About Claire
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BIOGRAPHY:
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Claire trained at Utassy Ballet School under the Direction of Sue and Kevin Hayes and other wonderful teachers such as Laurel Martyn (OBE), one of Australia’s first Principal Ballerinas. She became a member of the Young Dancers’ Theatre from the age of 11-14. At the age of 15, Claire began her training at the Australian Ballet School under the direction Dame Margaret Scott (AC, DBE) and studied under the guidance of highly respected teachers like Aigul Gaisina, Timothy Gordon, Robert Ray, Kelvin Coe, Gayrie MacSween, Christine Howard and Barbara Nimmo. She was also a member of the graduate touring company under the direction of Marilyn Rowe (AM, OBE) and Gailene Stock (AM). And in her final year, she performed the role of Sugarplum in Robert Ray’s ‘Nutcracker’.
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Upon graduation Claire was offered a contract with Scottish Ballet, where she performed many roles in traditional full-length ballets, triple bills and modern works for over ten years. Roles such as Princess Florine, White Cat, Fairy of Beauty/Woodland(Sleeping Beauty), Fairy Doll (Kirov repertoire), Tinkerbell (Peter Pan), Nutcracker (Sugarplum) Divertissement, Walspurgisnacht Divertissement, White Swan Pas Deux as a Divertissement, Pas de Quatre (Giselle), Monotones First Movement (Ashton), Cupid variation in Laurencia, Pas de Trois (Swan Lake), Swanhilda role in a restaged version of Coppelia, Principal female in Vespri, Waltz Girl in Les Sylphides, Diversions (Kenneth MacMillan) Exotic Birds in Cinderella (Peter Darrell), Pas de Six (Tales of Hoffman, Peter Darrell) and Leading Lady in Lila York’s ‘Rapture’. She also performed in Galas, with the highly praised ‘Belong Pas de Deux’ (from ‘Till the Mesiah Comes’ – Norbert Vesak),
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In this time Claire was extremely fortunate to be coached and influenced by many inspirational artists, in particular Galina Samsova, Lynn Seymour, Kenneth MacMillan, Sorella Englund, Galina Messentseva, Lila York, Pat Neary and Andres Prokovsky, . And she has been equally fortunate to perform for, and meet, the Queen and Prince Phillip, and Princesses Margaret and Anne.
Since retirement, Claire has worked as a freelance classical ballet teacher/lecturer, choreographer, examiner and adjudicator for various institutions and Dance societies in both Scotland and Australia for over 20 years teaching in many institutions such as the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School, the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet (Advanced Diploma Head Lecturer) and the National Theatre Ballet School (Associate Director of the Full Time Program and Elite Coaching).
Former students have been accepted into prestigious schools such as the Royal Ballet School, the Australian Ballet School, Dutch National Ballet Academy, English National Ballet School, Mannheim Academy of Dance Germany, New Zealand School of Dance, John Cranko School of Ballet (Stuttgart), QLD Pre-Professional Course and the Dance Academy. And past students have gone on to perform with companies like the Australian Ballet, Queensland Ballet, Western Australian Ballet, Manila Ballet, Bayersishces Staats Theatre (Germany), Royal New Zealand Ballet, English National Ballet and Northern Ballet (UK).
Past students coached and choreographed for, have been placed in the following competitions of note: Alana Haines NZ, Sydney Eisteddfod Elizabeth Albert Scholarship, Sydney Scholarships Awards, AICD International Scholarships, Ballet Teachers’ Workshop Finals and the Asian Grand Prix. Claire has also choreographed for, coached and filmed students who have been successfully selected for the Prix de Lausanne 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020, the Paris Opera Ballet School Summer Intensive and the Royal Ballet School (Upper) final round audition.
Claire also has a BA Degree, Diploma of Elite Dance, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and a Registered Teacher Certificate (ACB Vaganova Method). Please see Linkedin for more information.
