Leading light of the Australian Ballet since 1991 will take her final curtain call in 2014.

Australia’s longest serving ballerina Lucinda Dunn has announced that she will retire in April. Her final performances of a remarkable 23-year career with The Australian Ballet will be in Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon playing in Melbourne and Sydney.

“After spending more than half my life with The Australian Ballet, it feels like a lifetime ago that I joined the company as a 17-year-old,” the popular mother of two said in a press release. “My journey through the ranks of this special career has been marked by many memorable and unforgettable experiences, performances, partners, tours and coaches – but it is a fitting time to retire.”

Born and raised in Sydney, Lucinda won the Prix de Lausanne scholarship to study at The Royal Ballet School in London before joining The Australian Ballet in 1991. Career highlights included principal roles in Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Romeo and Juliet, as well as leading roles in contemporary works by Christopher Wheeldon, Jiří Kylián and George Balanchine.

While raising two children (daughters Claudia in 2008 and Ava in 2011), Lucinda kept her career moving forward, taking a mere...