Ms Fleur Letitia: Founder of The NSW Ballet School
Fleur Letitia began her professional classical dancing career in 1986. She hasperformed Principal roles with ballet companies throughout Britain; Europe andthe USA, dancing in some of the most prestigious opera houses and theatres inthe Western World.Ms Letitia began her training in classical dance at the age of three. She studiedthe Royal Academy of Dance syllabus. Although Ms Letitia was pursuing a careerin classical ballet, she trained and competed in every facet of danceincluding, Tap; Jazz; Contemporary; National Character; Musical Theater andClog. The championships and scholarships Ms Letitia won in each of these dancestyles including competitions held in Sydney; Brisbane The Australian NationalEisteddfod's in the ACT and regional NSW are too numerous to list.At thirteen years, Ms Letitia began full-time studies and was a guest artist withThe Sydney City Ballet Company. By the age of fourteen she had been invited toperform Odette/Odile in Swan Lake with both the Tasmanian Ballet Foundation andCanberra Youth Ballet Company and was awarded the prestigious Solo Seal Awardby the RAD, becoming the youngest recipient of this award in any Commonwealthcountry.At fifteen, Ms Letitia was invited to study the Vaganova (Russia) syllabus withMarika Besobrasova at the Ecole de Dance Classique de Princess Grace in MonteCarlo. During her studies at this exclusive school, she was fortunate to beinvited to perform throughout France and Italy.During a short holiday in Australia, Ms Letitia secured a contract with Opera Australiaperforming in Dame Joan Sutherland's Gala Season of The Merry Widow also DieMeistersinger Von Nurenburg and The Italian Girl in Algiers. She also performedwith the International Opera Company's season of Aida.Ms Letitia returned to London where she performed with The Vienna Ballet; TheLondon Ballet Theatre and The Vienna Festival Ballet Company.A highlight of Ms Letitia's career was performing with the internationallyacclaimed ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev.Due to her exposure to contemporary styles, Fleur came to fully realise her great lovefor classical dance, her understanding and talent for both the choreography andperformance of classical dance, and importantly, the lack of opportunities forprofessional classical dancers to work in NSW, as no fully professional balletcompany existed in this state. Ms Letitia, with both the experience andexpertise - having danced, choreographed and been involved in the promotionsand organization of ballet companies throughout Britain, Europe and the USAmade a firm commitment to fill this void and establish a NSW representativeballet company which would provide full-time employment for local, professionalballet dancers. Importantly, NSW would have it's own professional balletcompany. This would bring it into line with Victoria, Queensland, WesternAustralia and Tasmania. The NSW Ballet Company was formed in 1993.Since becoming the Artistic Director and Choreographer of The NSW Ballet Company, Ms Letitia has produced six performance seasons and choreographed threefull-length ballets; A Midsummer Night's Dream, Wind in the Willows andOrpheus. These ballets were performed in Sydney and Canberra and touredextensively throughout regional NSW.In 1999 at a gala dinner attended by over nine hundred guests, including the Premier,The Hon. Bob Carr, and Kim Yeadon, Minister of Western Sydney, Ms Letitia washonored with the award of 'Young Entrepreneur of the Year'.During this time a high number of requests for training students began to beregistered with the Company office. Ms Letitia started conducting privatecoaching sessions for senior students and grade examination candidates withexcellent results. With the success of these coaching sessions and morestudents requesting classes, Ms Letitia opened a training school, The NSWBallet School, specializing in the tuition of classical dance.Fleur Letitia gained a Distinction in her teaching certificate and is a RegisteredTeacher with the Royal Academy of Dance. Ms Kristen Brookman: Principal Teacher
Ms Brookman began her training at The School of Contemporary Dance, Western Sydney, in 1993. She studied and performed in RAD Classical
Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical and Contemporary. Completing RAD Graded Examinationsfrom Primary to Grade Four.In 1999 Kristen was accepted into The NSW Ballet School's Evening Training Program and began studying the RAD Vocational Graded syllabus, completing RAD Examinations from Pre-Elementary - Advanced Two receiving Honours and Distinctions.During this time Ms Brookman began concentrating on her performance skills by competing in many Eisteddfods. The McDonald Challenge, Ryde and St. George Eisteddfods are considered among the best competitions in both Sydney and Australia. She achieved many 1st place winnings in these and other competitions. Performancestyles she competed in at this time were Classical Ballet, Demi Character,Lyrical, Contemporary and Broadway Jazz. Whilst Ms Brookman's classical solos won for the technical skills she demonstrated, itwas in the Demi Character and Championship sections that she really excelled.Ms Brookman's skill for portraying dramatic characters was acclaimed in suchroles as Juliet and Ophelia. It was with these roles that her great love of'story ballets' began. In 2004 Kristen was accepted into The NSW Ballet School's Full Time Training Program and became a Graduate of this Program in 2008. During this time she began to study and train in the Vaganova syllabus. Other curriculum studies included - Pas de Deux; Repertoire; Pointe; National Character; Pilates; Anatomy & Safe Dance Practice.
The NSW Ballet School Performance Group won the National Classical Ballet Championship and Ms Brookman was awarded National Classical Ballet Solo Championship. DuringMs Brookman's time with the 'Performance Group' she performed the followingroles. 1999 - Mr. Mole. 'Wind in the Willows' 2000 - Dorothy. 'The Wizard of Oz' 2001 - Jacquimoi, the swallow. 'Thumbelina' 2002 - Anastasia. 'Cinderella' 2003 - Ballet Student. 'Degas Dancers' & Roxie Hart. 'Chicago' 2004 - Clara. 'The Nutcracker' 2005 - Performed on the TV. Show 'My Restaurant Rules' at the 'Pink Salt' restaurant
in Sydney. Sebastian the Crab. 'The Little Mermaid'2006 - Miss Field Mouse. 'Thumbelina'. Swan Leader'The Ugly Duckling. Lady of theEnchanted Garden, Gypsy & The Snow Queen. 'The Snow Queen' 2007 -Wendy. 'Peter Pan' 2008 - Dorothy. 'The Wizard of Oz
The NSW Ballet School Performance Group was honoured to be invited to perform at the prestigious West Lakes Festival in Hangzhou City, China. During this time Ms Brookman was Principal Dancer and Dance Captain of the group. The group was commissioned to perform the full-length production of 'The Nutcracker' in which she performed the role of 'Clara'. Her responsibilities as Dance Captain included rehearsing the younger members of the group both before the school left Australia and during our two week stay in China.
Upon her return to Australia Ms Brookman began teaching for The NSW Ballet School. Her roles included teaching the Pre-Primary and Primary Grades at the Parramatta campus and duel teacher for the Grades 1 through to 3.
It was during this time that Ms Brookman began choreographing for the younger grades annual performance. Kristen also choreographed several solo routines for junior and senior student's eisteddfod competitions.Over the years Kristen has taught and guided students from 2 years of age - professional level dancers and adult beginners. The various styles of dance she teaches include RAD classical ballet, pointe, vaganova, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, tap and broadway jazz.During her 12 years of teaching Kristen has taught for The N.S.W Ballet School, Westfield Sports High School, the Village Performing Arts Centre, Dirty Feet- Independent Contemporary Company, Dance Star, Decadance and Sydney Broadway Chorus.
In 2012 Ms Brookman journeyed overseas throughout the United Kingdomand Europe to continue her dance training.Upon her return to Australia Ms Brookman was invited toperform in The Strathfield Musical Society's 'Phantom of the Opera' as a Soloist Dancer.In 2015 Kristen was invited to perform at The Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, performing in Plavalaguna "The Diva" as Principal dancer.