Lana Jones is an Australian retired

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 was a principal dancer with

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 direct ...

, and danced with the company for 16 years.

Early life and training

Jones was born in Coffs Harbour, but soon relocated to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. She started her ballet training at the Canberra Youth Ballet School, where her principal trainer was Lorraine Bennett. Lana competed in the Genée Awards in London at the end of 1998, gaining a silver medal, In 1999, she relocated to Melbourne to train at the Australian Ballet School and graduated in 2002.

Career

Jones joined

in 2002. She was named to coryphée in 2005, and principal artist in 2005. During her time at the company, she has danced Princess Aurora in '' The Sleeping Beauty'', the title role in ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' and the title role in ''

The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev' ...

''. Outside of The Australian Ballet, she made guest appearances in different companies, including galas of

Northern Ballet Northern Ballet, formerly Northern Ballet Theatre, is a dance company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a strong repertoire in theatrical dance productions where the emphasis is on story telling as well as classical ballet. The company ...

Singapore Dance Theatre The Singapore Ballet (formerly known as Singapore Dance Theatre) is Singapore's national dance company, founded in 1988 by Anthony Then and Goh Soo Khim. The Artistic Director of the company is Janek Schergen. History It made its debut in Jun ...

and

West Australian Ballet West Australian Ballet is the State ballet company of Western Australia and is based in Perth, at the Western Australian Ballet Centre in Maylands. The company was founded in 1952 by Madame Kira Bousloff (formerly of the Ballets Russes) and ...

, as well as in

Hong Kong Ballet The Hong Kong Ballet () is a classical ballet company founded in 1979. History The company was created in 1979. Since 1997, The Hong Kong Ballet has concluded more than 30 tours to 10 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia. I ...

's ''

Rubies A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sap ...

''. Jones retired from the Australian Ballet in 2019.

Selected repertoire

*The Firebird in ''

'' *Cinderella in Alexei Ratmansky’s ''

'' *Kitri in Rudolf Nureyev’s ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

'' *Odette/Odile in Stephen Baynes’ '' Swan Lake'' *Manon in Kenneth MacMillan’s '' Manon'' *Giselle in Maina Gielgud’s ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...

'' *Odette and Baroness von Rothbart in Graeme Murphy’s ''Swan Lake'' *Aurora in David McAllister's '' The Sleeping Beauty'' *Pas de deux from '' After the Rain'' *''

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

'' Sources:

Awards

*Lissa Black Scholarship 2010 *Khitercs Hirai Foundation Scholarship 2009 *Australian Dance Award for outstanding performance by a female dancer in '

'' 2009 *Green Room Award for best female dancer in ''The Firebird'' 2009 *Helpmann Award for best female dancer in ''The Firebird'' 2009 *Helpmann Award for best female dancer in ''Forgotten Land'' 2006 *Freda May Irving Scholarship 2006

Personal life

Jones is married to fellow Australian Ballet principal artist

Daniel Gaudiello Daniel Gaudiello (born 1982) is an Australian ballet dancer. He performed with The Australian Ballet from 2004 until his retirement as a principal artist in March 2016 to dance and teach as a freelancer. Dance career Daniel Gaudiello began dan ...

. They have a son and two dogs. Outside of ballet, Jones enjoy photography and jet skiing.

References

External links

Lana Jones
- Australian Ballet profile
Meet our Principal Artist Lana JonesPrincipal Artist Lana Jones Takes a Final Bow in 2018
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Lana Australian ballerinas Australian Ballet principal dancers Living people People from Canberra 1980s births 21st-century ballet dancers 21st-century Australian dancers Australian Ballet School alumni Telstra Ballet Dancer Award winners