Melissa Hamilton Royal Opera Ballet (2020) Painting by João Miranda

Hamilton was born in Belfast and spent most of her child life in Dromore, County Down. Beginning dance training at the Jennifer Bullick School of Ballet aged four, she went on to join the Elmhurst School of Dance in Birmingham at age 16 on being awarded a scholarship.[1] While at Elmhurst, her talent was noticed by the former Bolshoi ballet star, Masha Mukhamedov with whom she trained privately in Athens before winning the 2007 Youth American Grand Prix.[2] Later in 2007 she joined The Royal Ballet based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Hamilton has been quick to progress within the company, starting as an artist in 2007 and being promoted to First Artist in 2009, Soloist in 2010 and First Soloist in 2013.[1] In the 2015/16 and 2016/17 Seasons she took a leave of absence from The Royal Ballet to dance with Semperoper Ballett, Dresden.[1]

Writing of Hamilton's performance as Juliet in Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet, The Observer's critic Luke Jennings wrote, "What really marks Hamilton out is the articulacy of her line. Here, she is all singing, expansive curves […] And if her acting can seem understated, it's never less than natural. In Act 3, she signals her unravelling with an immense weariness, and its final moments with a slow, sad unfurling of her arms."[3]

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DanceBalletMelissa HamiltonClassicballetModernart