Licentiate of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, London, has had extensive training in Malta, Rome and London, studying Classical Ballet, Modern Jazz, Contemporary and Spanish Dance. She trained at the Tanya Bayona Poutiatine Academy of Ballet under the guidance of Tanya Bayona. Whilst a student at the Academy she was awarded a medal of Distinction by Cecchetti examiner Laura Wilson. In 1982 she won a scholarship to the National Rome Academy, granted to her by the Italian Cultural Institute. Following this success she continued to attend several international dance courses in London, Italy, and Malta under the direction of very distingushed dance teachers.

Brigitte has performed in several concerts, television programmes and festivals, including the first ever Maltafest at Hagar Qim Temples in 1979 in a ballet called Mother Goddess, choreographed by Tanya Bayona, appearing together with dancers directed by Denis Stall and the first International Summer School performance in 1983, at San Anton Gardens featuring with Durek Purnell and Anya Evans from the Royal Ballet.

Having been awarded her Associate in 1985 and her Licentiate in 1989 she has been teaching Classical Ballet for 22 years and has successfully presented her students for their Cecchetti examinations. Principal and founder of the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Ballet and Artistic Director of Degas Ballet, Brigitte was a member of the Dance Sub Committee at St. James Cavalier, from 2000 to 2002 and is a member of the Conceil International de La Dance - UNESCO, Paris. Brigitte has recently been appointed Tutor for the FDI and CDE new teachers qualifications.

Her international engagements have taken her to Italy where her dancers performed in a Festival in Abruzzo, to Spain where her dancers performed in the Barcelona Grand Prix Festival winning third place, to Latvia where her dancers performed at the Gala Concert as part of the EU enlargement celebrations at the Latvian National Opera House in Riga and to the Conservatoire de Danse in Paris where she attended an intensive course organized by the Association of French Teachers in Classical Ballet.

Brigitte has recenty won a scholarship which took her to Budapest in Hungary last summer. This scholarship which was made possible through the Dance Council Malta, was awarded to her by the Hungarian Dance Academy in Budapest.

Claudia Preca started classical ballet training in 1980 under the tuition of Ms. Daphne Lungaro, attending several courses at the Royal Academy of Dance in London. In 1991 she was awarded the Daphne Lungaro Cup Esteem Award for effort and hard work. In 1996 she joined the Lilian Attard Ballet School where she passed her Advanced exam and obtained the Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance.

In 1998 Claudia joined the Brigitte Gauci Borda school of Ballet and has taken all the major Cecchetti examinations at Intermediate, Advanced 1 and Advanced 2 level as a dancer, passing all three with Distinction. Claudia was awarded her Associate Teaching Certificate in 2001 making her the first student from the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Ballet to qualify as a ballet teacher. She was awarded a higher teaching certificate Associate Diploma in August 2004. Claudia forms part of the classical ballet faculty at the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of ballet teaching both junior and senior students. She is also a member of the school’s affiliate dance company Degas Ballet.

Her performances with the company include The Nutcracker Suite (Manoel Theatre 1999), Millennium Celebrations (Independence Arena 1999), Sculptured Life Forms (Opening of St James Cavalier 2000), Dance Power One (Manoel Theatre 2000), Scrooge (Sir Temi Zammit Hall 2001), Dance Power Two (Mediterranean Conference Centre 2003) Coppelia (Manoel Theatre 2004) and Fame (MCC Feb 2005) Paquita (Manoel Theatre October 2006 - Nottebianca)

Lynne Salomone Reynaud  Associate of the Imperial Society of Teachers of dancing graduated with Distinction from the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Ballet. She started her dance training at a very tender age under the direction of Brigitte Gauci Borda, always achieving excellent results in all her Cecchetti examinations, passing her Advanced 2 exam, as a dancer with Honors.

Her outstanding talent in classical ballet led her to win two awards from the Brigitte Gauci Borda school of Ballet, a year’s scholarship in 1995 and the “Best Classical Dancer” award in 2001. Her years of tuition and experience won her three overseas scholarships to London, Scotland and Paris. The two scholarships to the U.K, to the Urdang Academy, Covent Garden, London in 1997 and to Ballet West, Scotland in 2001 were granted to her by Christina Hughes, former soloist of London Festival Ballet, and Terence Etheridge, former Director of Hong Kong Ballet, respectively.

In 2003 Lynne was the winner of the Dance Council Award during the performance Dance Power 2, which brought together 22 local dance schools with over 200 participants. This prestigious award, was given to the best classical dancer and took Lynne to Paris for an intensive workshop where she was taught by artists of the renowned Paris Opera Ballet Company. This prestigious award was sponsored by curtsey of the French Embassy of Malta and the Dance Council Malta. Another scholarship was awared to her by Kledi Kadu to attend his dance Academy in Rome were she attended in September 2006.

Lynne teaches Classical Ballet and Jazz Dance at the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Ballet and is a soloist of the school’s youth Ballet Company Degas Ballet. Some of her performances with the company include the famous Nutcracker Ballet (Manoel Theatre 1999), Into the Limelight (Her Majesty’s Theatre, London 2000), EU celebrations (National Opera House, Riga, Latvia 2004), Coppelia (Manoel Theatre 2004) and Fame  with the lead role of Iris (MCC Feb 2005). Paquita (Manoel Theatre October 2006 - Nottebianca). Her experience covers a wide spectrum including TV and Film work the most sucessful being Troy were she featured as one of the dancers.

Erika Gatt Colerio nee Bonnici started her dance training in classical dance at Tanya Bayona Poutiatine Academy of Ballet at the age of 4 and joined The Dance Workshop in 1999, under the supervision of Teresa Lungaro Mifsud. She was awarded the Margot Fonteyn Scholarship in 2000 for her hard work and dedication. She attended a number of courses abroad namely The Arts Educational School in 2000 and London Studio Centre in 2002. After training in contemporary dance since she was 12, she joined The Contact Dance Company in 2004 for a year and had the opportunity to perform both locally and abroad. She passed her Advanced I and Advanced II exams with Honours at the age of 16 and 18 respectively.

She obtained a qualification in Foundation in Dance Instruction in 2006 and is currently working towards her Certificate in Dance Instruction. She graduated in BSc. (Hons.) Communication Therapy in 2008 and currently works as a Speech-Language Pathologist.

Erika performed a major part of a number of annual performances with The Dance Workshop  namely Seasons We Dance (2000), Dance Encounters (2001), Space in Time (2002), Jewels (2004), Poetry in Motion (2005), The Art of Dance (2006), No Fixed Points (2007), Verve '08 (2008) as well as Dance Power: Rough/Cut (2003).

Ms Tanya Bayona F.I.S.T.D. London, Enrico Checchetti Diploma

Tanya Bayona, Fellow The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, London and holder of the Enrico Checchetti Diploma, directed the Tanya Bayona, Princess Poutiatine Academy of Ballet for 23 years. She started her training in classical ballet in Malta with Princess Nathalie Poutiatine and continued her professional training in dance academies in London, Rome and Paris.

Her dancing and choreographic career started at an early age in London where she worked with examiners and teachers of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. She performed with several British Dance companies and appeared in a number of films such as The Intelligence Men, Carry on Henry, The life of Galileo, and the famous musical Fiddler on the roof. She also auditioned successfully for Saddlers Wells Ballet Company directed by Pauline Grant.

Tanya Bayona has been invited by several Ministries of Culture to further her studies all over Europe, including three visits to the Bolshoi Theatre School in Moscow and the Vaganova Ballet Academy in Saint-Petersburg. Her repertoire varies from classical to contemporary dance and worked with Maltese composer, Charles Camilleri, in the creation and production of the modern ballets The Elements, Unum Deum, Qolla and Requiem for the Massacred, which have been performed with great success in Malta and France.

In 1965, Tanya Bayona introduced the Enrico Cecchetti method in classical ballet in Malta and established her own ballet school. The method has now flourished and there are now some twelve ballet schools teaching it. She has worked extensively as a choreographer with her own dance company for local and international festivals in theatre and television productions and was responsible for the organisation of international artistic events in Malta. Between 1999 and 2001, Ms Bayona was the artistic director and choreographer for the dance performances given on the occasion of the National Day of France at the reception given by the Embassy of France in Malta 14^th July.

Her love for opera resulted in working as a choreographer with opera stage director, Joseph Bascetta from New-York in three major productions, and most recently with renowned opera singer Miriam Gauci.

Tanya Bayona sat on the Adjudicating panels of prestigious dance competitions namely the Julie Sedova Competition in Nice, France, Prix Lucienne Lambale in Bayonne France and several international video dance competitions held in France and Moscow. She has thought at various international summer schools in Italy and England.

Tanya Bayona is the founder President of the Dance Council Malta and a former member of the executive committee of the International Dance Council, UNESCO, Paris. In 1999, she was conferred with the Award 'Citta di Valletta' for her lifelong commitment to the art of dance in Malta and the following year she was decorated as Chevalier dans lâ'dre des Palmes Academiques by the Prime Minister of France in recognition of the professional contribution to dance and the promotion of French culture in Malta. She has received several awards from England and Italy in recognition of her professional services towards the art of dance.

In 2005 Tanya Bayona celebrated together with other local ballet schools the fortieth anniversary of the Cecchetti Method in Malta.

Tanya Bayona is presently working as a choreographer, dance adjudicator and regular guest teacher with local and foreign dance schools and very active as Honorary Life President of the Dance Council Malta for local events and cultural exchanges in Europe. Yoga has become a part of her life and is developing as a Yoga master with an interesting programme for dancers and enthusiasts who wish to keep a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

In June 2008 she was invited by the Director Sign.Anna Razzi to sit on a prestigious panel of judges to examine the students from La Scuola di Ballo dell Teatro di San Carlo Napoli.

Sue Vassallo started Jazz dance at the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of ballet at the age of 9, under the direction of Sonja Laskowski and later Jes Sciberras. In 2001 she received “The Best Jazz Technique Award,” and continued to further her studies under the direction of Kristina Schranz specializing in Hip Hop. Her interest in Choreography led her to attended several workshops including the Choreography Workshop with Gabriella Stazio, founder of ‘Danza In Movimento’.

Sue has choreographed for many shows for dancers of the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Ballet including The Goldwell Hair Awards 2006, Junior Eurovision in 2006 and 2007 and the ending credits of popular TV Soap ‘Becky’ which was broadcasted on PBS in 2006/7 and most recently she was appointed as Hip Hop choreographer for the PBS television show which launched the new programmes for this season on TVM.

In 2007, Sue accompanied Miss Brigitte to the ‘Barcelona Costa Brava International Dance Competition 2007,’ where she entered Hip Hop choreography in Spain. In the summer of 2008 she attended an intensive summer dance course in Tropea Italy, performing in Teatro la Pace after taking professional dance classes with Hip Hop icon LUAM and other teachers from Broadway.

With the Brigitte Gauci Borda school of Ballet Sue danced as one of the senior lead dancers in various shows such as Fame which was held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre with professional guest artists from the West End. She participated in the opening of the Small Nations Games and Dance Power II and III, also appearing on many TV shows such as Bravi, Showtime, Istrina, Bialando, Ohloq Bissima and Pantomime ‘Hercules’ which was held at the Manoel Theatre in 2006/7.

Sue is currently teaching Jazz Dance and Hip Hop to junior and teenage students at the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Ballet.

Gillian began her dance training at Point 2 Ballet Studio studying classical ballet under the direction of Monique Pellegrini Petit and Mireille Coleiro, and later taking up jazz and Spanish dance at Central Academy of Ballet. Gillian achieved excellent results in all her Cecchetti and Spanish Dance Society examinations. She was often chosen to dance leading roles in the school’s performances, including My Fair Lady (2002) and The Little Mermaid (2000), and on several occasions won the in-house choreographic competition organised by the Academy.

In 2000 and 2003 Gillian was chosen to participate in Dance Power I and II respectively, and during the latter she was awarded a six-month scholarship by the UNESCO-affiliated Dance Council Malta. Gillian was awarded several other scholarships during her years of training, including a summer scholarship to the Arts Educational School in Tring, UK, in 1999.

Gillian delved into the world of contemporary dance at the age of 13, training with Francesca Abela Tranter and participating in numerous workshops. Gillian was invited to join Contact Dance Company in 2004, performing in Poland, Germany, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Tunisia and locally. While working with CDC, she regularly collaborated on choreography with Artistic Director Francesca Abela Tranter as well as with visiting foreign artists such as Michael Joseph from Union Dance.

Elaine Zerafa began her dancing career at the age of 3, studying ballet and tap in England. She eventually progressed to Ballroom and Latin, passing all the major exams.

After arriving in Malta in the early 60's she again took up her dancing career where she qualified as a professional dance teacher in Ballroom/Latin in 1998. She has appeared in two major productions at the M.C.C. Namely "Dirty Dancing" and "Moulin Rouge" and choreographed "Dancing at Lunasa" for the M.A.D.C. Elaine recently performed in the ballet 'Coppelia' playing the role of the mayor's wife, at the Manoel Theatre in November 2004.

She is currently teaching Ballroom/Latin at the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Ballet.