Photo by Peter Leung
Daniela Cardim is a Brazillian/British choreographer, ballet teacher, producer and director. She has recently been appointed Artistic Director of Ballet Arizona.
Daniela was born in Rio de Janeiro and trained with Prof. Eliana Karin. At 17, she was awarded a scholarship at the Pricesse Grace Dance Academy in Monte Carlo. She danced with Ballet do Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro for five years and was also part of Grupo de Dança DC. She then joined Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam, where she danced for 11 years.
Throughout her career as a professional dancer, she performed works from great choreographers, including Serge Lifar, Vaslav Nijinski, Léonide Massine, George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton, Sir Peter Wright, Alexei Ratmansky, Hans van Manen, Krzysztof Pastor, Ted Brandsen, Lar Lubovitch, Rodrigo Pederneiras, amongst others.
Daniela started choreographing while still dancing, and her first choreography commission was for Dutch National Ballet School in 2007. She has been creating works ever since.
As a choreographer, she gives great importance to musicality and her creative process involves close collaboration with the dancers.
Commissions include works for West Australian Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Dutch National Ballet (main and Junior companies), Poznan Opera Ballet, New English Ballet Theatre, Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo Companhia de Dança, Images Ballet Company, English National Ballet School, Dutch National Ballet School, School of American Ballet (as part of the New York Choreographic Institute), Royal Ballet School Summer Intensive, Elmhurst Ballet School and the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts.
In 2023, she was nominated for the Award of Best Choreography for her work 'Stabat Mater' for Poznan Opera Ballet, by the 17th Theatrical Music Awards Jan Kiepura, in Poland.
Her most recent creations, received with critical acclaim, are:
'Baroque Encounters', for New English Ballet Theatre, Nov 2023. Lilian Baylis Sadler's Wells, London, UK;
'Stabat Mater', for Poznan Opera Ballet, Nov 2022/Mar 2023. Aula Artis Theatre, Poznan, Poland;
'Nocturne', for New English Ballet Theatre, Jun 2022. Linbury Theatre Royal Opera House, London, UK;
'Reset', for West Australian Ballet, Feb 2022. Quarry Amphitheatre, Perth, Australia;
Daniela worked with New English Ballet Theatre from 2013 to 2024, initially as Project Manager, then as Company/General Manager and was appointed Assistant Director and Associate Choreographer in 2022. She has created 6 choreographic works for the company throughout the years.
She was a guest Mentor working with student choreographers at the Royal Ballet School in 2020 and 2021, and has also choreographed for the Royal Ballet School's Summer Intensive in 2021 and 2022.
Daniela was cited as ‘new name to watch’ by Dance Europe Magazine’s Critics’ Choice Awards for her 2015 work for NEBT. Her work Vertex has been chosen by Dance Europe's Critics’ Choice Awards as one of the 'Best Premieres of 2017’.
She holds a first class degree in Arts Management. She was part of DanceEast’s 2012 Rural Retreat, conference for current and aspiring Artistic Directors. She was also part of the Jury at the Brazilian Dance Festival (Festival de Dança de Joinville) for three years (2010 - 2012).
Daniela was a guest teacher with Ballet Rambert, Hong Kong Dance Company, English National Ballet, Wayne McGregor Company, Akram Khan Company and the Swedish Ballet School in Gothenburg.
© 2024 Daniela Cardim