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Alessia

Alessia started ballet at the age of four at Teatro Bellini School of Ballet, Catania, Italy. She continued intermittently, due to many ballet related injuries, until the age of twenty. As a young dancer, she performed in prestigious Italian theatres including Teatro Antico of Taormina and Opera Theatre of Sanremo. After a seventeen year gap without ballet, during which she embraced latin american dances, Alessia’s love and passion for ballet prevailed, and she made her comeback to the ballet world as an amateur dancer in London. She was thrilled to join Chelsea Ballet in 2008; she feels privileged and grateful for the opportunity to perform different roles in the many wonderful ballets of Chelsea Ballet repertoire.

Angels

Àngels Puig

Àngels danced sardanes (Catalan traditional dance) in her teenage years in a group that competed in championships and enjoyed social dancing many different styles (Lindy hop, Rock-'n'-Roll, Balboa, Collegiate Shag, Cha-cha-cha, etc.) years before discovering a ballet class for adults in Germany back in 2017. Ever since then she has invested her spare time attending ballet classes and workshops to learn technique, pointe work and repertoire. After moving to the UK, and having attended many years the beloved Chelsea Summer School, she has recently joined the company.

Cassandra

Cassandra Jacobs

Dance has been part of Cassandra's life since the age of four when she joined a local ballet school. After gaining a degree in Creative Arts, she studied mime and mask work, before touring Europe performing commedia dell arte. Cassandra became a mother, but the desire to dance was still there and in 1991 she joined Chelsea ballet where she found a friendly group of people with a passion for ballet. As well as all the dancing she has designed and made costumes for the company, which helped her get work as a professional costumier.

Cassandra choreographed Impressions of Inuyasha, which the company has performed on a number of occasions, as well as Taming of the Shrew, a pas de deux which is a much loved staple of the community performances.

Claire

Claire Downing

Claire was born in Essex and started training at a local RAD school when she was four-years-old. She trained to Elementary (now Intermediate) standard, but when she was told that she "wouldn't make it as a dancer" and to train further would mean travelling to London for more expensive exams, she decided her future lay elsewhere.

When marriage brought her to London, a desire to keep fit found her taking up ballet at a local evening class. A friend had recently joined Chelsea Ballet and she convinced Claire to “have a go” as well. Claire now considers the close knit, friendly and supportive group of great friends at Chelsea Ballet to be her extended family.

Since joining Chelsea Ballet Claire has danced some fantastic roles including a fairy and the Queen from The Sleeping Beauty; the Countess and a Wili in Giselle; a friend in Coppélia; a swan in Swan Lake; and many more fabulous roles in a great number of performances.

Destinee

Destinée Bishop

Destinée started learning ballet as an adult in 2019, despite her sister’s instance on learning as a child, and instantly took to it. Ballet helped her reconnect with her inner child!

Since then, she has been discovering what aspects of ballet appealed to her the most. She realised it was the specificity in how to structure the body and the performability. Destinée has changed careers from being within the Arts and deeply missed the journey and delivery of putting on a show. Her venture into improving within ballet started by taking various lessons, having a break due to the pandemic, and then finding amateur ballet companies to maintain her sparkling love of being in front of an audience. Destinée came to a Chelsea Ballet show in 2022 and was spellbound with the clothing and mise en scène. To Destinée, she’s specifically drawn to Chelsea Ballet’s high-quality attire that Cassandra, a professional ballet costume maker, created and dreaming of trying the tutus one day. Her inner child squeals in delight at the thought!

Destinée is excited to continue her journey learning ballet and cannot wait to see what new aspects of herself get revealed along it.

Eleonara

Eleonara Moratto

Eleonora began ballet classes at the age of five in Italy and was trained in Vaganova Russian stile from a variety of schools, including Scuola di Ballo del Teatro di San Carlo. She participated to intensives at La Scala di Milano, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Ecole de Danse Cannes-Mougins Rosella Hightower and was trained by international teachers from the Wiener Staatsballett School and the National Opera of Bucharest. During her high school years she was a permanent member of the FVG New Space ballet company and whose repertoire includes Paquita, Giselle, Don Quixote, Bayadère, the Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Coppélia.

Since moving to London in 2014 for her biology degree at Imperial College London she has been taking classes at Danceworks London and English National Ballet. She is also member the Imperial dance club and teaches repertoire at the Imperial Dance Company. Eleonora joined Chelsea ballet in 2016 and has performed in their productions of Paquita and the Sleeping Beauty.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth McLaughlin

Elizabeth fell in love with ballet at the age of seven, training locally in Kingston upon Thames to vocational level in ISTD ballet and modern theatre, with a little tap thrown in for fun. She grew up competing in festivals and performing in shows, including with Chelsea Ballet (pictured).

At university, Elizabeth continued to dance: she taught ballet, jazz, and contemporary to other students, and helped to organise performances and competitions as a member of the dance society’s executive team. It was also at university that Elizabeth discovered a passion for musical theatre and ballroom - performing, choreographing, and competing nationally.

After a 14-year break from regular ballet training, she is thrilled to be back with Chelsea Ballet and dancing again.

Katrina

Katrina Austin

Katrina is a full time translator/ manager and a fully qualified ballet teacher (IDTA Associate). She has been with Chelsea Ballet since 2001, in which time she has danced some fantastic roles and made some friends for life.

Katrina is also acts as assistant to the director and has participated in, taught at and helped to run Chelsea Ballet’s summer schools. She staged the whole of Act III from Napoli in Richmond in July 2007 and Act III from Paquita at the same venue at Christmas 2009. Trying to get 25 people to fulfil her vision was often stressful, but ultimately rewarding.

Her performance roles with Chelsea Ballet have included Swanhilda (Act I), Work, Dawn and Dance of the Hours from Coppélia; Kagura from Impressions of Inuyasha (a role specially created for her); pas de six and tarantella from Napoli; Mercedes (Act I) from Don Quixote; cupid variation and pas de trios from Paquita; The Girl from The Bracelet; cygnet, fiancée, waltz and pas de quatre from Swan Lake; autumn, fairy and guest from Cinderella; Moyna, Zulme and villager from Giselle; Fairy of the Crystal Fountain, Princess Florine, Aurora (Act III variation), White Cat, Red Riding Hood, Aurora’s friend, jewelled fairy, lilac fairy attendant and nymph from The Sleeping Beauty; Clara’s (male) cousin, snowflake, mirliton and Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker; and frostflake, snowdrop and vodka-swigging peasant from The Snow Maiden. Katrina has also danced solos from La Bayadère, Les Sylphides, Raymonda and Don Quixote, as well as group pieces such as Palladio, Pas de Déesses, Bach Concerto, Waltz Ballerinas, The Gathering and Pas de Valse. She as toured to Ireland, Bristol and Barcelona with the company.

Katrina is tremendously grateful to Chelsea Ballet for giving her the opportunity to dance this repertoire, which as a teenager she could never have imagined performing, especially at her nadir when she appeared on stage as a cabbage leaf. However, while she has enjoyed all these parts, her ultimate ambition is still to be a duck.

Kizzie

Kizzie Barnard

Kizzie began dancing at the age of three, and hasn’t stopped since. Until the age of 18, she studied at the Welland School of Dancing, achieving distinctions in her RAD Advanced 1 ballet and ISTD Advanced 2 modern exams, and a merit in her ISTD Advanced 2 tap exam. During this time, she danced with the English Youth Ballet, performed in professional pantomimes and competed in local dance competitions. She left to take up a place to study Geography at the University of Cambridge, where she was President of the Ballet Club and directed a full-length production of Alice in Wonderland.

Kizzie joined Chelsea Ballet upon moving to London in 2015, and has loved how the company has become a key part of her life. She’s relished taking on challenging roles, including Odette, Swanhilda and Nikiya. Outside of Chelsea Ballet, Kizzie trains at the Royal Academy of Dance and Pineapple. In 2025, she was delighted to achieve a Distinction in her RAD Advanced 2 exam.

Laura

Laura Fletcher

Laura started dancing in Sussex when she was very little and all she ever wanted to do was dance. In her teens, she was accepted full time to The Corona Academy of Theatre Arts in Hammersmith and after graduating tried to make her way in the tough dance world. After several injuries, she swapped dance for the fashion trade and now runs a textile agency with her husband.

Laura joined Chelsea Ballet in 2005 and it has changed her life. She has danced in Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppélia, The Sleeping Beauty, Napoli, La Bayadère, Paquita and pieces choreographed by other Chelsea Ballet members as well as many community performances. Laura enjoys every moment and feels privileged to dance each and every role.

Maria

Maria Iu

Maria did ballet briefly as a child but properly found her passion for dance during university, and she has not stopped since. She has previously performed with London Amateur Ballet and London Performance Company, and has recently completed her first Royal Academy of Dance vocational exam.

She first read about Chelsea Ballet as a child and was delighted to join the company in May 2018. She danced in her first show that Christmas and looks forward to more productions ahead.

Melanie

Melanie Bailey- Melouney

Melanie began RAD ballet at the age of 9 at a local school and has been dancing ever since. She joined the University's dance society at Kent when study took her away from London where she tried many different styles, ballet remaining her first love. During this time she performed in a number of shows in original choreography. She joined a local school in Canterbury on the completion of her studies before returning to London and joining London Amateur Ballet in 2013. During her time with the company she performed in Les Sylphides, Manon, The Nutcracker, Giselle, and Le Corsaire.

Melanie joined Chelsea Ballet in 2016 and has performed in their annual shows and community performances. She has danced roles in classics such as Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and Coppelia. She particularly enjoys dancing in original choreography created by talented members of the company.

Michelle

Michelle Samson

Michelle is an Educational Psychologist and qualified teacher of English and dance. She has been passionate about dancing since a young age and is proud of passing her Advanced 2 RAD ballet in 2007 and obtaining ARAD status. She loves performing - with her biggest audience so far being at the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics!

Michelle has danced with CB since 2007/8, including roles in Cinderella, Paquita, Impressions of Inyuasha, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty and much more! She has choreographed two pieces for Chelsea Ballet: Palladio and Star Wars Battle of Yavin. Since moving back to Liverpool, Michelle feels like the Northern branch of the CB family and along with fellow Liverpool dancers continues to relish opportunities to perform with the company.

Naomi

Naomi Smart

Naomi started dancing aged 10 at a school where Ballet, Jazz, and Modern were part of the daily timetable – and has never looked back. Moving to attend school in Yorkshire aged 16, she was soon dancing for fifteen hours a week and became Dance Captain in her final years of school. Alongside studying English Language at university, Naomi took her teaching qualifications in Ballet with the Royal Academy of Dance and Modern Theatre with the ISTD, but whilst teaching dance is a passion for her, she missed the buzz of performing.

After discovering Chelsea Ballet in 2018, Naomi found herself immediately feeling at home amongst the company. As well as enjoying the beauty and positive challenges that performing ballet brings, the opportunity to dance a variety of pieces within such a close-knit group have made the decision to join one of the best of her life.

Nicky

Nicky Jones

Nicky’s love of dancing began over thirty years ago when he took ballet classes for two years at his local adult education centre. After a gap of many years and following the end of a long career as a health professional, he began attending a local dance and fitness class from 2012 until 2013. This very positive experience encouraged him to enroll in English National Ballet’s (ENB) adult ballet programme in 2013 which he now attends at an intermediate level. Always keen also to perform repertoire, Nicky joined London Amateur Ballet (LAB) in 2013. He subsequently performed in excerpts from The Nutcracker and La Sylphide in the LAB annual gala at the Bloomsbury Theatre in 2014 and in the following year, excerpts from Le Corsaire and Les Sylphides, at the same venue. In July 2016 he played the role of the KIng in the London Performance Company's production of Sleeping Beauty.

Nicky is also an enthusiastic amateur community dancer. Under the auspices of ENB, he performed the Big Dance Pledge, choreographed by ENB, in Lyric Square, Hammersmith, in 2013, and the Big Dance Pledge, choreographed by Scottish Ballet, at Westfield, in 2014. He also took part in the Big Commonwealth Dance, Beats for Peace, held in Trafalgar Square in the summer of 2014. In July 2016 he performed the Big Dance held in Trafalgar Square and choreographed by Akram Khan. He was absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to join Chelsea Ballet.

Nyuszi Boros

Nyuszi started ballet lessons after excelling in dance performances back in kindergarten in Taiwan. She had to give up when her little brother arrived. She started up in her teenage years and progressed well, but had to again give up, this time due to her academic studies. Luckily for Chelsea Ballet, she restarted in her late 20s when accompanying a friend to ballet class and got hooked! She has now been part of the company for many years, and has performed all manner of roles - with her highlight being her dream role of Queen of the Dryads.

Reiko

Reiko Mori

Reiko was born in Tokyo, Japan. She trained in classical ballet at the Miwako Tadano Ballet Studio, Yoko Tsukano Ballet Studio and Aikawa Ballet School, where she also worked as an assistant teacher, before moving to the UK in 1999.

Reiko joined Chelsea Ballet in 2003. Her repertory includes Odette, lead swan, pas de trois, Hungarian dance and Russian dance from Swan Lake; Swanhilda and Player from Coppélia; Nikiya from La Bayadère; Aurora, fairies, Aurora's friends and Princess Florine from The Sleeping Beauty; Medora from Le Corsaire; pas de quatre from the Romantic era; the sylph from La Sylphide; waltz from Les Sylphides; Arabian dance, Columbine and waltz flower princess from The Nutcracker; and Kitri and Queen of the Dryads from Don Quixote.

Ruth

Ruth Wenham

Ruth starting dancing aged three and made her stage debut that same year as a farmer in the classic ‘one potato two potato’ song and dance. She continued to learn ballet, modern and tap dance and performed with various local dance schools until her teens, when she changed track and decided that she would have more chance at employment if she studied another passion of hers, art. She gained her degree in art and went on to become a graphic designer. Her love of ballet and performing never waned however and at 34 she rejoined classes and is now once again studying for her RAD exams and making up for lost dancing years. Ruth joined Chelsea Ballet in 2013 and is grateful for the opportunity to perform once again.

Shana

Shana Bonneteau

Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Shana spent most of her school years involved in team sports such as volleyball, basketball and softball, finishing with rugby in her senior years. At the age of 21, she traded in her rugby boots for tutus and pointe shoes and ventured into the world of ballet. She began her RAD vocational training at Cameron Dance Academy and remained there until she moved to London in 2014, where she continued her training at RAD HQ.

Shana has previously performed with Cameron Dance Academy, London Amateur Ballet, Crystal Ballet and Balletomane and is currently kicking the can down the road preparing for her RAD Advanced 2 exam. Some notable performances through the years have been Vintner's March (Giselle), Waltz of the Flowers (Nutcracker), Serenade (Balanchine), Swanhilda and her Friends (Coppelia), Waltz of the Hours (Coppélia), Candied Fairy (Sleeping Beauty), Cupid (Don Quixote) and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux Variation (Balanchine) as well as many original works.

When she isn’t indulging in all things ballet, Shana enjoys exploring new places, trekking up mountains, and anything involving bacon and maple syrup.

Sharon

Sharon Holloway

Sharon started ballet aged six after begging her parents to go! Many years later, she auditioned for and was accepted by The London School of Classical Dance where she trained in the Cecchetti method with Molly Lake and Travis Kemp. After graduating, she danced in France and Switzerland with The Helvezia Show Express. Back in England, she started to teach Aerobics and Creative Dance alongside working ‘a normal job’ but dancing remained her true passion! Later, she even combined motherhood with teaching dance and fitness - but when number two and three came along, she decided to retrain as a primary school teacher. After her children were ‘all grown up’, she decided to seek opportunities to dance again and was introduced to Chelsea Ballet by a teacher colleague at school. Now she likes nothing better than attending ballet classes once again!

Vivian

Vivian Chao

Vivian's ballet training has mainly been in her adult years. She was first introduced to ballet when she was in kindergarten but for various reasons didn't continue dancing. She always wanted to pick it up again, but thought she was too old to restart (little did she know!). Her younger sister enrolled in ballet as a toddler and so Vivian decided to give it a try again, now in her high school years. She studied for a year at Goh Ballet Academy in Vancouver, Canada and took her Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) Grade 5 exam. But life again caused her to pause her training. She still had a deep appreciation for the art form and a desire to continue training so in 2018, she decided to restart dancing as an adult dancer at the Joy of Dance Studio in Toronto, Canada. She started with the Intermediate RAD exam and also took her Advanced Foundation exam. She continued her RAD training in Advanced 1 at RainCity Dance in Vancovuer, Canada and supplemented her training at Pro Dance in the Vaganova style. Now based in London, UK, she has completed her RAD Advanced 2 exam and earned her ARAD status from the Royal Academy of Dance.

Zhiai

Zhiai Xiong

Zhiai began her ballet training at the age of 22, since then she started to develop a huge passion for ballet. Prior to this, Zhiai trained in Chinese classical dance and ballroom dance when she was young. Within the first five months of ballet training, Zhiai passed the RAD Ballet Intermediate Foundation Examination with a Distinction.

Since moving to London, Zhiai has been taking ballet classes with Georgian and Russian ballet mistresses Inga George and Alyona Solovkova. She performed in the production of La Bayadère with the London Ballet Theatre as Gamzatti in the final Act and as a soloist in the Shades. Zhiai won third place in the category of classical solo senior non-professional at European Ballet Grand Prix 2023 and a bronze medal for classical solo in the senior non-professional group at Grand Jeté International Dance Awards 2023.

Outside of ballet, Zhiai holds a bachelor and master’s degree in Government and Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and works full-time as a public affairs/government relations consultant.

Esther Downing

Hiroko

Chris

Jon

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