Queensland Ballet denies claims of comeback role after Leanne Benjamin’s exit

Speculation is now swirling after an announcement that rocked the arts world.

Former Queensland Ballet artistic director Li Cunxin. Picture: Richard Walker

Queensland Ballet has denied speculation its former boss, Li Cunxin, will return to the flagship company in a significant role, as it reels from the shock exit of its artistic director.

Speculation about Li’s possible return to Queensland Ballet was fuelled by the abrupt departure of Leanne Benjamin, who was appointed as artistic director of the company earlier this year.

In an announcement that rocked the arts world, Benjamin, a former Royal Ballet ballerina, left her position last week because “funding restraints” meant she could not carry out her vision for the company.

Asked to comment on claims that Li, who ran the company for 11 years, would return to Queensland Ballet, executive ­director Dilshani Weerasinghe said: “I can confirm that Li Cunxin AO will not be returning to Queensland Ballet in his former role as artistic director”.

“We will continue to see him in our theatres and studios every now and then. He’ll never be a stranger,” Ms Weerasinghe said.

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Li, the subject of the Mao’s Last Dancer book and film, was a popular figure at the company and stepped down in December 2023 for health reasons.

He said this week that “Queensland Ballet will always hold a special place in my heart, however Mary (his wife) and I are enjoying our retirement”.

“We will continue to focus on our health, as well as devote some time to our family, fundraising and travel,” he said.

Benjamin’s departure came as a separate crisis unfolded at another flagship Queensland arts organisation, Queensland Theatre, which cancelled the ­entire month-long season of its ­political satire, POTUS, Or ­Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive.

In a statement, QT said the “difficult decision” was made by the board who “unanimously ­determined that there were too many uncertainties … for the company to deliver a successful and safe season”.

The QT board blamed the cancellation on one actor’s ­illness, ­another cast member’s resignation “for personal reasons” and a lack of available movement directors to train new performers.

The production was directed by Lee Lewis, who quit as QT ­artistic director in March 2024, just four years into her tenure.

Although Lewis steered QT through the Covid-19 pandemic, she was reportedly targeted by detractors who objected to her engaging artists from outside Queensland.

The cancellation of Lewis’s latest production had raised eyebrows, with one prediction it could cost the company $500,000 in lost ticket sales.

A QT spokeswoman said that while “there is a financial ­implication from the cancellation of this production, the health and wellbeing of our cast, creatives and crew was our top priority”.

POTUS is a Tony-nominated satire by Selina Fellinger about an American president, the “powerhouse” women who keep him afloat, a sex scandal and an assassination attempt, and the company ­described it as “not for the faint-hearted”.