In 1981, 18-year-old Fiona Lummis Eddy took a taxi from the Rotterdam airport in the Netherlands through the picturesque Dutch town of The Hague. She watched winding canals and historic architecture fly by her window as butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Arriving at the unassuming building of Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), Lummis Eddy hesitantly rang the bell.
Just three days earlier, her mentor had called her at her parent’s home in Camberley, England with the news of an impending audition at NDT. Though she didn’t know what to expect, the English-born dancer boarded a plane.
An energetic woman answered the door of NDT and warmly welcomed her inside. After a brief tour where she pointed out empty dance studios, she escorted Lummis Eddy to the Park Central Hotel near the studio. Sitting alone in her hotel room, it all felt like a dream.
The next morning, Lummis Eddy stood behind the NDT company dancers at the ballet barre and marveled at their facilities and talent. Inspired by the tall men and elegant women, Lummis Eddy did what she did best. She danced.
The following few days were a whirlwind. Taking more classes and observing rehearsals, Lummis Eddy was struck by the welcoming work environment. Although the company was full of world-renowned dancers, they didn’t take themselves too seriously and kept a non-judgmental atmosphere.
Near the end of her trip, she was suddenly ushered into an upstairs office with NDT’s general manager, Carel Birnie. He swiftly slid papers across a table toward Lummis Eddy and handed her a pen: “We would like to offer you a contract with NDT.”
Muttering words of gratitude, Lummis Eddy turned her attention to the contract. As she glanced over it, her smile dropped; it was written completely in Dutch.
Her dad’s voice rang through her head, “Fiona, remember don’t sign anything you don’t understand.” She flipped through the pages before building up the courage to say, “Well, thank you, but can I take this home?”
The room fell silent and Birnie’s face twitched, his smile disappearing for half a second. Lummis Eddy didn’t know this at the time, but Birnie had a reputation for persistence. He assured her that he could explain what was written, but Lummis Eddy repeated that she would rather look over it in English first. Even with an offer from one of the most acclaimed dance companies in the world, she listened to her gut and negotiated.
She took the contract home to England, translated it and signed it, kicking off her career with NDT as a principal that would go on for the next 20 years.
Known for her wild and powerful performance quality, Lummis Eddy stands out as one of the longest-tenured members in the history of NDT: an internationally famed company celebrated for its groundbreaking contributions to the realm of contemporary dance. During her tenure, Jiří Kylián, then Artistic Director of NDT and resident choreographer, was instrumental in shaping the company’s repertoire. His world-renowned choreography holds a significant place in the contemporary ballet canon.
Lummis Eddy’s extensive collaboration with Kylián resulted in the creation of new roles in an impressive 15 in of his ballets, a feat that it is practically unheard of in the dance industry. These roles are now performed by different companies worldwide.
After her performance career, Lummis Eddy moved to South Pasadena, California with her family. She now serves on faculty at both the Los Angeles County School for the Performing Arts. She is an Artist in Residence at the University of Southern California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. She also stages Kylián’s works internationally.
Sitting in an empty office of the Kaufman Dance Center, Lummis Eddy brushes her brown hair away from her eyes and flashes an affectionate smile. “I guess I’ll start from the beginning and just keep talking,” she says with the touch of a British accent that’s survived her years in the U.S.
Born in 1963, Lummis Eddy grew up in a warm and supportive family with her parents and three older siblings. “Being the youngest, by quite a lot, I always felt loved,” she said.
Her father served in the British army, so the family moved frequently. But when Lummis Eddy was four, they settled near the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. It was there that Lummis Eddy began taking dance classes, encouraged by her older sister. By age nine, she enrolled at Elmhurst Ballet School in Sandhurst, where she studied dance and other art forms such as theater, art and music.
Despite her training, Lummis Eddy wasn’t initially interested in pursuing dance. Instead, she envisioned a path in theater.
“I knew I could be an actress,” she said with a soft laugh. However, as she progressed through school, Lummis Eddy found herself portraying characters through her dancing, and she welcomed the idea of dancing professionally.
When she turned 16, Lummis Eddy began auditioning for different college preparatory schools where she could continue her dance education. Choosing Rambert Academy, which had been founded that year (1979), she studied under the artistic direction of Christopher Bruce. In the intimate cohort of dancers at Rambert, she was encouraged to explore different facets of her identity, apart from her naturally outgoing side.
“With dancing, I could hide in the silence, which I love,” said Lummis Eddy “I can be silent, but expressive.”
Bruce’s connections in the dance world paved Lummis Eddy’s way to NDT, where she spent the bulk of her performance career. After receiving an offer from them unexpectedly at the age of 18, she moved to the Netherlands to be a part of their second company.
In just a year, Lummis Eddy was promoted to the main company. In addition to her hard work, she attributed this move to her choreographic compatibility with Kylián. Their strong working relationship was further bolstered by their shared love of music and dedication to the choreography, all while being able to laugh and have fun in the studio.
“Again, it’s that sort of silent communication,” Lummis Eddy said about her time with Kylián, “without saying anything, you’re saying everything when you understand the work at hand.”
Over her two decades with NDT, Lummis Eddy said she couldn’t recall a difficult experience working with Kylián – a testament not only to his leadership but also to her adaptability and calming presence.
A significant moment in Lummis Eddy’s career was when she took on the lead role in Kylián’s two-act ballet, “Kaguyahime: The Moon Princess.” This ballet, an abstract interpretation of an ancient Japanese fairytale, involved close collaboration between Lummis Eddy and Kylián throughout the preparation process.
In one memorable gala performance at the famed Paris Opera Garnier, both the late Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and President Mitterand of France attended as part of a special diplomatic event. When the ballet finished, Lummis Eddy felt a rare and gratifying sense of relief and happiness from her performance, uncommon emotions for dancers who often serve as their own harshest critics.
As Lummis Eddy and the company took their bows amidst the resounding applause, she beamed with a wide smile just before the heavy red curtain dropped. But as they stood behind it, the clapping continued.
The backstage crew motioned for Lummis Eddy to return to the stage alongside Kylián for another bow. Unaccustomed to this attention, she shook her head no, but Kylián beckoned her forward. As Lummis Eddy peered out with one foot extended forward, she realized that the audience wasn’t applauding her but the Queen and she and Kylián retreated in a fit of laughter.
As Lummis Eddy settled into her life in the quaint city of The Hague, she grew close to another company dancer, Glen Eddy. Fiona met Glen at her first audition when she was 18, standing unknowingly behind the man who would later become her husband. While their relationship started professionally, they eventually became friends, always finding ways to make one another laugh.
“We are both Pisces and we used to organize Pisces parties together in February,” Fiona said. While the pair danced together extensively, Fiona said that their spark didn’t come from partnering but from the congruity of their personalities. They married in 1996, 15 years after they met.
Fiona became pregnant and had their son, Jack, in 2000 while still at NDT. She returned to the stage for one more year before formally retiring from NDT in 2001.
The Eddys relocated to South Pasadena, Glen’s hometown and had their second son, Gus. As she entered motherhood, Fiona shifted to teaching and staging Kylián’s ballets for companies and schools worldwide.
Hope Patterson is one of Fiona’s students at the Kaufman School of Dance. Now in her fourth year of the program, Patterson considers Fiona a formative mentor.
“She creates an environment that is both productive yet also warm, lighthearted and incredibly personal,” she said. Before beginning her ballet classes every morning, Fiona checks in with each of her students, walking around the room offering hugs and advice.
When in rehearsal, Fiona commands the room with ease despite being soft-spoken and serene.
“She goes beyond just teaching dance steps,” Patterson said. “But she has reminded me of the importance of being an individual and feeling confident in the way I can uniquely dance a role.”
Fiona enjoys passing down Kylián’s legacy and movement. “You know, it’s not even that Jiří needs us to keep his work alive,” she said. “I just think it’s really important for other people to look at history in that way.”
Learning and performing Kylián’s choreography was instrumental in Fiona’s development as a dancer, shaping her artistic expression and contributing significantly to her growth. Reflecting on the experience, she emphasized the special significance of teaching the repertoire to younger dancers: “It’s like musicians learning existing pieces of music to find your way as an artist.”
Immersed in the world of dance for the better part of her life, Fiona wouldn’t have it any other way. She continues to teach because she finds a profound connection with people through the silent communication of dance.
“You reach a point in dance where you say very little, and it’s glorious,” she said. “Let’s all say less and dance more.”