Company Artists | Melbourne | Victorian State Ballet

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The Company

Principal Guest Artists | Principal Artists | Senior Artists | Lead Soloists | Soloists

Demi-Soloists | Corps de Ballet | Emerging Artists

Principal Guest Artists

Elise May Watson-Lord

An experienced artist, having performed professionally in many different genres over the years. Elise began ballet at the age of three with Janelle House and trained full time at Dance World Studios with a Diploma of Performing Arts. Elise has delved through many pathways in the Arts and each part of her diverse dance journey has contributed to an extremely versatile Performing Artist. As Principal Artist with Victorian State Ballet since 2019, Elise May’s most noted roles include Kitri in "Don Quixote", Medora in "Le Corsaire", Odette/Odile in "Swan Lake", Giselle in "Giselle", and Aurora in "The Sleeping Beauty", to name a few. Elise looks forward to future roles and further developing as a classical ballet artist.

Principal Artists

Tynan Wood

Tynan was born in Newcastle and trained with the New Zealand School of Dance until his graduation in December 2014. In 2013, Tynan represented NZSD at the Assemble’e Internationale hosted by Canada National Ballet School, taking top honours at the Alana Haines Australasian Ballet Awards and appeared as a guest artist at Auckland’s Tempo Dance Festival. Subsequently in 2014, Tynan was invited to join Sydney Dance Company for the Sydney season of "Interplay". Following his graduation from NZSD, Tynan joined Royal New Zealand Ballet for the seasons of "Don Quixote" and "Salute" in 2015. He was further invited to perform with RNZB on their international tour of the United Kingdom and Italy. In 2016, Tynan joined Melbourne City Ballet as a Company Artist and was then promoted to Soloist in 2017 where he had great success in many lead roles including Romeo, Basilio and Dracula. Tynan joined VSB as company artist in July 2019 and was promoted to senior artist in 2022, continuing to have great success in roles like Albrecht, Siegfried and the Beast.

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

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".

Lead Soloists

Henry Driver

Originally from Queensland, Henry moved to Melbourne to start his full-time training at The Australian Ballet School at age 14. Two years later, he moved back home to finish his education at the Queensland Dance School of Excellence, before moving to Sydney to train at the Tanya Pearson Academy under the direction of Lucinda Dunn OAM. After graduating, Henry danced with Melbourne City Ballet in their 2017 and 2018 seasons, touring extensively across the country. Joining Victorian State Ballet in early 2019, he has enjoyed performing rewarding and challenging roles such as Dimitri ("Anastasia"), Rothbart ("Swan Lake") and Hilarion ("Giselle").

Mia Wallace

Mia Claire Wallace began her professional training in Newcastle, NSW. She was awarded her Certificate 4 and Diploma in Dance Elite Performance from the National College of Dance in 2014 and graduated as Dux of her year. She then relocated to Cannes, France, to further her ballet education at École supérieure de danse Rosella Hightower, under the direction of Paola Cantalupo. Mia went on to perform with Alberta Ballet in Canada, and in 2016 accepted a position at Victorian State Ballet. Mia is now in her sixth season with the company and is currently a lead soloist. Highlights performing with the Victorian State Ballet include Odette and Odile in "Swan Lake", Cinderella in "Cinderella", and Queen of the Dryads in "Don Quixote".

Soloists

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".

Demi-Soloists

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.

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).

Mikaela Samson

Born and raised in the Philippines, Mikaela started dancing at the age of 9 at the Center for Movement & Music, where she studied classical & contemporary ballet and jazz under Tara Nepomuceno-Santos, Herbert & Elena Alvarez, and Ronilo Jaynario. At 14, she joined the Philippine Ballet Theatre as an Apprentice, training under Anatoly Panasyukov. After being promoted to Company Artist / Soloist, she danced in local productions and international tours from 2014 to 2022. She was a finalist at the 2016 CCP Ballet Competition and became the first Filipino Brand Ambassador of Gaynor Minden in 2018. She was part of the Philippine dance delegation to the 2022 World Expo in Dubai. Mikaela joined Ballet Philippines for its 53rd season under Artistic Director Mikhail Martinyuk, while also training intensively with Carlos Garcia to prepare for opportunities in the international stage. She has performed featured roles such as Zobeide in “Scheherazade”; Snow Queen, Arabian, Chinese Tea, Mirlitons, and Russian in “The Nutcracker”; Big Swan in “Swan Lake”; Second Shade in “La Bayadere”; Spring, Summer, and Winter Fairy in “Cinderella”, White Pearl in “Mir-I-Nisa”; among others. Mikaela joined the Victorian State Ballet in October 2023 and looks forward to the season ahead.

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".

Lucinda Worthing-Shore

Lucinda began her dance training at her mother’s dance studio, Danae Cantwell School of Dance in Kempsey, New South Wales at the age of three until she commenced full time at the Tanya Pearson Academy under the direction of Lucinda Dunn OAM at the age of thirteen. Throughout her four years of full time, Lucinda achieved her RAD Solo Seal certification and Enrico Cecchetti Diploma A certification. She successfully became a finalist at the Genée International Ballet Competition and the Brisbane International Contemporary Prix, as well as a finalist and award recipient at the Lucie Saronova Awards. Lucinda also had the opportunity to work with a live orchestra with the Sydney Youth Ballet, performing Myrtha in Giselle act II and Paquita. She has also performed as Clara and various other roles in the Sydney Youth Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’. Lucinda moved to Victoria in March of 2020 to dance with the Victorian State Ballet.

Corps de Ballet

Renee Ayers

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.

Alexia Johansen

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".

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.

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.

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".

Hannah Lyons

Rebecca Murray

Born in Brisbane Australia, Rebecca started ballet at the age of seven in New Zealand. At age eighteen Rebecca moved to Brisbane to commence further study at the Queensland University of Technology. Here Rebecca studied contemporary dance as well as a range of other modern dance styles. In 2017 Rebecca graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Dance Performance endorsed with Distinction. In 2018 Rebecca joined VSB as a pre-professional artist and later joined the corps de ballet. During Rebecca’s time at VSB she has performed some of her favorite roles such as the Arabian dance from "The Nutcracker". Rebecca enjoys the wonderful experiences VSB has to offer.

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.

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".