Ballet Mistresses
Janet Tait
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Miss Tait trained at the Sculy / Borovansky School of Ballet and The Victorian College of the Arts.
After graduating, Miss Tait joined Ballet Victoria, touring extensively and dancing alongside such noted artists as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Natalia Makarova and Valery and Galina Panov.
In 1983 she joined London City Ballet, dancing all major works with that company including Giselle, Coppelia, Swan Lake, Carmen, La Sylphide, Les Sylphides, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Paquita, Three Dances to Japanese Music among many others.
In 1987, Miss Tait moved to West Australian Ballet, creating many principal roles in works by Artistic Directors Barry Moreland and Ted Brandsen and other works by choreographers such as George Balanchine, Graeme Murphy, Stephen Baynes and Edmund Stripe.
During her time with West Australian Ballet, Miss Tait began teaching and coaching with the company, The West Australian Academy of Performing Arts and the Graduate College of the Dance. In 2000, she was appointed Resident Guest Teacher with the Singapore Dance Theatre and also taught at LaSalle University SIA as teacher and assessor.
In 2002 she moved to Canada to teach and coach with Alberta Ballet and its associated school, assisting in the mounting and coaching of such works as Petipa's Sleeping Beauty (Act 3), George Balanchine's Who Cares? and Rubies, Mikko Nissinen's The Nutcracker, Christopher Wheeldon's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Jean Grand-Maitre's Carmen. She has restaged Edmund Stripe's Unquiet Light for Alberta Ballet and was his assistant during the creation of his Alice in Wonderland.
In 2005 Ms.Tait created the role of Lady Capulet in Jean Grand-Maitre's production of Romeo and Juliet.
Desire Samaai
Desire Samaai was born in Paarl, South Africa and after studying at the University of Cape Town, joined the Cape Town City Ballet where she danced many of the classical roles and had numerous ballets created on her.
In 1999, she accepted a soloist contract with London City Ballet and later joined Northern Ballet Theatre, where she danced as a principal until her retirement in 2007.
Ms. Samaai has toured exclusively around the world to countries including China, Thailand, Greece, South Africa and the United Kingdom, performing works by choreographers such as Rudi Van Danzig, Robert North, Hans Van Manen, Val Caniparoli and Didi Veldman. In her dance career of 17 years, she performed the lead role in many ballets such as Romeo and Juliet, Carmen, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Manon.
Recently, she was awarded the Professional Dancers Teaching Diploma with distinction from the Royal Academy of Dance in London, England. Since moving to Canada, she has also been a guest teacher with numerous schools in Calgary, including the International School of Ballet and The School of Alberta Ballet.
