Dana Stephensen (born July 21, 1985) is an Australian

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

. She is a soloist of

The Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and direc ...

Dance career

Stephensen started her dance training at the age of three in Brisbane. In 2001 she joined the Queensland Dance School of Excellence and obtained the

Royal Academy of Dance "Health and happiness" , predecessor = , successor = , formation = 1920 , extinction = , type = NGO , status = Registered charity , purpose = Examination board – dance education and training , headquarters = 36 Battersea SquareSW11 3 ...

Solo Seal. After becoming an Interstate Associate of The Australian Ballet School, she joined the senior school in 2002. She performed several seasons seconded to The Australian Ballet and joined full-time in 2005. She was promoted to coryphée in 2010 and soloist in 2013. Stephensen won the Telstra Ballet Dancer Award for 2010, jointly with

Ty King-Wall Ty King-Wall is a New Zealand ballet dancer, an ex principal dancer with The Australian Ballet and current Artistic Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Dance career King-Wall was born in Waihi, New Zealand. He started dancing aged seven an ...

Selected repertoire

* Lead Cupid in ''Molto Vivace'', 2010 * Guardian Swan in

Graeme Murphy Graeme Lloyd Murphy AO (born 2 November 1950) is an Australian choreographer. With his fellow dancer (and wife since 2004) Janet Vernon, he guided Sydney Dance Company to become one of Australia's most successful and best-known dance compani ...

's ''Swan Lake'', 2008–2010 * Kitri in ''Don Quixote'', 2010 (as Guest Artist with Australian touring company The Dancers Company)

Other activities

Stephensen played an Australian Ballet dancer in the 2009 film '' Mao's Last Dancer''.

Personal life

Stephensen has a son Jasper born on 23rd September 2015 with her former husband Michael Kai. As of early 2020, Stephensen is engaged to

Lachlan Gillespie Lachlan Gillespie (born 23 October 1985) is an Australian singer, musician, and actor. He is a member of the Wiggles and wears the purple skivvy. Early life Gillespie began playing the piano at the age of four, and started formal singing traini ...

of the Wiggles, whom she met while filming a Wiggles DVD special in December 2018. They wed in late November 2022. On 11 September 2020, Stephensen and Gillespie announced via Instagram the arrival of their newborn twin daughters, Lulu and Lottie.

Awards

* Telstra Ballet Dancer Award 2010 * Khitercs Scholarship, 2008 * James and Pamela Mills Scholarship, 2004 * Graeme Murphy Award for Excellence in Contemporary Dance, 2003

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephensen, Dana Australian ballerinas Dancers of the Australian Ballet Living people People from Brisbane Telstra Ballet Dancer Award winners Telstra People's Choice Award winners 1980s births