About us
Our Artistic Staff
Director | Alisa Finney
Alisa Finney launched the Melbourne Ballet Company in 2007 with a vision to create a world-class ballet company to support and showcase the extensive talent of the Australian classical dance industry, and also to offer a vehicle for emerging and established artists to thrive and develop collectively.
As Director of this emerging performing organisation, Alisa draws on her experience in marketing and business management, as well as considerable expertise in ballet training and dance administration - in order to create an exciting and vibrant artistic platform.
A graduate of the Australian Ballet Schools Teachers Training Program and Principal of the Gay Wightman School of Ballet, Alisa sits on several dance boards and has earned great respect within the industry for her ability to maintain the momentum of a professional company that is high in artistic integrity and able to produce new work that is exciting and relevant to audiences.
With the Company now in its fourth year of operation, and after nine successful performance seasons, Alisa looks forward to the Melbourne Ballet Company’s continued success.
Resident Choreographer | Simon Hoy
Simon Hoy is the resident choreographer and a principal dancer with the Melbourne Ballet Company. Simon trained at the Australian Ballet School under Gaylene Stock, performing leading roles in Napoli, Sleeping Beauty, Snow Queen and Trios.
Simon’s professional career began as a soloist with Ballet Graz in Austria, Ballet Mainz in Germany, Schaufuss Ballet in Denmark and Carolina Ballet before joining Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet in New York. He has toured and guested throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Simon has worked with many outstanding teachers and choreographers including; Wilhelm Burmann, Adam Luders, Jonny Eliason, Hans Van Manen, Nils Christie, Peter Schaufuss, Darrell Tolone, Peter Brauer, Martin Schlapfer, Donald Mahler, Robert Weiss, and Natilie Weir. He has also performed works by George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton, and John Cranko.
Since returning to Australia Simon has played a leading role in the renaissance of the Melbourne Ballet Company as its resident choreographer, and created ten new works for the Company.
Career Highlights
• 2009, 2010 and 2011 Simon created works for Quorum Ballet in Lisbon and also for the Rosenberg Institute of St Gallen, Switzerland.
• Choreographic Credits; Transcendent Dancers Classical Motivation, Not So, The Passacaglia, Mendelssohn Concerto, Kaleidoscope, Mozart Concerto, V.T(Adagio for Strings), Above Water, Tuscany, In Paradisum, In One Day, Submerged, Drenched, Stuck In Perpetual Motion, Rosenberg Ball of St Gallen, Switzerland, Placement, Phrased Without Words and Infinite Space.
Assistant Artistic Director | Sharon Fernandez
Sharon Fernandez has been a principal dancer with the Melbourne Ballet Company since Project One. She trained at the Gay Wightman School of Ballet winning many major scholarships and awards.
Sharon’s professional career began at age 11 with the Australian Ballet in Graham Murphy’s “The Nutcracker”. She has been Principal dancer with the Melbourne Ballet Company since May 2007 and had new works made on her by choreographers; Simon Hoy, Robert Kelly, Tim Harbour, Kim Vincs, Justine Miles, Simone Pulga and Remi Worthmeier. Sharon has studied and performed in the USA, Asia and New Zealand working with many inspiring teachers and choreographers.
Sharon has choreographed four works for the Melbourne Ballet Company “Premiere Amore”, “2XU’, Wall 2 Wall” and “Pause and Effect”.
"The peerless Sharon Fernandez" Chris Boyd Herald Sun Dec 2009
Career Highlights
• Sharon has Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment.
• Sharon was commissioned by the Australasian Dance Assessment to choreograph a 13 level jazz syllabus.
• Choreographer for Opera Australia events for 3 years.
• In December 2010, Sharon won the Maurice Lacroix “Spirits of the Arts Award” for her season with The Melbourne Ballet Company.
Ballet Master | Robert Kelly
Robert Kelly, born in Canberra, began studying dance at the age of 16. His education as a dancer began under the tutelage of Adrian Dimitrievitch and at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts with Lucette Aldous.
In his dance career he has performed leading roles in Australia and Europe in Peter Breuer's "Der Gottgeliebter" and "Fremd bin ich Eingezogen"; Norihiko Mochizuki's "Pulcinella" and "Graduation Ball"; Marc Bogaerts' "My Family"; Joachim Ahne's "Undine"; Gonzalo Galguera's "Suenos de Tango"; Adrian Dimitrievitch's "Eat Pianist"; Stefan Haufe's "Beyond Bach"; George Giraldo's "Ellington Episoden"; and in the classical repetoire "Le Corsaire Pas de Deux" "Don Quixote", "Paquita", "Swan Lake", "A Midsummer Nights Dream", "The Nutcracker", "The Sleeping Beauty" and "Coppelia".
As a choreographer his work has and continues to be performed in major cities in Australia, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and The U.S.A.
His choreographic works so far include: "Faust 1", "Faust 2", "Lisi und Hampi" and "Offene Zweier Beziehung" for Stadttheater St. Gallen Switzerland; "Diagonale" for Landestheater Salzburg, Austria; "Peter and the Wolf" for Teatro Massimo Bellini Catania, Italy,; "In One Day" , "Drenched" (with Simon Hoy) , "Behind the Half-Door", "Pause and Effect" and "Virtuoso" for Melbourne Ballet Company.
