28.11.2024
Company news | November 2024
As the national ballet company’s 2024 season draws to a close, the Royal New Zealand Ballet is pleased to announce promotions and new company members joining at the start of 2025. We also say haere ra, with aroha and appreciation, to those company members who are leaving to pursue new opportunities in dance and beyond.
As we celebrate promotions, farewell much-loved members of our whānau and welcome new colleagues, we would like to acknowledge everyone who supports our dancers. Thank you, from all of us, to the generous supporters of our dancers and Scholars through our Partner a Dancer programme, and to the teachers, family members and friends who have been part of their dance journey to the RNZB.
Promotions
Artists Branden Reiners and Jemima Scott are promoted to Soloist.
New Jersey-born Branden Reiners joined the RNZB in 2023, having previously guested with the company in 2017. Prior to his move to New Zealand, Branden danced with Minnesota Ballet (2013 – 15) and with Grand Rapids Ballet in Michigan (2015 – 23). His early training was at the School of American Ballet and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in New York City, followed by pre-professional programmes at Boston Ballet and San Franscisco Ballet. Branden’s soloist roles to date at the RNZB include Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet, the ‘Clay’ pas de deux in Alice Topp’s Logos and Topp’s High Tide, Moss Te Ururangi Patterson’s Te Ao Mārama, Father in Hansel & Gretel, Siegfried and Rothbart in Swan Lake, Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Wayne McGregor’s Infra.
Wellington-born Jemima Scott trained locally and at the Mount Eden Ballet Academy in Auckland, and was a Scholar and Associate with the New Zealand School of Dance. She undertook further training at the European School of Ballet and the Bottaini Merlo Center of Arts in Munich and The National Theatre Ballet School in Melbourne, before joining the RNZB as a guest dancer in 2020. Jemima was the inaugural RNZB Foundation Scholar in 2021 and was promoted to Artist in 2022. Her notable roles to date include Dark Angel in Serenade (2023), the Ice Cream Witch in Hansel & Gretel (2023), the Pas de Trois in Swan Lake (2024), Wayne McGregor’s Infra (2024) and the central role in Sarah Foster-Sproull’s To Hold (2024), created on her.
Friedlander Foundation Scholar Niamh O’Meara, Todd Scholar Ruby Ryburn, RNZB Foundation Scholar Ema Takahashi and Friedlander Foundation Scholar Hannah Thomson are promoted to Artist.
Farewells
Australian Ballet School graduate Ella Chambers, who joined the RNZB as a guest dancer in October 2018, leaves for new opportunities overseas.
Sydney-born Ella’s time at the RNZB has included soloist and principal roles, notably Gretel in Hansel & Gretel (2023), the ‘Rain’ pas de deux in Logos (2023), Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Requiem for a Rose (2023), the Pas de Trois in Swan Lake (2024), Wayne McGregor’s Infra (2024) and Hermia and Peaseblossom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2024).
Queensland-born Artist Georgia Baxter, who joined the RNZB as an Apprentice in 2019 and was promoted to Artist at the end of 2020, leaves to return to Australia.
Georgia’s versatility has been a special inspiration to choreographers, especially Sarah Foster-Sproull, and she has excelled in contemporary repertoire, including Alice Topp’s Aurum (2022), as well as memorable characters such as Moth in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2021 and 2024) and Step Sister Nicolette in Cinderella (2022).
While at the RNZB, Georgia has formed a close and inspiring connection with Ryman Healthcare and their in-village exercise programme, Triple A, and she is passionate about sharing the joy of creative movement with people of all ages.
Georgia will be joining the RNZB Education team for the first part of 2025 and will bid farewell to the stage with guest appearances in children’s ballet Dazzlehands in April next year.
New Zealand School of Dance graduate Lara Flannery joined the RNZB as an apprentice in 2019 and in 2020 became one of the RNZB’s inaugural Friedlander Foundation Scholars. She was promoted to Artist in 2021.
Wellington-born Lara’s solo roles include Fairy of Honesty in The Sleeping Beauty (2020), Zulma in Giselle (2021), 3rd Variation in Paquita (2021), Cobweb in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2024) and she danced ‘Big Swans’ in Swan Lake (2024). She also created memorable characters in children’s ballets Tāne and the Kiwi (Kiwi, 2022) and Dazzlehands (Cow, 2024).
Lara will be staying in Wellington and studying towards a career in high performance sports nutrition.
Levi Teachout, a Seattle-born artist, began his ballet training at Pacific Northwest Ballet before joining the Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) as a guest dancer in 2019 and as an Artist in 2020. While his performance career at the RNZB includes notable roles such as the Sand Man in Hansel & Gretel (2023) and Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2024), it is his growing voice as a choreographer that has defined his trajectory.
Levi’s choreographic work has been showcased in several RNZB studio series, with his most recent piece, Ten Days Falling, featured in September 2024. He has also explored the intersection of dance and film, creating I Deeply Know for the 2022 Dance Bites digital series, which was selected for screening at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival. With a passion for creating innovative and thought-provoking works, Levi is now stepping away from performance to focus exclusively on choreography. He is poised to pursue new creative opportunities in the UK, where he aims to continue developing his distinctive choreographic voice and contribute to the global dance community.
Artist Macy Cook trained in Lower Hutt at Chilton Ballet Academy and at Houston Ballet Academy. Macy returned to New Zealand as a guest dancer for The Sleeping Beauty in 2020.
She joined the RNZB as a Friedlander Foundation Scholar in 2021, retaining her Scholarship for a further year before becoming an Artist in 2023.
Macy’s highlights include Gretel in Hansel & Gretel (2023) and the ‘Smoke’ pas de deux in Alice Topp’s Logos (2023). Macy also designed the projected backdrops for the RNZB’s children’s ballet The Ugly Duckling in 2021, and now leaves the RNZB to begin her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Massey University.
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Artist Shae Berney also trained at Chilton Dance Centre before moving to the English National Ballet School and the European School of Ballet’s trainee programme. He then danced at Finnish National Ballet’s Youth Company before returning home to New Zealand to join the RNZB in mid-2021.
Shae’s highlights include creating the role of Prince Dashing in Loughlan Prior’s Cinderella (2022), Benvolio in Romeo & Juliet (2023) and the Sand Man in Hansel & Gretel (2023). In 2024, he performed James’s solo from La Sylphide at the Civic Memorial for Sir Jon Trimmer, a beloved mentor and friend.
Shae leaves the RNZB to pursue opportunities outside dance.
British-born Artist Damani Campbell Williams joined the RNZB in 2022 after almost a decade dancing in Europe with the Slovenian National Ballet, Moravian Theatre Ballet and Slovak National Ballet.
His roles at the RNZB include the After the Rain pas de deux (2022 and 2023), the Act II pas de deux from Giselle, performed as part of the RNZB’s ‘Platinum’ gala in 2023, the Father and the Sand Man in Hansel & Gretel (2023), Paris and Lord Capulet in Romeo & Juliet (2023) and a notable solo in Moss Te Ururangi Patterson’s Te Ao Mārama. A special highlight for Damani this year was performing the solo created for his idol, former Royal Ballet First Soloist Eric Underwood, in Wayne McGregor’s Infra.
Damani is retiring from ballet after an 11-year career and will be returning to the UK to be closer to his family.
We also farewelled Artist Monet Galea-Hewitt, who joined the RNZB as the RNZB Foundation Scholar in 2022, in mid-2024. Monet has returned to Auckland to study at university.
Welcomes
In 2025 we welcome two new graduates of The Australian Ballet School, Emma Gavan and Jordan Sawtell, as Artists of the RNZB.
We also welcome four graduates of the New Zealand School of Dance as Scholars for 2025: Todd Scholar Olivia Platt (Ngāti Whātua, Ngā Puhi), RNZB Foundation Scholar Hilary An-Roddie and Friedlander Foundation Scholars Angus O’Connell and Joshua Douglas, who returns to New Zealand after a year as a Jette Parker Young Artist at Queensland Ballet.
Olivia, Hilary and Angus have all previously been seconded to the RNZB in 2023 and 2024, while Joshua represented the New Zealand School of Dance with a solo performance at the RNZB’s ‘Platinum’ gala in 2023.
A special thank you to the Todd Trust, the RNZB Foundation and the Friedlander Foundation who continue to generously support young dancers at the start of their professional careers.
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