Louise Bennett

Training/Education: Louise (she/her) trained in classical ballet at The Royal Ballet School, and studied English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Professional Experience: After dancing with the Norwegian National Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet and English National Ballet, Louise became an international guest teacher, rehearsal director and choreographer. She has taught ballet classes for companies including Ballett Zürich, The Royal Ballet, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, Ballett Basel, Company Wayne McGregor, Ballet Black and Rambert, and at educational institutions including Trinity Laban, London Studio Centre, Balettakademien Stockholm and Zürich University of the Arts. 

She spent two years working as a Ballet Master at Ballett am Rhein in Düsseldorf, training and rehearsing the dancers and working on creations/repertoire by choreographers including Demis Volpi, Andrey Kaydanovskiy, Hélene Blackburn, Sharon Eyal and Aszure Barton. In 2018 she worked as a personal coach for Francesca Hayward during the filming of the movie Cats, as well as teaching early morning ballet classes on set. 

As a choreographer, Louise has created work for companies and schools including Ballet Central, Outside Edge Theatre Company, The Royal Ballet School, Tivoli Ballet and Encore Dance Company. She made three ballets for National Youth Ballet: A Frosty Fable (2017), Ada (2018) and Flora (2019), before taking on the role of Artistic Director of the Performance Company in 2022.

Biggest Inspiration: ‘Two teachers who have made and continue to make an unimaginable impact on my life: Moya Vahey and Renato Paroni!’

Photo (c) James Nix

Louise Bennett Artistic Director, 2022 Residential Performance Company