Foundation Members and Dancers

Sophie Francesca Wright Born in London, Sophie started ballet aged three, before family travel took her overseas where she joined the Queensland Ballet Company as an associate. She performed in their International Gala, Brisbane. Sophie danced with Gold Coast Dancer’s Company and performed with the Northern Rivers Philharmonic Orchestra. Aged thirteen, she flew back unaccompanied to the U.K. to audition for the Elmhurst School for Dance where she trained for two years, followed by a year at the Hammond School in Chester, before graduating with a first class BA (hons) in ballet and contemporary dance degree at Rambert School.

Katie Armstrong Inspired by her love of music, Katie started ballet training at the Karen Berry School of Dance at the age of twelve. This was followed by a move to London where she spent three years at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, where her choreography was chosen to be part of the Design for Dance Collaboration. Since graduating in July, 2010 with a BA (hons) degree, Katie has performed with Rambert Dance Company and Compania Tourlander.

Ayumi Nagasawa Ayumi was born in Japan where she started her early ballet training at the age of three. She continued her training in 2005 at the Virginia School of Arts, U.S.A. and progressed from there to join Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. In 2008 she was involved in the Moving Visions Dance Company, and has also performed with Rambert Dance Company.

Jo Elisabeth Davie Born in Nottingham, Jo started dancing when only 3 years old. At the age of 10, she joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet Associates and then later went on to further her training at Tring Park (formally known as The Arts Educational School). Whilst there, she was chosen to work with many established choreographers including Robert Cohen in his production "Stabat Mater" . Upon completion of 5 years training at Tring, she continued at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance for a further 3years and graduated with a BA (Hons) in Ballet and Contemporary Dance.

Rosanna Nevard Rosie's dance training began at the the Judith Wilson School of Dance in Kent where she performed with various youth companies, including three seasons with the London Children's Ballet in works by Cathy Marston and David Fielding. She subsequently continued her training at the Central School of Ballet, participating in the "Central Tour", where she was given the opportunity of working with choreographers Christopher Bruce and Christopher Marney. Rosie graduated in July 2010 with a BA (Hons) degree in Professional Dance and Performance and since then has worked on projects with The Absolute Gospel Company, Artist Di Mainstone, and Stephen Pelton Dance Theatre.

Jenny Morrison Jenny trained in her native Scotland at Ballet West where she gained a BA in Classical Ballet and Dance Performance with Distinction. During her time at Ballet West, she was awarded Distinction for her RAD Advanced 2 examination and went on to be a semi-finalist in the Genee International Ballet Competition in Singapore, 2009. Jenny has toured China with Ballet West's production of The Nutcracker,and joined Vienna Festival Ballet in 2010 touring The Sleeping Beautyand Swan Lake. Since then Jenny has worked with Ballet Soul and then joined The London Ballet Company in 2011.

Francesco Mangiacasale Born in Italy, Francesco trained with a variety of National and International teachers in ballet, singing and acting, in Gerona. He can include in his performance career working with Koine's Dance Company, J.Nuova Partenza, and the Aliat Dance Company. In November 2000, Francesco came to London where he has danced in numerous companies and venues including, Unstuctured Light, LoComotion, The Royal Opera House, Worboys New Dance Theatre, Rawhead Dance Theatre, British Youth Opera and Opera Four. His varied dancer career has included tours of Holland, Spain, Japan and Scotland.

Nicole Guy Nicole was born in Orange, NSW, Australia. She trained fulltime at Ev and Bow DanceCentre in Sydney where she worked with prominent Australian choreographers Sarah Boulter (So You Think You Can Dance Australia), Anton (Australian DanceTheatre) and Kay Armstrong (Pulse8). She performed at The Sydney Opera House inSarah Boulter’s Blood Is Thicker Than Water. Nicole then moved to London to train at Rambert School of Ballet andContemporary Dance. During her third year at Rambert School Nicole was an understudy with Rambert Dance Company for their touring season of ItzikGalili’s A Linha Curva. In 2011 Nicole’s choreographic work Shards was performed at The Royal Opera House, Linbury Theatre, in Covent Garden and the Lilian Baylis Studio Theatre, Sadlers Wells. Nicole is currently working with The London Ballet Company and performed at the Bridewell Theatre in their production of An Olympic Dream.

Jo Cork Jo attained a professional diploma in Performing Arts (Dance), with distinction, before completing a BA(hons) in Dance (Performing Arts) at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. She recently returned from Berlin, dancing for Temporaere Tanz Theater, directed by former Bolshoi Ballet dancer, Alexey Kononov. A keen choreographer, Jo gained a commission to create work for dance festival LEAP, which was also selected for Ludus’ Dance Cuts 2010. She has made many pieces for youth companies and schools and is choreographer for London 2012 Cultural Olympiad project The Balloons Project. Jo also has a strong interest in Dance in Health and co-manages Moving Minds for dance company Movema, which works in partnership with Mersey Care (NHS Trust) delivering a programme of dance and movement, as therapy, to acute mental health and dementia patients.

Victoria Gunning Victoria started dancing at her local school in Devon before joining the Senior Associates of the Royal Ballet School. At 16 she continued her training at Ballet West in Scotland, earning a BA in Classical Ballet and Dance Performance and Advanced 2 RAD both with Distinction. Whilst at Ballet West she toured Scotland and later China with Coppelia and the Nutcracker, before joining Vienna Festival for their Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake tour. She joined The London Ballet Company in 2011.

Eko Hattori Eko was born in Japan and started her ballet training at the age seven. She studied at Showa Ballet Academy and Tokyo Ballet School before she came to England and joined Rambert School where she danced pieces by Martha Graham, Mark Baldwin and Ross McKim. After graduating with a first class degree in July 2010, Eko worked with Phoenix Dance Theatre and Mad Dogs Dance Theatre before joining The London Ballet Company.

Hamza Saleem Hamza started pursuing dance in his late teens when he came to London to study Law. He was asked to perform at the Dorchester Hotel in December 2007 for a Charity Ball as a backup dancer for an Opera singer which was his first professional dancing job. His passion and dedication led him to pursue his ambition and his final year of dance training, Hamza choreographeda contemporary ballet piece for the annual show. In April 2011, he was an Apprentice dancer with European Ballet and learnt the repertoire for Cinderella and Coppelia. He also carried out a community guest performance with Chelsea Ballet as a soloist in October 2011 performing Les Sylphide. He is very excitedto be part of The London Ballet Company.

Ashley Rose Harvey Ashley began dance training and performing at the age of three in Australia. Ashley has been trained to the highest level in both Cecchetti and R.A.D. Ballet, was awarded a Cecchetti Ballet Scholarship to further her dance studies in the U.K. and was elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance, London. Ashley studied her full time dance training at the Gold Coast Dance and Development Centre in Australia under the direction of Sonja Middelbosch and Paul Boyd. On completion, at age eighteen, she was accepted into the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in New York where she received a scholarship into the Professional Training Program. She has performed with the Queensland Youth Ballet, the Queensland Ballet’s International Gala, Martha Graham’s School Winter Dance Collection, Graham II and the Caterina Ogar Dance Company’s debut season in New York. Recently she performed as special guest artist with Alto Jonio Dance Company in Italy and is currently dancing with the London Ballet Company.

Mezzo Soprano

Ellen MacDonald-Kramer A native of Canada, Ellen received a BFA (Hons) in Vocal Performance from Toronto’s York University, where she studied voice with internationally renowned mezzo-soprano Catherine Robbin. In 2010, she made her operatic debut singing in the chorus of the Royal Conservatory’s production of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, in which she also understudied the role of Annio. In staged opera excerpts, she has performed a variety of high mezzo roles including Cherubino, Hänsel, Orlofsky, and Orphée. Her repertoire also includes a number of musical theatre credits, and she has appeared as a soloist with the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society.