Ausdance ACT Workshop Series 2024 is delighted to invite you to a Ballet Masterclass with Principal Victorian State Ballet Artists Elise Jacques & Tynan Wood on Canberra Theatre Stage!

The masterclass will include basic centre barre, pirouettes and steps of allegro for centre practice.

After class the two artists will perform a short showing of the pas de deux from the 'Beauty & the Beast' Act 2 of the show, which the company is presenting at the Canberra Theatre on the same night!

We will close the event with some Q & A time where you can ask about the artist's training, show preparation, back-stage curiosities and more.

This is a unique opportunity for your ballet and performance training, don't miss out!

This workshop is for intermediate to advanced ballet students aged 15 years plus, independent artists and adults with technical expertise in ballet dance form. Please wear ballet attire.

Location: Canberra Theatre Centre - Civic Square, London Circuit, Canberra. Please arrive at the theatre foyer by 10.45am.

Ausdance ACT’s Workshop Series is presented with support from Canberra Theatre Centre & Arts Capital at Gorman Arts Centre.

About the Artists

Elise Jacques - Principal Artist

Elise joined The Victorian State Ballet in 2016 and was promoted to Principal Artist in 2023.

Elise’s love of dance began at the age of 3 when she attended the Sharon Lawrence School of Dance. Although being trained in jazz, tap and ballet, by the age of 9 Elise felt her calling was classical ballet and she auditioned to attend the Australian Ballet School, where she remained training in the Russian Vaganova method until she graduated at 18 years of age with a Bachelor of Classical Ballet. During her time at the Australian Ballet School, she was awarded two scholarships of Excellence and toured Australia with The Australian Ballet Regional Tour.

Some of the highlights of her dancing career were performing in The Australian Ballet’s Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake and Peter Wright’s Nutcracker. Elise has had many highlights with Victorian State Ballet. Feature roles in the company include ‘Belle’ in Beauty & the Beast, ‘Kitri’ in Don Quixote, ‘Clara’ in The Nutcracker, ‘Ariel’ in The Little Mermaid, ‘Gulnare’ in Le Corsaire, ‘Giselle’ in Giselle and 'Gerda' in Snow Queen. Elise is debuting as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake for Season 2024.

Tynan Wood - Principal Artist

Tynan joined VSB as company artist in July 2019 and was promoted to Principal Artist in 2023.

Tynan was born in Newcastle and trained with the New Zealand School of Dance until his graduation in December 2014.

In 2013, Tynan represented NZSD at the Assemble’s Internationale hosted by Canada National Ballet School, taking top honours at the Alana Haines Australasian Ballet Awards and appeared as a guest artist at Auckland’s Tempo Dance Festival.

Subsequently in 2014, Tynan was invited to join Sydney Dance Company for the Sydney season of Interplay. Following his graduation from NZSD, Tynan joined Royal New Zealand Ballet for the seasons of Don Quixote and Salute in 2015. He was further invited to perform with RNZB on their international tour of the United Kingdom and Italy. In 2016, Tynan joined Melbourne City Ballet as a Company Artist and was then promoted to Soloist in 2017 where he had great success in many lead roles including Romeo, Basilio and Dracula.

Photo Sasha Kane