Our people

Ahmad Joudeh was born and raised in the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, in Damascus, Syria. Ever since his childhood, his dream was to be a dancer. Despite intense opposition from some family members and society in general, he attended dance lessons, often in secret. Ahmad was trained at Syria’s major dance company the Enana Dance Theatre and studied at the Damascus Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts. In his free time he also taught dancing to orphans and young people with Down’s Syndrome at the SOS villages around Damascus. ​ In 2014 Ahmad starred in the Arabian version of “So You Think You Can Dance”. His appearance in this programme earned him fame both at home and abroad. The Dutch journalist, Roozbeh Kaboly, spotted Ahmad on the Facebook page of the Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts and travelled to Damascus to document the life of Ahmad and his family for the Dutch news programme “Nieuwsuur”. The moving and inspirational documentary “Dance or Die” has also been broadcast by the international media, including the BBC, Channel 4 News, Arte and France 2. It has been viewed by millions of people across the globe. After seeing the documentary, Ted Brandsen, director of the Dutch National Ballet was inspired to help Ahmad. Together with individuals and colleagues from The Netherlands, the Dutch National Ballet has succeeded in bringing him to The Netherlands to continue his studies and career there. “Dancing has given me the strength to face many obstacles that came my way. It has shaped my personality. Because I am a dancer, I am alive.”

Léonore Baulac, half French half Norwegian, was nominated “Étoile” of the Paris Opera Ballet in 2016 after performing Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. “I wish children from all around the world could thrive up to their potential, and I definitely think dance can help!”

PC James Bort

Immersed in the world of classical dance from a very young age, Dorothée Blacher has built her professional path around this art. After a career as a professional dancer in various ballet companies such as the Paris Opera and the English National Ballet, she decided to discover a new aspect of dance joining the brand Repetto. For more than 15 years, she built up marketing and commercial skills until she headed the dance department of Repetto. Aware of the emotional impact of art, Dorothée wishes to share dance-connected values through a vision that she has shaped throughout her career. To invest in the association « Dance Can Do » is for her an obvious way to give a new meaning to her commitment with the ambition of transmitting and revealing the artistic, cultural, and educational dimension of dance to the younger generations.

Ida Praetorius is Principal at the Royal Danish Ballet. PC Natascha Thiara Rydvald

Jean-Baptiste is a French journalist, digital consultant and social media strategist. Former political journalist for a national radio, he now works for cultural institutions (such as Fondation Louis Vuitton), fashion brands (such as Saint Laurent) or non-profits (such as Fraternité Générale) to help them find their way inside the thrilling and infinite digital world. Jean-Baptiste is deeply convinced that social media and the Internet should not only be considered merely as communication tools but as real media, digital spaces, or even digital stage (as it is for the “3e scène” of the Opera National de Paris with which he has been collaborating for the last couple of years). Jean-Baptiste is a huge fan of ballet & dance in general (also being an amateur ballet dancer) and believes in the power of dance, movement and music to change lives.

Following a performance of The Nutcracker (Nureyev) where she dances the role of Clara for the first time, on 19 November 2007, she is named “Étoile”. She has since added to her repertoire, among others: Swanilda in Coppelia, the star and title role in La Petite danseuse de Degas (P. Bart), Les Quatre Tempéraments, the first movement of Symphony in C, Rubis/Joyaux, Apollon, Mozartiana, the Divertissement from Le Songe d’une nuit d’été, Theme et Variations, Agon (Balanchine), the title role in Giselle (after Coralli and Perrot), Tatiana in Onéguine (Cranko), Nuages, Bella Figura, Tar and Feathers (Kylián), the title role of La Sylphide (Lacotte after Taglioni), Suite en blanc (Lifar), Manon in L’Histoire de Manon (MacMillan) and Triade (Millepied).

Seasoned professional in the areas of brand management, strategic marketing and business development, Marie is based in Paris. Being fascinated by visual arts, including photography and opera, Marie has discovered ballet dancing with Aurélia as an introduction to Dance Can Do. Realising how much she was herself moved by the poetry and energy of dancers made her grasp the power of dance. She therefore found herself aligned with the Dance Can Do goal to promote dance as a change-maker for young people. Marie is supporting the project from Paris where she aims to create events and develop the Dance Can Do network.

Born in Vienna and based in Paris since the age of 20, Monika is trilingual in French, English, and German. She spent over 30 years building an international career in administration, finance, and Human Resources, supporting foreign companies in their development in France. Deeply committed to intercultural collaboration, she later turned to volunteer work supporting children. Inspired by her lifelong passion for dance, she now contributes her professional expertise to Dance Can Do, helping advance its mission and impact.

Akram Khan is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists today. In just over fifteen years, he has created a body of work that has contributed significantly to the arts in the UK and abroad. His reputation has been built on the success of imaginative, highly accessible and relevant productions such as DESH, iTMOi, Vertical Road, Gnosis and zero degrees. An instinctive and natural collaborator, Khan has been a magnet to world-class artists from other cultures and disciplines. His previous collaborators include the National Ballet of China, actress Juliette Binoche, ballerina Sylvie Guillem, choreographers/dancers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Israel Galván, singer Kylie Minogue, visual artists Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley and Tim Yip, writer Hanif Kureishi and composers Steve Reich, Nitin Sawhney, Jocelyn Pook and Ben Frost. Khan’s work is recognised as being profoundly moving, in which his intelligently crafted storytelling is effortlessly intimate and epic. Described by the Financial Times as an artist “who speaks tremendously of tremendous things”, a recent highlight of his career was the creation of a section of the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony that was received with unanimous acclaim. Khan has been the recipient of numerous awards throughout his career including the Laurence Olivier Award, the Bessie Award (New York Dance and Performance Award), the prestigious ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts) Distinguished Artist Award, the Fred and Adele Astaire Award, the Herald Archangel Award at the Edinburgh International Festival, the South Bank Sky Arts Award and six Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. Khan was awarded an MBE for services to dance in 2005. He is also an Honorary Graduate of Roehampton and De Montfort Universities, as well as University of London, and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Laban. Khan is an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells, London and Curve Leicester. Photo: JL Fernandez

Kevin is the Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet. He was born in Yorkshire and trained at The Royal Ballet School and, through an exchange programme, with Royal Danish Ballet. He began his performing career with The Royal Ballet’s sister company Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, and stayed with that company as a Principal during its transformation into Birmingham Royal Ballet. During this time, Kevin performed extensively in the UK and internationally, including as a guest artist with many leading companies. His repertory included all the leading classical roles, such as Prince Siegfried (Swan Lake), Prince Florimund (The Sleeping Beauty), Albrecht (Giselle) and Romeo (in BRB’s first performance of Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet). O’Hare worked with many leading figures in the ballet world, including Ninette de Valois, Peter Wright, Frederick Ashton, MacMillan and David Bintley, and created several roles, including Amynta (Bintley’s Sylvia). He also produced many galas and choreographic evenings. O’Hare retired from the stage in 2000, entering into a traineeship in company management with the Royal Shakespeare Company. This led to the post of Company Director with BRB in 2001, and in 2004 he joined The Royal Ballet as Company Manager. He was made Administrative Director in 2009 before being appointed to his current role. In 2013, he was appointed to the board of Dance UK.

Nolwenn Guibert is an international lawyer. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Paris X Nanterre, an LLM from Washington College of Law, and a DESS from the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas. She started her career as Human Rights Officer with the OSCE in post-conflict Bosnia-Herzegovina. She then served as a legal adviser to international judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for 12 years and for shorter periods at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the International Criminal Court, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. More recently, her legal practice shifted to international civil service litigation, conduct, and ethics, working as a disciplinary Officer for the United Nations Department of Field Support in New York and currently as Senior Legal Officer in Geneva. Her ballet training shaped the lawyer she has become and her passion for ballet and human rights has drawn her to further her research on the interactions between the two. She is the co-editor of a book on the topic (Art and Human Rights: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Contemporary Issues) which publication with Edward Elgar Publishing is forthcoming in May 2023. 

Camille Di Fiore dedicates her life to dance and its transmission, cultivating strong teaching skills as a certified Dance Teacher by the French government and a profound understanding of the intrinsic human values associated with this art. In 2022, she joined WDCD and played an essential role in establishing the Belgian branch. Returning to her hometown followed a period of training with eminent masters of the French School of Dance, such as Atilio Labis, Christiane Vlassi, Evelyne Dessuter, and international workshops with prestigious institutions like the Royal Ballet of London, the San Francisco Ballet, and the Netherlands Dance Theater company in Amsterdam. This training led to her professional dancer diploma from the Stanlowa Institute in Paris. Her journey allows her to balance a career as both a teacher and a dancer, working with renowned companies such as the Saint Petersburg Ballet during their tours in Belgium, LAAC at the Théâtre des Champs, Cie KDP Paris, and currently as a freelance artist. Furthermore, Camille actively engages with the Association for Artistic Exchanges between France and China (AEAFC), where she is regularly invited throughout China to promote the French School of Dance through masterclasses and as a judge for the “Prix d’Europe.” Today, she holds the position of Head of Business Development at WDCD in Belgium while also artistically contributing to the well-being of the children beneficiaries.

Rodolphe Fouillot studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris and California Institute of the Arts of Los Angeles. He danced for 23 years in national and international companies. He also is a certified dance teacher. Along the years, he has led dance projects aimed at a vast range of people, among others elderly people, people in prison serving long sentences, living with disabilities or terminally ill. Among other pieces, he choreographed the danced parts of the opera “Le petit poisson d’or” from Youli Galperine and those of “Hansel et Gretel” and of Strauss’ “Chauve-Souris” for the Paris Opera. He also has worked as rehearsal master. Since September 2016, he choreographs for the Paris Opera Academy. Since 2019, he is in charge of an artistic project involving people living with disabilities and teaches at the CRD of Gennevilliers. A documentary film, “De rage et de danse” (2019), documents on his recent work.  

Yen-Ching Lin is as an independent artist and teacher developing her own research and creative practices in movement, photography and video. Born in Taiwan, Yen-Ching studied at the Taipei National University of the Arts and the London Contemporary Dance School from where she holds a MA in Contemporary Dance. Yen-Ching has worked with choreographers such as Maresa von Stockert, Charles Linehan, Jonathan Lunn, Jan de Schynkel, and Didy Veldman. She had danced for Hofesh Schether Company and Bern Ballet, under the direction of Stijn Celis, before joining Akram Khan Company in 2010. There, she taught workshops, restaged repertoire and worked as Rehearsal Director. After leaving AKC in 2017, she joined Clod Ensemble. Yen-Ching explores art forms teaming up with various artists: Virtual Reality (VR) film WHILST by AΦE, The Waldorf Project: Chapter Three / FUTURO – experimental, immersive food experience, by Sean Rogg &AΦE. She also is a member of the Theo Adams Company since 2017.

Dor Mamalia is a world renowned and celebrated dancer who won the Israeli Ministry of Culture prize for “Best Cast Performance” and received the “Audience Award” at the prestigious Copenhagen Choreography Dance Competition. Dor Mamalia was trained at The Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company Workshop Institute. He joined the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company 2, Karl Alfred Schreiner and the Muza Dance Company. In his very rich career, he has danced pieces by William Forsythe, Jacopo Godani, Emanuel Gat, Marco Goecke, Yoram Karmi, Keren Rosenberg and Barak Marshell, among others. He also was part of Idan Sharabi & Dancers, teaching workshops based on Sharabi’s material and staged some of Sharabi’s creations with the Netherlands Dance Theatre 2, the Royal Danish Ballet and many more. Dor Mamalia teaches workshops based on his self-developed technique, Anchor Technique, in academies and companies such as the School of Contemporary Dance Hamburg or the Linz Ballet Music Theatre. He joined the Tanz Luzerner Theatre ensemble under the direction of Kathleen McNurney in 2016 before preming his solo creation, “I Choose You” in the Stanislvasky Theatre in Moscow alongside reputable dancers such as Ana Laguna, Diana Vishneva and Aurélie Dupont. Dor Mamalia has recently premiered his duet piece with dancer/choreographer, Dariusz Nowak, entitled, “into me, see”, commissioned to open the Jewish Art’s Festival Zurich in May 2018.

British born Alexander Jones was trained at the Royal Ballet School London. He won the gold medal in 2004 Adeleine Genee competition and was presented the Dame Ninette de Valois award, London Ballet Circle. Upon graduation, he joined the Stuttgart Ballet where he was promoted to Principal dancer on stage after his debut performance of John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet. He then danced all the classical and major roles including the title role in “Onegin”, Armand in John Neumeier’s “Lady of the Camellias”, Colas in Ashton’s “La Fille Mal Gardee” and many others, along with other choreographies from George Balanchine, Kenneth Macmillan, Bejart, Jerome Robbins, William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian and Christian Spuck. In 2014 he was nominated by the National dance awards, England for Best Male Classical dancer. In 2015 Alexander joined the Ballet Zurich, where he created the role of Siegfried in Ratmansky’s reconstruction of Swan Lake for the Ballet Zurich and La Scala in Milan, and in 2016 he appeared as a guest artist with Staatsballet Berlin, performing Albrecht in Patrice Barts Giselle. Other repertoire in Zurich includes Christian Spuck’s “Romeo and Juliet” and Anna Karenina. He has performed in many of the major theatres, including Opera Garnier, Royal Opera House, London, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow and Arena of Verona as part of the Roberto Bolle and friends tour. He is currently working on a feature film project with Pontus Lidberg and Aurélie Dupont, where he will enjoy his first experience as an actor.

Marie-Agnès Gillot is one of the most in-demand dancers in France and beyond. Whether performing in works by acclaimed choreographers or starring in fashion designers campaigns, she has inspired creators from the dance and fashion worlds and collaborated with a wide range of international artists. Nominated “ Étoile” in 2004, she was the first female in-house choreographer to receive a commission from the Paris Opera Ballet. She has staged her works across balletic, contemporary, and even hip hop styles. Marie-Agnès actively supports a number of philanthropic causes. This is therefore as a celebrated artist and as a woman of commitment and conviction that she joined the Dance Can Do ambassadors.

English dancer Francesca Hayward is a Principal of The Royal Ballet. She trained at The Royal Ballet School and graduated into the Company during the 2010/11 season. She was promoted to Principal in 2016. While a student, Francesca won the 2009 Lynn Seymour Award for Expressive Dance, the 2010 Young British Dancer of the Year and both silver medal and the Audience Choice Award at the 2010 Genée International Ballet Competition. After joining The Royal Ballet she represented the Company at the 2012 International Competition for the Erik Bruhn Prize and won Best Emerging Artist (2014) and Best Female Dancer (2016, 2019) at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. Among many others, her repertory with the Company includes Juliet, Alice, Manon, Lise (La Fille mal gardée), the female Principal role in Rhapsody, Titania (The Dream), Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara (The Nutcracker), Princess Aurora and Princess Florine (The Sleeping Beauty) or Princess Stephanie (Mayerling). She created roles in Untouchable, Woolf Works and Multiverse. “Everyone should be able to experience the freedom and the joy that dance brings. Ballet changed my life and I want to help bring that gift to every child with Dance Can Do.” 

Ji Min Hong is from South Korea, and has danced with the National Ballet of Canada (2010 – 2014) and Royal Danish Ballet (2014 – present). “Dance has taught me how to live my life: to be humble because the power and beauty of art are so much bigger than who I am; to be patient because things don’t always work out the way I want them to, but eventually they will work out the way they should if I don’t give up on myself; and to be grateful for everything because I know how it feels not to be able to do what I love to do, and being able to dance is a miracle. Picasso said that ‘Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life’, and, through my art form of dance, I hope to help create moments like these for our audiences.” PC Natascha Thiara Rydvald

Aurélia is Franco-Swiss and currently lives in Paris.  Besides leading WDCD, she works as a freelance speaker, public speaking coach and trainer. Initially from a Literature and Business academic background, a career break gave her the opportunity to make a dream come true: bring an artistic and philanthropic project to life. Passionate about dance, the topic came to her very naturally. “What Dance Can Do was born from the belief that dance can change lives. And that more people should know about it. Dance is empowering in so many ways, it can play an active role in driving positive change at individual, community and society levels. Dance programs are not a cost; they are an investment in the future of humanity.”