Special Performance By Australian Ballet Star

The Australia 2006 Chinese New Year Global Gala will have a grand opening in the Sydney State Theatre on February 18. In addition to the performances by the renowned artists invited from around the world, Lucinda Dunn, a star in the Australian ballet dance world, will also perform on stage.

Lucinda Dunn is a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet. She showed her dancing gift when she was very young. At first, she studied ballet dance in Sydney. Later because of her outstanding artistic performance, she was awarded with the scholarship of the Royal Ballet School, London, and pursued further advances in the Royal Ballet School, Birmingham.

In 1991 she joined the Australian Ballet and in 1995 she was promoted to senior ballet dancer. In 2002 when it was the Australian Ballet's 40th anniversary, she became principle dancer of the Australian Ballet.

Because of her diligent and lasting effort toward the art of ballet, she became a specially invited guest dancer of the Royal Danish Ballet and Le Jeunne Ballet de France, and she won a scholarship to pursue advanced studies in the US. She studied under Gelsey Kirkland, an internationally famous dancer, Georgina Parkinson, a former principle dancer of American Ballet Theater, and Marianna Tcherkassky , a former principle dancer of American Ballet Theater.

In her ballet career, she has mostly danced the famous classical ballets, for example: "Giselle", "La Bayadere", "Don Quixote", "Spartacus" and "Sleeping Beauty" and so on. Of course, she has also danced many modern ballets, for example: "Sinfonietta", "Gemini" and "Por vos muero".

For the roles she danced in "Theme", "Variations" and "The Merry Widow ", Lucinda was nominated for dancing performer's Mo prize of 2002.

Last year, as a specially invited dancer, Lucinda, together with Birmingham Royal Ballet Troupe, performed the complete Ballet "Far From the Madding Crowd," which was created by David Bintley. She also danced the noble madam in "Three Swordsmen" and later danced the leading role in "Velocity" created by Stanton Welch. Lucinda is also a specially invited guest dancer in the Sydney Youth Ballet Company.

The Epoch Times is proud to join with New Tang Dynasty T.V. and Sound of Hope Radio in co-sponsoring "Myths and Legends," NTDTV's Chinese New Year Global Gala. This article is one of a series meant to introduce this unique and important event.