This ballerina pushed boundaries and overcame setbacks to become one of Australia’s greatest
For 20 years, Robyn Hendricks has dazzled audiences of The Australian Ballet with her talent, grace and determination. This month, she plays an iconic role to cap off her anniversary with the company.
When Robyn Hendricks arrived in Melbourne to join The Australian Ballet School from her home of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, she had just turned 16, spoke a different language and had left her family on the other side of the world.
Now aged 38, she is a principal artist with The Australian Ballet and celebrating her 20th year with the company. She is also currently starring as the Sugar Plum Fairy in Tchaikovsky’s beloved ballet The Nutcracker, on stage at the Sydney Opera House in the lead-up to Christmas.
The ballet is a fitting tribute to Hendricks’s two-decade journey; she’s danced numerous roles in the production, each marking her rise through the ranks. “It’s one of those ballets you grow up with, and as you get older and progress, you start performing the more senior roles,” she says. “Coming back to it now, I can see how far I’ve come.”
Hendricks has been reflecting on the past 20 years as her anniversary approaches, marvelling at how fast time has gone and taking stock of her growth as a professional dancer. “I was this brown girl in South Africa who got the chance to attend an incredible school, then got an amazing job in one of the best companies in the world, and somehow ended up as a principal in this amazing company,” she says. “How did that even happen?”
It’s a remarkable story. From as early as she can remember, Hendricks had a deep love for dance and a natural instinct to create movement. “I was always exploring what my body could do, walking on my toes or choreographing my own dances in the living room,” she says. By the age of eight, at her grandfather’s suggestion, she was enrolled in ballet classes and instantly felt a connection to the art form, though also a sense of otherness as the only non-white student among her peers. “I looked different to the other girls in the class, and it was probably just as strange for them as it was for me,” she says. “I had to work that little bit harder to be accepted and to feel like I was allowed to be there just as much as everyone else.”
When Hendricks first arrived in Australia, the initial culture shock again made her feel like an outsider, so she drew on her tenacity and strong will to push through. “I wasn’t prepared for what I experienced,” she says about those early days in Melbourne. “There was so much I had to learn very quickly and there was a lot of sacrifice.” Yet she also found freedom in her new country, not only feeling safer in the community, but also discovering a sense of belonging. “I was accepted right from the first moment I came here and no one ever brought up the colour of my skin or the fact I spoke a different language,” she reflects. “I didn’t have to explain myself or feel lesser than anyone else.”
In 2005, after three years of intensive training, Hendricks was invited to join The Australian Ballet. Her rise was swift: she was promoted to soloist in 2011, senior artist in 2016, and later that same year, principal dancer.
There have been numerous career highlights over the years, but two pivotal moments stand out. The first was being selected to dance in the corps de ballet for The Australian Ballet while still a 17-year-old student. It gave her an exhilarating glimpse into professional life and the opportunity to work alongside seasoned dancers. The second came unexpectedly after joining the company, when she stepped in for an injured dancer in Christopher Wheeldon’s acclaimed contemporary ballet After the Rain. “I was very nervous, but deep down, I knew I could do it,” she recalls of taking on the role. “That performance changed how people saw me – it opened a lot of doors and made them take me more seriously.”
It’s Swan Lake, however, that holds a particularly special place in her heart. “It’s the ballet I made my debut in, and it was during that season I was promoted to principal,” she reveals. It was also the first production she danced in after welcoming her daughter Margaux, now almost two, with her husband Charles Thompson, a former member of The Australian Ballet.
It hasn’t been all standing ovations, though. Like any ballet career, there have been setbacks. Hendricks suffered a complicated foot injury in 2011 that left her on crutches, and was told she might have to consider a life beyond professional dance. “In the back of my mind I heard it,” she says thinking back, “but I knew I wanted to keep going. I knew that I wasn’t done.” It took 11 months to return to the stage, but longer still to feel truly “performance fit”.
Throughout it all, Hendricks has found inspiration in the talent around her. “To be surrounded by people who are so creative and like-minded, who are just as enthused about bringing out the best in each other, is what motivates me to be better every day,” she says emphatically.
There will be three weeks of rehearsals before The Nutcracker opens at the Opera House. As part of her preparation for the prestigious role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Hendricks will immerse herself in Tchaikovsky’s music. “It’s the most magical score and I think the music sets the tone and mood,” she says.
With her grace, precision and instinct for conveying emotion, Hendricks will cast a spell of ethereal elegance on stage in the classic fairytale, but she will also reconnect with the simple joy that first ignited her passion for ballet as a child of “exploring and pushing boundaries”.
It’s that pure love of dance that still drives her today.
The Nutcracker is on stage now at The Sydney Opera House, until December 18.
Styling: by Kaila Matthews
Photography: Daphne Nguyen
This story is from the December issue of Vogue Australia, on sale now.
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