Variations with Susan Lucas

Biography

Susan is a highly qualified classical ballet teacher with a professional career spanning 21 years with Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Born in Surrey, Susan’s local early training was in the Cecchetti method before winning a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School.

Graduating with a contract for Sadler’s Well Royal Ballet which relocated to become Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB), Susan worked her way through the ranks of the company gaining experience in Corps de Ballet, Soloist, and Principal roles. With BRB, Susan danced the principal roles of Sugar Plum Fairy (Nutcracker), Aurora and Enchanted Princess (Sleeping Beauty), Giselle, Lise (La Fille mal Gardee), Swanilda (Coppelia), Titania (The Dream), the Ballerina (Petrushka), Pineapple Poll, Symphonic Variations and the White Girl (Two Pigeons) along with many other soloist roles. She created roles in works choreographed by Kenneth Macmillan, Peter Wright, Lynne Seymour, David Bintley, and Michael Corder.

Following retirement from the stage, Susan continued her lifelong passion for ballet and trained as a teacher at the Royal Ballet School, passing the Professional Dancer’s Teacher’s Diploma with Distinction. She also holds the highest level of teacher qualification as a Fellow of the Cecchetti Society (ISTD).

Susan has over eighteen years of experience teaching ballet from beginners to vocational students. Teaching at Elmhurst Ballet School, Birmingham she was a Principal ballet tutor.

Currently, Susan is freelance and has an ever-expanding private practice coaching students in general technique, for examinations and for auditions in the UK and abroad. She is employed as a Lecturer in Ballet for Performers College (Birmingham Campus) and for the Royal Ballet School Senior Associate Programme. She regularly teaches for the Cecchetti society on their Scholarship and Associate programs and the York Scholars.

Susan instructs the Cecchetti syllabi at the Marylebone Ballet School (Vacani), and at TNA Dance Academy in Birmingham. She guests at the Nicholson School of Dance in Birmingham teaching non-curricula ballet to adults and the school’s Associate scheme.

Susan has previously taught for BRB, at White Lodge, Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, Birmingham DanceXchange, West Midlands Youth Ballet, Solihull Ballet School, Bare Bones, Wolverhampton, Coventry, and Birmingham Universities.  She has adjudicated ballet competitions for both the Cecchetti Society and the Royal Academy of Dancing in London and the West Midlands.

Susan firmly believes that ballet as an art form is for all and that not only is it wonderful exercise, it is also creative and fun – often a challenge – but always a beautiful one!

Course Information

This course is a great opportunity to learn variations from well known classical ballets. It will improve your current level of classical ballet technique while learning new combinations of steps. Throughout this course we will cover solos from three of the most famous classical ballets:

• A Bluebird variation (male or female – or perhaps both!) and a prologue fairy variation from Sleeping Beauty.
• One of the Pas de Trois solos (also male and female depending on class participants) from Act 1 of Swan Lake
• Sugar Plum Fairy variation from Nutcracker

Susan will be teaching the solos in detail from the beginning, so no prior knowledge is needed. Each solo will be taught, and then rehearsed over the duration of the course, giving time for more in-depth knowledge and development of technique. Adaptations can and will be made for different levels of balletic skill, but generally the authentic and original solo will be taught.

Each solo will be taught, and then rehearsed over the duration of the course, giving time for more in-depth knowledge and development of technique. Adaptations can and will be made for different levels of balletic skill, but the generally the authentic and original solo will be taught.