Benedicte Bemet is an Australian ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer for The Australian Ballet.
Early life and education Bemet was born in Mackay, Queensland, in about 1994, the daughter of Steven and Andrée Bemet, who are both school teachers. She has one brother. She grew up on the Gold Coast, Queensland, where she learned ballet at the Ransley Ballet Centre, and then lived in Hong Kong with her family. There, she trained at the Jean M. Wong School of Ballet. 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.
Career Bemet began dancing with the Australian Ballet in 2012. She was promoted from coryphée to soloist in 2016, 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. A dance reviewer commented that, "in her 40 years of "ballet-watching", [she] ha[d] not witnessed a debut like it ... it was extraordinary."
In 2017, Bemet suffered a severe tendon injury which caused her to take a year off from ballet, during which she explored psychology and read books about resilience and wellness. By September 2018, she was dancing as a soloist again, in the role of Flavia in Spartacus. 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." She was promoted to principal dancer in December 2019. 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:
Selected roles Bemet's repertoire with The Australian Ballet includes:
Year Ballet Choreographer(s) Role 2024 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Christopher Wheeldon Alice 2023 Swan Lake Anne Woolliams Odette/Odile 2023 Jewels George Balanchine Diamonds - Lead Couple 2023 Don Quixote Rudolf Nureyev (after Marius Petipa) Kitri<ref name="Bendall" 2023 The Dream Frederick Ashton Titania 2022 Romeo and Juliet John Cranko Juliet 2022 Harlequinade Marius Petipa and Alexei Ratmansky Columbine 2022 Kunstkamer Sol León, Paul Lightfoot, Crystal Pite and Marco Goecke Performer 2022 Anna Karenina Yuri Possokhov Kitty 2020 Capriccio François-Eloi Lavignac Solo dancer 2019 Giselle Maina Gielgud Giselle 2018 Spartacus Aram Khachaturian and Lucas Jervies Flavia 2016 Coppélia George Ogilvie and Peggy van Praagh Swanilda 2016 In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated William Forsythe Performer 2016 Grand pas classique Viktor Gvosky Performer 2016 DGV©: Danse à grande vitesse Christopher Wheeldon "Second Region" Pas de deux 2016 Symphony in C George Balanchine Third Movement Principal 2015 The Sleeping Beauty David McAllister Aurora 2015 The Sleeping Beauty David McAllister Princess Florine 2015 Giselle Maina Gielgud Peasant Pas de deux 2014 The Nutcracker Peter Wright Clara 2014 Suite en Blanc Serge Lifar Sérénade Variation
Awards
Telstra Ballet Dancer Award, 2015 Green Room Award nomination for Clara in The Nutcracker, 2014 Telstra People’s Choice Award, 2013
Personal life Bemet loves baking and cooking anything involving chocolate and has an aversion for tight fitting clothes. In order to relieve stress before shows, Bemet likes to sew pointe shoes.
References