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Of Trinidadian and British parents, Cassa trained at the Royal Academy of Dance, gaining a degree in classical ballet from Durham University. Upon graduating in 2001, she founded Ballet Black in order to provide role models to young, aspiring black and Asian dancers. A year later, she opened the Ballet Black Junior School in Shepherd's Bush and in 2004, began the BB Associate Programme, which currently has over two hundred members. Cassa is also a graduate of the 2009 National Theatre cultural leadership programme, Step Change. Since starting the Company, she has commissioned work from many different choreographers, including Liam Scarlett, Richard Alston, Christopher Marney, Antonia Franceschi, Martin Lawrance, Shobana Jeyasingh, Henri Oguike, Christopher Hampson and Will Tuckett. In January 2010, Ballet Black won the Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Company of 2009.

Born in Malaysia, Raymond has worked in television, musical theatre and classical ballet. He danced with the National Ballet of Portugal and in musical theatre productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, as well as in Stuttgart, Hamburg and Zurich. His TV credits include Tatort and Zorc (German television) and he has choreographed for Auf Wiedersehen, Pet for the BBC. Raymond's other choreographic commissions include Ballet Black, the National Ballet of Portugal, Hong Kong Ballet, the Sommer Tanz Fest in Switzerland, Staatstheater Karlsruhe, East London Dance and Artelier. Raymond is also a guest teacher for Matthew Bourne's New Adventures, the Richard Alston Dance Company, Hong Kong Ballet, Akram Khan and The National Ballet of China, Ballett de Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Ballett de Niedersachsische Staatstheater Hanover, the National Ballet of Portugal, Singapore Dance Theatre, English National Ballet, Rambert Dance Company and Random Dance Company. He teaches Professional Ballet at DanceWorks in London and is currently a Ballet Lecturer at the London Contemporary Dance School.

Cira was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she began dancing at the age of eight. After graduating from the Performing Arts School in 2004, she moved to New York to dance full-time with the Dance Theater of Harlem. During her three years there, she performed at the White House for the President of the United States, as well as the Protégé Festival. In 2008, Cira travelled to the United Kingdom for the first time to join Ballet Black. In the summer that year, she danced with Ballet Identity in Los Angeles, before returning to Ballet Black in November. This is Cira’s third season with the company, and she hopes to learn and grow with Ballet Black for many years to come. Since 2008, she has danced in Ballet Black commissions by Shobana Jeyasingh, Richard Alston, Will Tuckett and Liam Scarlett, to name a few. Cira also earned an honourable mention in Pointe Magazine’s “Favourite Performances of 2009” for her performance in Antonia Franceschi’s dance theatre piece, Pop8 and teaches regularly at the Ballet Black Junior School.

Damien was born in Dallas, Texas and received his training from Etgen-Atkinson School of Ballet and the Booker T. Washington School of the Arts.  He then studied on a full scholarship at the School of American Ballet.  In 2002, Damien joined the American Repertory Ballet and then the Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble in 2003. He first joined Ballet Black in 2005 before moving to Los Angeles Ballet in 2008. Damien returned to Ballet Black in 2009. As the longest serving member of Ballet Black, Damien has been featured in many Company works by choreographers that include Irek Mukhamedov, Antonia Franceschi, Liam Scarlett, Richard Alston and Bawren Tavaziva. He also teaches regularly for the Ballet Black Associate Programme.

Jaz was born in Utica, New York and started his ballet training at the age of four at the Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute. At fifteen, he began attending Summer Intensive courses at the Rock School of Philadelphia and the Nutmeg Conservatory in Connecticut. The following year, he was accepted into the Dancing Through Barriers® Ensemble, a part of the Dance Theater of Harlem, under the direction of Arthur Mitchell. Jaz joined Ballet Black in 2008 and has danced in many Company works by Richard Alston, Martin Lawrance, Liam Scarlett, Antonia Franceschi and Will Tuckett. Jaz received an honourable mention in Pointe Magazine’s “Favourite Performances of 2009” for his performance in Antonia Franceschi’s dance theatre piece, Pop8.

Born in London, Sarah began dancing at the age of six. She studied ballet with Anna du Boisson before joining the Central School of Ballet for her professional training. Upon graduating in 2004, Sarah joined Northern Ballet Theatre in Leeds and danced there for four years, performing in several David Nixon productions including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Madame Butterfly, I Got Rhythm, Peter Pan, A Midsummer’s Night's Dream, Dracula and Hamlet. With Northern, she toured all over the UK and was fortunate enough to perform in China and Thailand. In 2008, she joined Ballet Black, and in 2009, earned her first Critics’ Circle National Dance Award nomination for Outstanding Classical Female Dancer for her stand-out performances in Martin Lawrance’s Pendulum and Will Tuckett’s Depouillement.

Of British and Trinidadian parents and born in Baltimore, Kanika began dancing when she moved to England at the age of five, attending the Saxtead School of Dance, and as a participant on the Scholarship Scheme with Dance East. In 2007, Kanika went on to train at the Central School of Ballet. In her final year with Ballet Central, she worked with choreographers including Christopher Marney, Kit Holder and Christopher Bruce and upon graduating, joined Ballet Black to become one of the first Company Apprentices in 2010.

Sayaka was born in Chiba, Japan, where she began dancing at the age of two. She trained in New York and in 2003 moved to London to study at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. Sayaka graduated in 2006 with a First Class BA (Hons) degree. Since graduating, she has performed with Vienna Festival Ballet and Ballet Theatre UK as a Principal Dancer in Coppélia, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake and in 2009 performed Le Corsaire with American Ballet Theatre at the London Coliseum. Sayaka has performed in Ross McKim’s Moving Visions Dance Theatre at St, Paul’s Cathedral in London and York Minster. She has also danced for English National Opera and Opera North in their production of Madam Butterfly. Sayaka appeared in the musical The King and I and in the film, StreetDance: the Movie. She has also been a Guest Principal Dancer and Guest Teacher for Ballet Riviera in Switzerland since 2008. Sayaka was a member of the Ballet Black Associate Programme for several years before joining the Company as a dancer in 2011.

Born in Uganda, Joe moved to York at the age of six. He began his dance training when he was seven years old, before moving on to train at The Royal Ballet School Junior and Mid Associates in Leeds. Joe then went on to train intensively with Yoko Ichino at Northern Ballet in Leeds, dancing in works by David Nixon as well as Giselle in Academy performances. In 2006, Joe was the recipient of the Working Title Billy Elliot Award at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. He also spent a year at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance before moving to Central School of Ballet, graduating with a BA (Hons) in Professional Dance and Performance. As part of Ballet Central, Joe toured the UK dancing in choreography by Nellie Happee, Christopher Hampson, Helgi Tomasson and Darshan Sighn Bhuller. Joe was a member of the Ballet Black Associate Programme for two years and is honoured to be joining the company for the 2011/2012 season. He also has a great passion for narrative choreography and would love to develop it further.