The dancers
Lee Johnston
Lee Johnston
Originally from Sydney, Lee trained at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. After dancing for LINK Dance Company in Australia she joined NDCWales in 2004. Highlights during her time with the Company include working with choreographers Ohad Naharin, Stephen Petronio and Nigel Charnock and pursuing her choreographic development through creating Calamine Joy and Purlieus.
Eleesha Drennan
Eleesha Drennan
Originally from Canada, House Choreographer Eleesha completed her training at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and was awarded ‘most outstanding achievement’. Eleesha joined NDCWales in 2004 and was recently awarded 1st prize for performance of her latest choreography Whiskers at the 16th International Solo Dance Theatre Festival in Stuttgart.
Annabeth Berkeley
Annabeth Berkeley
Originally from Barcelona Annabeth trained at La Companyia and Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. She has worked with artists such as Henri Oguike and Jean Emile and was a founding member of Surface Area Dance Theatre. Highlights since joining NDCWales in 2009 include performing works by Ohad Naharin and Itzik Galili and being part of creations by Eleesha Drennan. The company also supported her to work with Joanne Fong on Witness – Portraits of Women Who Dance.
Neus Gil Cortés
Neus Gil Cortés
Originally from Valencia, Spain, Neus trained at the Professional Conservatorium of Dance of Valencia, the Carmen Roche School in Madrid and the Rotterdam Dance Academy. Neus worked for three years at Dance Works Rotterdam performing pieces by Ton Simons and Dana Caspersen. In December 2009 she joined NDCWales and has worked with outstanding choreographers as well as creating her own work. Neus was awarded a training grant from the Arts Council of Wales for the gaga intensive 2012 with the Batsheva Dance Company.
Gareth Mole
Gareth Mole
Gareth’s family is from Caerphilly, Wales and he graduated from London Contemporary Dance School with a First Class degree and distinction at Post Graduate level. Since graduating he has preformed for dANTE OR dIE at The Royal Opera House and James Cousins Dance at Buckingham Palace. He joined NDCWales as an apprentice in 2010 and became a full Company member in 2011. Gareth was named as Dancer of the month in the August 2012 edition of Dancing Times magazine.
Josef Perou
Josef Perou
Born in Sussex, Josef trained at Laban and Central School of Ballet graduating in 2008. During his final year he performed in Pinocchio and Faeries by Will Tuckett for ROH2 as well as touring with Ballet Central. He toured with Bare Bones in 2009 and later that year joined Phoenix Dance Theatre. He was a member of Henri Oguike Dance Company from spring 2010 to spring 2011, as well as reviving Faeries. Josef returned to Phoenix as a Guest Artist in the summer and joined NDCWales in August 2011.
Camille Giraudeau
Camille Giraudeau
Originally from Oxford Camille joined NDCWales in August 2011 as an apprentice as part of the MA programme at London Contemporary Dance School. Camille attended Arts Educational School before studying at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, where she graduated in 2011 with a first class degree in dance. This is Camille’s first season as a full company dancer.
Matteo Marfoglia
Matteo Marfoglia
Originally from Pesaro, Italy, Matteo trained at the Accademia Nazionale Di Danza in Rome and graduated from Rotterdam Dance Academy. From 2007 to 2011 Matteo worked in Introdans. In 2010 Matteo won second prize at the Certamen Internacional De Coreografia Burgos, New York, for his choreography. In 2012 he danced in the multi disciplinary project 'Nierka' in London, directed by Tupac Martir and choreographed by Fernando Hernando Magadan. Matteo joined NDCWales in May 2012.
Mathieu Geffré
Mathieu Geffré
Mathieu studied modern dance from 2001 to 2006 at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. After graduating he danced for several choreographers in France (Dominique Guilhaudin, Isira Makuloluwe, Frédéric Lescure, Andy Degroat, Emilio Calcagno). In January 2009 he joined Dansgroep Amsterdam where under the artistic direction of Itzik Galili and Krizstina De Chatel he worked with different choreographers including Mark Baldwin, Liat Waysbort and Sjoerd Vreughdenhil. In July 2011, Mathieu started dancing for Noord Nederlandse Dans under the artistic direction of Stephen Shropshire and in August he joined National Dance Company Wales.
Christopher Scott
Christopher Scott
Chris graduated from London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS) in July 2012 with a First Class degree and the Principles Award for high achievement and joined NDCWales in August as an apprentice as part of the MA programme at LCDS. During his training Chris studied overseas at Purchase College in New York, and was awarded scholarship money to visit and train with Companies in Australia. This year Chris was invited by the World Dance Alliance to be a Keynote speaker at their international summit on 'Young People, Dance & Change' in Taipei, Taiwan. Chris has worked with choreographers such as James Cousins, Janice Garrett and John Heginbotham.
Natalie Corne
Natalie Corne
Born in Cardiff, Natalie was an NDCWales Associate before training at Central School of Ballet. She graduated with a first class BA Honours and moved to France to work with Ballet de L’Opera National du Rhin, performing in works by Betrand D’At and Fokine. Since returning to the UK, Natalie has performed at the Royal Opera House and in Draft Works 2012 at ROH2. Natalie has also performed commercially with Beyoncé and Cheryl Cole and joined NDCWales as an apprentice in 2012 as part of the MA programme at London Contemporary Dance School.