Remembering Susan Lucas
The Royal Ballet School is deeply saddened to learn that Susan Lucas, a former Birmingham Associate Teacher and alum of the School, has died.
Susan (Sue) first joined the School aged 16 after winning the Cyril Beaumont Scholarship to attend the Upper School. She graduated following a performance of Coppélia, dancing the role of Swanhilda across Sir David Bintley’s Dr Coppelius. She joined the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet under Sir Peter Wright following her graduation. She was promoted to First Soloist after five years in the Company. When the Company became Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1990, she continued performing Principal roles in major productions, including The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Coppélia and The Dream.
She retired from the stage after 21 years to pursue a career in teaching. She returned to the School to complete the Diploma of Dance Teaching, which she passed with Distinction. She also held Fellowship status with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing.
Susan’s close friend and former colleague, Annette Pain, recalled their parallel careers:
I joined the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet in 1983, where I danced alongside Sue, already an established dancer with the Company by then. She was a lovely dancer and a First Soloist. Her artistry and sensitivity on stage led her to earn numerous Principal roles, each one very well deserved.
We both later transitioned into teaching, and I always admired both her passion for teaching and her compassion towards her students. Those fortunate enough to learn from Sue benefited immensely from the wisdom she gained throughout her dancing career.
Sue and I were neighbours, and I shall miss the times we shared over coffee.
Susan was the Principal ballet tutor at Elmhurst Ballet School for fourteen years, where she co-developed and led the Cecchetti programme, the method she studied prior to joining the School. As a freelance teacher, she also hosted workshops in British Ballet Heritage, linking the pedagogical threads between Enrico Cecchetti, Dame Ninette de Valois and Sir Frederick Ashton’s choreography, ensuring that the next generation of dancers learned about their history.
She also taught students in our Birmingham Senior Associate Programme. Ann Wall, one of her former Associate students, remembered her kindness in the studio:
I was a Senior Associate in Birmingham from 2009-2012 and was fortunate enough to be taught by Miss Lucas. I went on to train at English National Ballet School and have had a career as a freelance dancer for the last 10 years.
Miss Lucas was such a kind and thoughtful teacher. She went beyond in every sense in her care for students. I remember as a young 15-year-old how she nurtured and encouraged me. She taught with so much intelligence, and her classes had meaning from start to finish.
Her choreography was always so expressive and musical, and she instilled the importance of artistry in every single lesson. I remember the individual chats she had with the students and parents and how much they helped me to understand what I wanted from my career. She encouraged me to see that my passion lay in outreach and bringing ballet to the community, and I have held strong to that my whole career.
We reconnected in my professional life, and she helped me with training throughout the pandemic. Her attention to detail and depth of thought in every lesson shaped me as a dancer, and I still think about her corrections and approach when I perform and teach now nearly 15 years later.
Miss Lucas will be greatly missed, but she has left a legacy behind her and no doubt touched everyone she taught with kindness and inspiration.
Susan’s Associate colleague, Rachel Hester, shared more about her passion for teaching:
Sue and I liaised closely when we co-taught the Birmingham Senior Associates. She was the sole Birmingham Senior Associate teacher when I joined the team, then we equally shared the classes (15 each per year) for a few years. Sue made my transition into teaching the Senior Associates seamless, and her passion for the Programme was obvious. She was meticulous with detail and knew the system of training inside and out. She was extremely generous with her time whenever I needed a question answered.
On the few occasions I had the privilege of watching Sue teach, she always showed real empathy towards her students and their needs. She took her teaching very seriously and set high, yet realistic, expectations for her students, which they all endeavoured to live up to.
Susan will be remembered for her kind and steadfast dedication to ballet and to her students. She will be missed by all who knew her at The Royal Ballet School and beyond.
Susan as Aurora (left) and performing the pas de quatre (right) in The Sleeping Beauty. Photos courtesy of Birmingham Royal Ballet.
Catja Christensen is the Marketing and Communications Executive at The Royal Ballet School and joined the School in 2025. She enjoys interviewing students, staff and guest artists for news stories and crafting eye-catching newsletters.
