LAURA GRAHAM
PRINCIPAL BALLET MISTRESS SEMPEROPER BALLETT DRESDEN
At present Laura is a ballet master for the Dresden Semperoper Ballett in Germany. where she brings her diverse experiences in coaching pieces ranging from classics, Neumeier, to Balanchine, Forsythe ballets and assisting choreographers in new creations.
Laura won the top award in Varna's 1990 International Ballet competition, with partner Steven Hyde receiving best partner, and Mark Godden receiving best choreography for "Myth".
As a principal ballerina with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet- she performed many classical principal roles- : Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Nikiya in "La Bayadere" set by Galina Yordanova, Juliet in Van Danzig's "Romeo and Juliet", Giselle and Myrta in Peter Wright's "Giselle", Titania in Ashton's "The Dream", Louisa in Neumeier's "Nutcracker", Kitri in Don "Quixote", "Four Last Songs" by Rudi Van Danzig, George Balanchine's "Concerto Barrocco", "Tchaikovsky Pas de deux", "Tarentella", Hans van Manen's "5 Tangos", "Hammerklavier", Cowgirl in Agnes DeMilles "Rodeo", Jacques Lemay's "Le Jazz Hot" pas de deux. As well as creating roles, Anne, in Jacques Lemay's "Anne of Green Gables", Mark Godden's "Myth" and Symphony #1, "Life" by Michael Peters (R.I.P.)
As a principal with Bill Forsythe's Ballett Frankfurt she was part of numerous creations most notably in the original cast of "Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude", as well as dancing some of Forsythe's most well known repertoire dancing the leads in "In the Middle Somewhat Elevated", "Artifact", "France Dance", "Limbs Theorem", "Second Detail"....
Laura started teaching and setting ballets in Ballett Frankfurt, and soon started teaching as a guest teacher with many companies and open studios around the world. Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Cullberg Ballet, Bolshoi ballet, Ballet National de Marseille, Nederlands Dance Theater, Ecole de Danse de Geneve, the Forsythe Company. Architanz studio in Tokyo, Japan, The Loft in Brussels.
As a Forsythe Ballet master, Laura has set ballets on the Dresden Semperoper Ballett, The National Ballet of China, the Universal Ballet in Seoul, Korea, San Francisco Ballet, Bavarian State Ballet in Munich, and La Scala Ballet in Milano, Italy. She has also coached many wonderful internationally known dancers including Roberto Bolle, Darcey Bussell, Marta Romagna, Alicia Amatrian, Nadja Saidakova, Mikhail Kaniskin, Sofiane Sylve, Yumiko Takeshima, Raphael Coumes Marque, etc.. for galas.
Some hobbies include acting- having performed in plays/avante guarde projects in Europe, singing in a small cabaret show for a few years. She's a certified teacher in Gyrotonic®, Zena Rommett floor-barre®, holds a German Theater's teacher's diploma for Vaganova syllabus, is a Padi rescue scuba diver, and has just started training for her Pilots license to fly Gliders.