Alumni spotlight: Jade Heusen 

Jade Heusen attended the School and later went on to join Birmingham Royal Ballet until 2018. Jade recently started Ballet Buddy, an initiative to provide personalised mentorship that bridges the gap between dancer, teacher, and therapist, offering a safe space for guidance, reassurance, and clarity.  

We spoke with Jade about her time at the School, her career, and Ballet Buddy. 

When did you begin dancing and what was your journey to The Royal Ballet School?        

I started dancing jazz when I was seven at my primary school. The teacher owned a dance school and spotted my ‘classical ballet potential’ whilst dancing to empowered banger Wannabe by the Spice Girls. She invited me to a ballet class and six months later I joined The Royal Ballet School’s Junior Associate Programme.  

Tell us about your experience at White Lodge. 

White Lodge was five of my favourite years. I had a wonderful year group, and some are still my closest friends. Those formative years, living together in rare circumstances, was uniquely bonding. I adored my ballet teachers. They supported me, inspired me and took my ballet technique to a standard I could only dream of at that time. The Academic and Pastoral Staff were brilliant too, consistently there for me. I remember Nurse Reece, Brian the driver, Sharon in the kitchen, Miss Leicester in wardrobe and Miss Briggs our physiotherapist fondly. I was honoured to be made Head Girl as I loved being an ambassador for the School and role model for younger students. 

As well as highs, there were of course lows: casting choices, homesickness, sometimes not liking meal options, the morning ‘ballet hair’ routine, feelings of progress versus setbacks and life at home to keep up with from afar. I developed resilience from a young age because it was expected that we would turn up to classes no matter what. This turned out to be a primer for the challenging moments when I was in a ballet company and the unwritten rule was to leave your problems at the door. 

What are some of your favourite memories from your time at the School?    

Some of my most fun memories are from our downtime. A favourite of mine is when our annual rounders match and BBQ descended into a chaotic water fight, with the girls using hair water-spray bottles and the boys being resourceful with mop buckets. I remember our Ballet Principal standing at the top of the famous steps shouting, ‘just don’t get injured!’  

Events and performance opportunities stand out too: dancing at Buckingham Palace, performing in The Royal Ballet’s Swan Lake and the Grand Défilé. I can remember dancing it for the first time, tears filling my eyes and chills all over my body. It was the first moment I felt pride in being part of a collective, no matter how small my part was. 

You went to Elmhurst Ballet School after White Lodge, what was that transition like? 

It was an emotional knock when I received the news I hadn’t made it into Upper School. I did however leave with the Valerie Adams Award for dancer with exceptional musicality serving as the validation and confidence I needed for my next chapter. There was a sense of grief from being pulled out of the friendships and culture I felt so comfortable in. What helped was having the others in my year who had come from White Lodge including my sidekick, Rex Wheeler. 

In 2nd Year, by chance, we were taking class in the studio with windows onto the school foyer and Marion Tait and Desmond Kelly from Birmingham Royal Ballet were waiting to view the 3rd Years for The Nutcracker casting. They spotted me, asked to come in and days later my name was on the board alongside two 3rd Year students for upcoming rehearsals at the Hippodrome. They then cast me alongside Royal Ballet School students on their UK tour of Swan Lake and took me on tour with them to Japan. In my final year, Sir David Bintley offered me a contract. 

Elmhurst proved to be the right decision and when I watched my respective year group’s Royal Ballet School end-of-year performance at the Opera House, all of my old teachers voiced how proud they were of me and I realised, once in the family, always in it. All l had done was expand it, graduating a proud alum of both institutes.

You graduated into Birmingham Royal Ballet, what are some of your highlights from your time in Company? 

Major highlights are the hilarious moments in the dressing room and on stage – we were a very close-knit company, and I miss that aspect of my daily work life. Other meaningful moments were when the work went beyond the floodlights such as the time one of the swans in our corps de ballet received devastating news on a performance day, and we rallied to get her through the show. 

What are some of the challenges you faced in your career as a dancer? 

I faced burnout which manifested in depression upon first diagnosis. Glandular fever hospitalised me after I had been touring with the virus without knowing that’s what it was. Both things hit at a time when casting was good which was demoralising. On reflection I can see the factors which led to this: work-life balance, sleep and diet changes, always saying ‘yes’ to extra work and dealing with unintentional problematic comments on my own. 

The challenge was how to get back to work when my perception of everything had changed and I had chronic fatigue. The Company and the clinical department were excellent. I decided to be open about my experience and report my sign-off honestly, which was the first time someone had transparently done so in regard to psychological well-being. 

It must have been a difficult decision to move on from Birmingham Royal Ballet, what triggered it? 

During what would have been my final summer break with the Company, I started to explore my past passions I had left behind: acting, singing and other dance styles. When work resumed, I knew I was ready to explore new pastures and spoke with David and Marion who completely understood. My final performance was La Fille mal gardée dancing alongside friends who left me to perform the classic Fred Step alone without me knowing, at the end of the ballet. It was a wonderful sign-off. 

You have since began mentoring and coaching young dancers, what drew you to this side of the industry? 

At the same time my son was born, Dancer’s Career Development released a new programme for ex-dancers to mentor Royal Ballet School students in their final year. I had the pleasure of working with recent alum, Tianie-Finn Grainger. I could pay forward my experiences, offering empathy and alternative approaches to the challenges she faced, and celebrate her wins. Her mother thanked me for being there for Tianie, which meant so much and added to my hope that I might be able to make a positive difference doing more of this work. 

Tell us about your initiative, Ballet Buddy. 

Ballet Buddy aims to give dancers and parents trusted and compassionate support from someone in a neutral position, who bridges the gap between dancer, therapist and teacher, where industry-related anxieties can be nipped in the bud to prevent them snowballing into mental health issues. I’ve been working with two trial mentees, and it’s been wonderful to see the dancer’s confidence grow. She can now positively reframe difficult situations. 

Who are some of the mentors you’ve had in your life and what are some of the things they helped you with? 

One of my mentors was Lauren Cuthbertson who is also from Devon; we became family friends after we met with our mums when I was first starting at White Lodge. Another was Iain Mackay as we became friends during our time together at Birmingham Royal Ballet. We went for coffee after I returned from having glandular fever and was disappointed not to have my name down for a role, and he encouraged me to speak with David Bintley. He helped me figure out how to approach the conversation and reassured me, so I spoke to David. I did and was relieved by his response, ‘aren’t you already down to do it?’ I realised after enough years in the Company, I had earned my place to justify a reasonable query about casting. 

How do you define success? 

It’s being in touch with and at ease with who you are at your core, no matter what happens or whether you ‘fail’ at something. It’s important to be proud of the literal successes so long as we don’t mistake them for our value.  

Find out more about Ballet Buddy by visiting their website or email [email protected]