Leanne Benjamin: Built for Ballet

by Leanne Benjamin, Sarah Crompton

This autobiography by Leanne Benjamin with Sarah Crompton reveals the extraordinary life and career of one of the world's most important ballet dancers of the past fifty years. The book takes you behind the scenes to find a real understanding of the pleasure and the pain, the demands and the intense commitment it requires to become a ballet dancer. It is a book for ballet-lovers which will explain from Benjamin's personal point of view, how ballet has changed and is changing. It is a book of she was first taught by the people who created ballet in its modern form and now she works with the dancers of today, handing on all she has known and learnt. But it is also a book for people who are just interested in the psychology of achievement, how you go from being a child in small-town Rockhampton in the centre of Australia to being a power on the world's biggest stages -- and how an individual copes with the ups and downs of that kind of career. It is a story full of big names and big personalities -- Margot Fonteyn, Kenneth MacMillan, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Darcey Bussell, Carlos Acosta to name a few. President Clinton, Michelle Obama, Diana Princess of Wales and David Beckham all make an appearance. But it is also a book of small moments of what makes a performance special, how you recover from injury, illness and childbirth; how you combine athletic and artistic prowess with motherhood, how a different partner can alter everything, what it is like to fall over in front of thousands of people and what it is like to triumph. Above all, it seeks to explain, in warm and human terms, why women get the reputation for being difficult in a world where being a good girl is too much prized. And what they can do about it.

Genres: Biography, Memoir

400 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2021

Reviews

[Rosemary Atwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benjamin’s passion, work ethic and dedication to her art shines through on every page. A beautiful, warm autobiography bristling with analysis and generosity makes ‘Built for Ballet’ a truly inspirational read for dancers and non-dancers alike.

Moreover, it appears that working conditions, physical and mental well-being, some autonomy in choosing performance roles, making decisions and an overall improvement in all aspects of training and professional careers are finally on the up compared to those of their counterparts a generation or three ago. Perhaps this is partially why Benjamin has maintained her peak physical condition and outlook as she nears her sixth decade.

[Bea Lee-Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Inspirational Read

I was captivated by this story from start to finish. It details tale of resilience, determination and Chutzpah. Leanne Benjamin is an incredible artist, teacher, writer and director. My only disappointment was I would have loved to have seen some photos.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting if you are a ballet fan and nice to see someone who started their journey in a small country town. Writing was unobtrusive but I feel like we didn’t get into much emotional depth and it was more a recount of her career (which was probably the idea, but personally not what I love from a memoir).

3 ⭐️

[MadeleineWP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leanne Benjamin has written a smashing book about her long and distinguished career as a ballet dancer. It’s about much more than her own journey. She describes the major choreographers, directors and dancers who taught her, those who danced with her and those who she now coaches. Leanne is generous, humble, amusing and insightful.

[Catherine David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading this - gave great insight into the world of the Royal Ballet and an Australian dancer that I admit I didn’t know about before I’d read her story. Would recommend to any other ballet fans, whether they know Leanne’s dancing or not.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ashamed to say, I’d never heard of this dancer and was intrigued.
Wish I could be enthusiastic.

[Emma Topalova · Rating 4 out of 5]

inspirational :)

[Zoe :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing read, and as someone who is generally not a non-fiction or memoir reader, I thought that the life lessons explored in this book had such a range and depth and I was able to apply them to many facets of my own life. Being a lover of ballet myself was a bonus; this book has made me love it even more, and has given me such an insight into the nuances in the art form that I had never even considered before! Leanne has a way of putting things into such concise wording that the lesson and meaning is clear and straightforward- she doesn't beat around the bush. All in all, it was an amazing read.

[Delaney · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Most dancers in the seventies and eighties were good girls, who were convinced that submissiveness and obedience were part of the way ballerinas behaved. For whatever reason, I wasn't.”

She’s such a pick me girl I was dying