Carlos Yunior Acosta Quesada is a Cuban-British ballet director and retired dancer who is director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He danced with many companies including the English National Ballet, National Ballet of Cuba, Houston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. He was a permanent member of The Royal Ballet from 1998 to 2015. In 2003, he was promoted to principal guest artist, a rank which reduced his commitment, enabling him to concentrate on a growing schedule of international guest appearances and tours. He celebrated his farewell after 17 years at The Royal Ballet, dancing his last performance in November 2015 in Carmen, which he both choreographed and starred in.
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is a ballet company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was originally known as The New Zealand Ballet Company.
Leanne Faye Benjamin is a retired Australian ballet dancer who was a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London.
Marilyn Fay Jones OBE is an Australian dancer and teacher of dance. She has been described as "the greatest classical dancer Australia has produced".
Sir David Julian Bintley is an English former ballet dancer, the artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and co-artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo ballet company.
Vanessa Hooper, FIDTA, ARAD, is a retired English ballerina and theatre dancer who now works as a dance teacher, freelance choreographer, lecturer and examiner. She is the principal of the Skelton-Hooper School of Dance, which was founded by her mother, Vera Skelton.
Natasha Oughtred is an English ballerina and retired principal dancer with the Birmingham Royal Ballet.
Robert Parker is a British dancer.
Molly Smolen is an American ballet dancer.
Kevin O'Hare is a British retired ballet dancer and current Director of The Royal Ballet. He succeeded Monica Mason in the role in 2012.
The Telstra Ballet Dancer Award has been made annually since 2003, in support of the aspirations of The Australian Ballet's elite young dancers. The winner receives a cash prize of $20,000. This is the biggest prize available specifically to a dancer in Australia.
Melissa Hamilton is a Northern Irish ballet dancer and a First Soloist with the Royal Ballet, London.
Maia Makhateli is a Georgian ballet dancer. After terms with the Colorado Ballet and the Birmingham Royal Ballet, she joined the Dutch National Ballet in 2006, where she now is a principal dancer.
Céline Gittens is a Trinidadian ballerina. She is a principal dancer at the Birmingham Royal Ballet, in Birmingham, England.
Momoko Hirata is a Japanese principal dancer for the Birmingham Royal Ballet. She attended the Reiko Yamamoto Ballet School before enrolling in the Royal Ballet School in the London, England. She won the 2001 Prix de Lausanne and joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2003. She was promoted to First Artist in 2005, Soloist in 2008, and First Soloist in 2010. She briefly danced with the Barcelona Ballet as a principal dancer in 2012, before returning to the Birmingham Royal Ballet where she was promoted to Principal in 2013.
Joseph Caley is an English ballet dancer. He joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet and became a principal dancer in 2011. He left in 2017 to join the English National Ballet and was promoted to lead principal months later. Caley is set to join the Australian Ballet in 2022.
Lucinda Dunn is an Australian retired ballerina and current principle teacher at the Tanya Pearson Academy.
William Bracewell is a Welsh ballet dancer. He joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2010, and was named soloist in 2014. In 2017, he joined the Royal Ballet in London, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2022. He is the first Welsh person to hold the position.