Company Artists | Melbourne | Victorian State Ballet

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The Company

Principal Artists | Senior Artists | Soloists

Demi-Soloists | Corps de Ballet | Emerging Artists

Principal Artists

Elise Jacques

Elise joined The Victorian State Ballet in 2016 and is a Senior Artist with the company. Elise’s love of dance began at the age of 3 when she attended the Sharon Lawrence School of Dance. Although being trained in jazz, tap and ballet, by the age of 9 Elise felt her calling was classical ballet and she auditioned to attend the Australian Ballet School, where she remained training in the Russian Vaganova method until she graduated at 18 years of age with a Bachelor of Classical Ballet. During her time at the Australian Ballet School she was awarded two scholarships of Excellence and toured Australia with The Australian Ballet Regional Tour. Some of the highlights of her dancing career were performing in The Australian Ballet’s Graeme Murphy’s "Swan Lake" and Peter Wright’s "The Nutcracker". Elise has had many highlights with Victorian State Ballet. Feature roles in the company include Belle in "Beauty and the Beast", Kitri in "Don Quixote", Clara in "The Nutcracker", Ariel in "The Little Mermaid", Gulnare in "Le Corsaire" and Gerda in "Snow Queen".

Senior Artists

Tristan Gross

Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. Tristan began his dance career early participating in the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. He attended the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS) for 4 years, and then left school to start full time training at Dance World studios in Melbourne before completing three years of ballet study at the National Theatre Ballet School under the directorship of Beverly Fry. Tristan joined The West Australian Ballet as a young artist in 2016, and in 2017 travelled to Europe to gain valuable experience before returning to Melbourne to perform with the Australian Ballet in Christopher Wheeldon's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and the Sydney season of "The Sleeping Beauty". He joined the Royal New Zealand Ballet in January 2018 where he performed in many ballets such as the piano by Jiri Bubenicek and the documentary about the ballet called "The Hart Dancer", "Sechs Tanze" by Juri Kylian where he had the privilege of partnering with ballet star Veronica Par, "The Nutcracker" by Val Caniparoli, and many more including the opportunity to perform in the Acclaimed ballet Hansel and Gretel by Lachlan Prior. In 2019 he moved back to Melbourne and joined Melbourne City Ballet where he performed in a number of shows and danced the role of Ali from Le Corsaire on the night of the Companies closure. Two months later Tristan joined the Victorian State Ballet (VSB) and is looking forward to what the future brings.

Benjamin Harris

Benjamin commenced ballet training at the age of 8 in his hometown of Bendigo, Victoria. At the age of 13, he began to travel to Ballarat to take on extra classes as well as continuing training in Bendigo. In 2018 he commenced full time training in Melbourne, continuing there for 2 years before being accepted into Queensland Ballet pre-professional program for 2020. At Queensland Ballet he had the opportunity to work with many world-renowned teachers and choreographers on a number of new and established works which he found to be an invaluable experience. Benjamin joined VSB at the beginning of 2022 as a member of the Corps de Ballet. Highlights of his time with VSB so far include having the opportunity to perform in many incredible theatres throughout Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland, as well as performing roles such as Can Can doll in "The Magic Toyshop", Lumiere in "Beauty and the Beast", and Young Dimitri in "Anastasia".

Alana Puddy

Alana Puddy trained at The Australian Conservatoire of Ballet under Christine Walsh. After graduating she then was accepted into Queensland Ballets Pre-Professional year. She then moved to America and performed with Mystic Ballet II, before moving back home and joining The Victorian State Ballet. Alana was promoted to Soloist in 2015 and then to Senior Artist in 2017. Her repertoire highlights include Aurora in "The Sleeping Beauty", Ariel in "The Little Mermaid", Clara in "The Nutcracker", and Peasant Pas de Deux in "Giselle".

Soloists

Julia Pigou

From Christchurch, New Zealand, Julia fell in love with ballet at the age of six when she started lessons at her local studio, Canterbury Ballet. In 2013 she joined the school’s full-time programme under the direction of Taisia Missevich, and went on to accept an apprenticeship with Victorian State Ballet in 2017. Julia was promoted to Corps de Ballet in 2018 and to Demi-Soloist in 2019. Her repertoire includes "Les Sylphides" (Soloist), "Giselle" (Leading Willis), "Sleeping Beauty" (Fairy of Generosity; Act 3 Pas de Trois), "Swan Lake" (Cygnet), "Cinderella" (Winter Fairy), and "The Nutcracker" (Clara’s Mother; Snow Queen).

Joshua Steinke

Born and raised in country NSW, Joshua started dancing at the age of 11 with the Rosie O’Sullivan School of Dance. He began his professional training in 2018 with the National Theatre Ballet School where he was awarded the senior scholarship perpetual trophy. He then furthered his training with the Perth School of Ballet in 2019 following this he was offered a contract with the Victorian State Ballet as an apprentice before being promoted to corps de ballet the same year. Josh’s highlights whilst with the company include Spring Fairy in "Cinderella", Hilarion in "Giselle", and the Act 1 Pas De Trois in "Swan Lake".

Demi-Soloists

Maggie de Koning

Maggie began her dance training at the age of six. At the age of ten she was accepted into level one at the Australian Ballet school, where she continued her dance training for the next 9 years. In 2019 Maggie joined the pre professional program and was accepted into the corps de ballet in 2020. Some highlights for Maggie whilst at Victorian State Ballet are performing big swans in "Swan Lake" and Ballerina Doll in "The Magic Toy Shop".

Daniel Sierra

Daniel was born in Melbourne and started his dance training at the age of 5. In 2015 he joined the School of Excellence at Melbourne Dance Theatre under the direction of Michelle Sierra and graduated in 2019. Then he was coached and trained by Martin Sierra, and in 2020, Daniel joined the Victorian State Ballet’s Pre-Professional Program. Daniel's talent was soon recognised and he has since been promoted principal artist for the Victorian State Youth Ballet and Corps de Ballet for the Victorian State Ballet Company. As part of his soloist repertoire, Daniel has been involved in leading roles in The Little Mermaid, Paquita, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker and the leading role of Prince Florian in Snow White. Daniel is also invited to be a guest artist for ballet schools across Melbourne, Victoria.

Alexia Simpson

Alexia started ballet at age 4 at Anne Frasers School of Dance on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, where she completed RAD up to Advanced 2. After graduating high school, she began a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance Performance) at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), graduating with Distinction in 2020. During her time at QUT Alexia worked with choreographers such as Matthew Lawrence, Csaba Buday and Stephanie Lake. In 2021 Alexia joined the Victorian State Ballet as a pre- professional artist and was promoted to Corps de Ballet in 2022. Alexia has enjoyed performing a variety of roles with the company including the Can Can doll from "The Magic Toyshop", Rose in "Beauty and the Beast", and repertoire from "The Nutcracker", "Cinderella", "The Little Mermaid", "Snow Queen", "Anastasia", and "Swan Lake".

Courtney Taylor

Originally from New Zealand, Courtney started dancing at age 4 and trained at the Dance Education Centre, Tauranga, where she completed her BBO Solo Seal. She went on to study full-time at the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet, graduating with a Diploma of Dance. Courtney joined the Victorian State Ballet in 2017 and is a Corps de Ballet Artist. Her highlights with the company include dancing the role of Chip in Michelle Sierra's "Beauty and the Beast" and one of Ariel's sisters in "The Little Mermaid".

Corps de Ballet

Renee Ayers

Renee comes from a family of performing artists and grew up singing and dancing at local events, which fostered a love of performing. Her formal dance training began with jazz ballet at 8 years of age. In 2010 She began learning classical ballet, which quickly became Renee’s greatest passion, and in 2013 she commenced training at Charlesworth Ballet Institute, Perth WA, achieving a Certificate III in Elite Performance (Dance). 2020 was spent studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance) at Victorian College of the Arts. In 2021 she was accepted into Victorian State Ballet pre-professional program, promoted the following year to trainee and in 2024 was promoted to Corps de Ballet dancer. Her highlights with Victorian State Ballet include Corps de ballet Swan in Swan Lake, The Scroll in XO-dos and Gypsy pas de cinq in Don Quixote.

Tatyana Carr

Originally from Brisbane, Tatyana started dancing at the age of three in Dunedin, New Zealand where her love for dance began and grew. Moving to Canada in 2015, Tatyana began her full-time training at the Alberta Ballet School, where she was chosen to represent Canada at the Cecchetti International Ballet Competition (2017), and where she had the opportunity to dance with the Alberta Ballet Company in their productions of both "The Sleeping Beauty" (2018) and "The Nutcracker" (2021). After graduating in 2022, Tatyana moved back to the southern hemisphere and joined Victorian State Ballet for their 2023 season.

Elizabeth Heiss

Charlotte Jones

Born in Sydney Australia, Charlotte fell in love with ballet at the age of 3 whilst dancing at Deidre Bronner School of Ballet. In 2016, whilst studying at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts, Charlotte represented Australia in China, dancing on Chinese television and at various festivals. At the age of 14, Charlotte received a scholarship to study full-time at Alegria Dance Studios in Sydney where she trained for a year before accepting a place at the prestigious English National Ballet School in London. A highlight from her time in London was being cast in English National Ballet Company’s My First Cinderella as a stepsister in her second year. After graduating from English National Ballet School, Charlotte joined Victorian State Ballet for the 2022 season. Highlights from her time with VSB so far include performing Carabosse and Cinderella in 'The Sleeping Beauty', Wardrobe in 'Beauty and the Beast', Snow Queen and Clara's mother in ‘The Nutcracker’, Carlotta and the Queen in 'The Little Mermaid', a leading Sylph in ‘Les Sylphide’, Snow White’s Mother in ‘Snow White’, Rahab in 'XO-DOS, and Cossack doll in ‘The Magic Toyshop’.

Charlie Keegan-Bull

Born in Orange NSW, Charlie commenced his dance training with Rosie O’Sullivan’s School of Dance at age 13. In 2017 he completed his first year of full time training with Dance Development Centre under Jackie Hallahan. Throughout this year he participated in competitions such as the Wagga Eisteddford with winning pieces choreographed by Paul Knobloch. Charlie then moved to Victoria in 2018 to study at the National Theatre gaining a Certificate IV in Dance under Damien Smith. During his two years of full time study, he performed roles such as Harlequin, a Russian, the Rat king, Graduation Ball and the duet “Within the golden hour” Choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. In 2023 he joined the Victorian State Ballet’s Pre-Professional Program and has been promoted to corps de ballet artist commencing 2025.

Grace Kefford

Originally from Canberra, Grace’s love of dance started very young taking her first ballet class at age 2. She attended Classical Ballet Centre Canberra where she trained in the ISTD syllabus completing her final Advanced 2 examinations in 2020. Grace began full-time training with the Ailey School (Professional Division) in New York City in 2021, where she had the opportunity to train under multiple world-renowned artists. Grace returned to Australia at the beginning of this year to join the Victorian State Ballet as a pre-professional artist. Grace has been promoted to corps de ballet artist for 2024.

Lisa de Koning

Lisa started her dance training at the age of eight. At age thirteen Lisa was accepted with a full scholarship to the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School. After graduating VCASS in 2013, she was accepted into the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. Lisa spent three years there and graduated in 2016. In 2017, she performed with Ajkun Ballet Theatre for a season. Lisa joined Victorian State Ballet as a Pre-Professional Year Artist in 2018 and is currently a member of the Corps de Ballet.

Hannah Leong

Born and raised in Sydney, Hannah commenced her ballet training at age 8. At age 15, Hannah began her full-time training at Alegria Dance Studios. She then continued her pre-professional training at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Ballet after two years of studying in Glasgow. After graduating, Hannah moved back to Sydney where she worked with Opera Australia for their season of Turandot as a dancer in 2022. Shortly after, Hannah moved to Melbourne to commence her journey at VSB. During her time at VSB, Hannah has enjoyed playing the roles of Princess Florine and Violente Fairy in “Sleeping Beauty”, one or Ariel’s sisters in “The Little Mermaid”, and one of the Stepsisters in “Cinderella”.

Hannah Lyons

Born in Sydney, Hannah discovered her passion for dancing at Valerie Smith Stage School. In 2015, joined Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy by invitation from Lucinda Dunn OAM and continued into full-time classical ballet training the following year. In 2019, Hannah performed in Scottish Ballet’s ‘Wee Hansel & Gretel’ by Christopher Hampson and graduated with a Bachelor of Modern Ballet from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. A highlight was performing at Buckingham Palace for the Prince’s Foundation Annual Celebration. The following year she joined the Professional Graduate Programme at Northern Ballet, performing in David Nixon’s ‘Cinderella’. Hannah moved to Victoria in January 2021 to join Victorian State Ballet.

Kyralee Matthewson

Born in Melbourne, Kyralee fell in love with dancing at the age of four. At ten years old, she decided she wished to pursue ballet and moved to Boyd Dance Academy for more classical focused training. Under the guidance of Tracey Boyd, she completed RAD examinations, as well as represented the school competitively both regionally and nationally. During this time, she also performed in youth roles with the Victorian State Youth Ballet. At the age of fourteen, she joined the Victorian State Ballet Pre-Professional program, where she trained full time and performed with the company. Through her Pre-Proffesional training, she also received a Diploma in Professional Dance - Elite Performance. Kyralee’s highlights with both VSB and VSYB include Leading Sylph “Les Sylphides”, Clara “The Nutcracker”, Alice “Alice in Wonderland”, and Stepsister “Cinderella”. In 2023 she was promoted to a Trainee, then promoted the following year to an Emerging Artist, and has now been promoted to the Corps De Ballet for 2025.

Felix Milewski

Currently a corps de ballet artist with the Victorian State Ballet, Felix Milewski performs in cherished classics like Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. His journey in ballet began as a child dancer with the Australian Ballet in The Story of Clara, which ignited his passion for performance.

Felix further developed his skills at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School, where he participated in key performances such as A Chorus Line and Petrushka. His training continued at the Queensland Ballet Academy, where his dedication culminated in his participation in the production of The Nutcracker.

Felix remains committed to enhancing his artistry and contributing to the vibrant world of ballet and is looking forward to what the future brings.

Belle Thorneycroft

Belle began her dance training at her mother’s dance studio, The Studio of Dance in Braeside, Victoria at the age of two. She has trained with Melbourne City Ballet and National Theatre Ballet School and graduated in 2021 and was the recipient of the Jocelyn Di Cardi award. In 2022, Belle joined Victorian State Ballet Company as a Pre-Professional Artist and was promoted to Emerging Artist in 2023. In 2024, Belle was promoted to Corps de Ballet. Belle has been privileged to have danced in many of the classical ballets repertoire. Performance highlights with the company so far include “Cygnets” in Swan Lake, “Young Cinderella” in Cinderella and “Bimbettes” in Beauty and the Beast. Belle has also supported the VSYB in the Principal roles of “Clara” in the Nutcracker and “Cinderella” in Cinderella. Belle looks forward to continuing to develop a rewarding dance career with VSB in the years to come.

Courtney Warneford

Born in Perth, Western Australia, Courtney began her ballet training at the age of 6 under Beth James at the West Australian Conservatoire of Classical Ballet (2008). In 2015 she started high school at John Curtin College of the Arts after being accepted into their GATE ballet program. Throughout these years she continued to supplement her ballet training with Beth James. Courtney began her full-time training at Perth Classical and Contemporary Coaching in 2020 after graduating high school in 2019. There she trained for two years until she joined the VSB pre-professional program in 2022. In 2024 Courtney has been promoted to the corps de ballet with VSB and looks forward to continuing to develop herself as a professional dancer.