Interview with Zai Calliste

We were delighted to be the first to interview Zai Calliste after receiving his Emerging Artist award on Thursday 28 May. We discussed his meteoric year and discovered how joining our stage alongside English National Ballet Principal Dancers Gareth Haw and Emma Hawes for Ballet Under the Stars 2025, made his transition from vocational to professional dancer feel seamless.

Photo credit: Isabella Turolla

Zai Calliste is an Artist with the English National Ballet. Originally from Australia, Zai trained at Annette Roselli's Dance Academy in Brisbane before crossing the pond to join the prestigious English National Ballet School. He joined the Covent Garden Dance Company for Ballet Under the Stars at Hatch House in July 2026 - his first professional performance after being accepted into the English National Ballet company. We have been delighted to support his career and to welcome him back to dance at Hatch House in July 2026.

Huge congratulations on your Emerging Artist award! How are you feeling.

Honestly, I am still in shock! I am ecstatic, shocked and happy. Tonight, I really felt in the moment, without stressing too much, and that’s something I’ve really tried to work on. I am very grateful for everyone who helped me.”

Photo credit: Isabella Turolla

Since performing at Hatch House in July last year, tell us what you have been doing and what are you currently working on.

Three things all at once! Romeo & Juliet, Sleeping Beauty and I have also been preparing for the ENB’s Emerging Dancer Award. It has always been a dream of mine and I am so honoured to have done it. As a result, I have been rehearsing Marius Petipa’s Le Talisman every day, working hard on building up the stamina as it is a full on pas de deux. It has been a massive learning curve, being coached by Carmen Picares and ENB principal, Gareth Haw who has also been coaching me.

Getting to know Gareth at Hatch House last year was amazing. We built a connection before company classes had even started, and it felt like I had a friend in the company as a new graduate, just at the right time, before I started the season.

I have also loved touring this year. At school you wait anxiously for that one performance, but since joining the company you get the change to dive deep into roles and bring something new to different audiences. That is important to me and why I chose ENB.

CGDC is turning 20 this year at Hatch House. How would you summarise the ethos of the company? 

The ethos is exciting, fresh and supportive. Matt and the company really foster the art form and carry it forward whilst also maintaining the traditions of the art. Creating galas in new venues and bringing it to new audiences is so important.

Zai dancing at Hatch House in 2025 - photo credit: Alice Pennefather

What was it like performing at Hatch House last year?

It came as such a welcome surprise after graduating from the English National Ballet School. When Lynne Charles, told me about the invitation, I was so excited to do it. Ballet Under the Stars was my first professional gig out of ballet school.

The garden scenery is such an interesting place to dance and share the art form with new audiences outside of a theatre. It is not every day you get to dance in such a beautiful outdoor setting. It was so lovely to bring our art to an open space.

For me performing at Hatch House bridged the gap between professional and student and that opportunity was so important. I was able to see how the professionals prepare, get advice and watch their craft, that all helped me to start my journey.

How are you feeling about dancing at Ballet Under the Stars in its 20th anniversary year?

I am so excited to be asked to be back again. Hatch House 2025 was the highlight of my year last year. So this year, I am excited to show something different and new and hopefully bring a more mature performance.

Photo credit: Isabella Turolla

You will be performing alongside some world-renowned artists, what are you most looking forward to?

Connections honestly; just the fact that we all the share the same industry, you never know when it may be useful or valuable. Plus you get the chance to build lifelong partnerships and friendships. You also get to see how artists prepare and how they manage stress and anxiety, this is not something you are prepared for at school, to just step out in front of hundreds of thousands of people to do a solo or lead role.

Who are you most looking forward to sharing the stage with?

Hard question. I would say Viola Pantuso. We have met a lot through coincidences, through friends and she is so up and coming and so close in age to me, doing amazing things. Getting to share the stage with her will be incredible.

What will you be dancing?

As part of the ENB’s Emerging Artist Award, I have been preparing and rehearsing and will therefore be performing Marius Petipa’s Le Talisman, so Taela and I will dance this. We are also hoping to perform a new neo classical piece, that Taela and I would like to put to Matt. Finally, I will be dancing a solo piece called Nature boy by company member, Rentaro Nakaakai, which he has choreographed on me for Emerging Dancer.

As soon as the performances at Hatch are over, I start my second season at ENB, so I will going straight to bed and heading into rehearsals the next morning!

Photo credit - Isabella Turolla

What do you hope the audience at Ballet Under the Stars will feel when they watch you dance?

Moved and inspired. Ballet can be seen as out of people’s grasp, but in reality, we all feel emotions, and through ballet, we are all able to connect through the emotions portrayed through the body.

I hope to bring connection to the art on a deeper level and not allow it to be about how many good pirouettes we do.

Is ballet a dying art?

The impact of Timothée Chalamet’s statement can be interpreted in a few different ways – Firstly, it was a very shallow comment, especially given he was raised in a family in the industry, and he should reflect on that. It is easy to immediately go to the negative of everything, but what he did unknowingly was that he brought people back to the theatre and to watch ballet. I try and look at things positively.

Obviously my first reaction was we put our heart and soul into this art form and spend years tying to perfect it, but also thank you! For putting us back in the spotlight and reinvigorating the art with younger and diverse audiences!

Ballet is a tradition, it gets passed down and perhaps his comment being heard by younger generations will actually bring it to a wider and younger range of demographics; each with their own approach and each different age group bringing their own influence.

What would your favourite role to dance be?

Hmm, it’s really hard as I am still so new to all of them. I think, Carmen is the one I am most looking forward to performing in. I saw it when I was at the English National Ballet school and it was amazing.

Photo credit: Isabella Turolla

Tell us three things people don’t know about you.

A) I used to play rugby league when I went to ballet school in Australia.

B) I like fashion. For me it is another form of creativity and self-expression.

C) I love horror films – Conjuring 2 is my favourite!

Interview with Taela Rose Graff

Taking a breather from a flurry of rehearsals at the English National Ballet, we caught up with Artist, Taela Rose Graff, about her whirlwind year, what she is most looking forward to about performing at Hatch House and what she really thinks of Timothée Chalamet’s views on whether ballet is a dying art.

All photo credits: Isabella Turolla

Taela Graff is a professional ballet dancer with English National Ballet and formerly danced with Houston Ballet. Originally from the United States, she trained at the prestigious School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet.

How important is it to prove Timothée Chalamet’s view that ballet is a dying art, wrong?

Timothée Chalamet targeted the wrong community! There are new generations who really appreciate this art form and draw people in – ballet is a constantly evolving thing.

We have so many companies doing such diverse performances, there is so much versatility and dance forms, so many new things, we are always creating new works. Ballet is definitely not a dying art form, by saying it is, you are limiting and not expanding your mind to what is possible.

What the Covent Garden Dance Company and Dicky Buckle Fund do is extremely important; to show the arts to a younger generation. I used to think ballet was boring, I had been a gymnast in training (7-13) but watching the New York City Ballet at 13, ignited a passion in me. That moment drove all of this to happen for me.

I was doing rhythmic gymnastics fulltime up to age 13 and I wanted to go to the Olympics. I was taught by a Russian coach. All Russian gymnasts train with a Vaganova ballet influence, and my coach said I needed to do ballet. My Mum gave me an ultimatum! I thought ballet was boring, but she said if I didn’t do it, I could not do gymnastics, so I went once or twice a week and started to fall in love a bit when I performed for the first time; I was cast in the Miami City ballet Nutcracker, and that was the first time in my life, that I conceded that ballet wasn’t too bad.

But it was when I saw my first performance at the Lincoln Centre – it was Balanchine’s Jewels - that the spark was lit. The New York City Ballet danced Rubies, Bolshoi Ballet did Diamonds and another company did Emeralds. It was my first exposure to the ballet with such a prestigious company. In that moment, that was when I decided I wanted to be a ballet dancer. I was 13.

It is incredibly important for everyone to have access to this kind of art and performance because it inspires. Art in any form can inspire portraits, literature, anything in everyday life. I find so many parallels to other people who share a passion for art. We are all interconnected by emotions, inspired by art for development and growth.

What are you currently working on?

At the moment it is a whirlwind of rehearsals at ENB. We are working on a new triple bill creation for the next season, called Rhythm Riot. This includes Romeo and Juliet, Auguries of Innocence by Jae Man Joo and Symphony in Three Movements by George Balanchine, which we are yet to start rehearsing. That is all for next season but we are also building up to ending this season with Sleeping Beauty.

Tell us a little about your recent journey to your first season at ENB.

Coming to London was a surprise for me, I wasn’t expecting to move to the UK when I did – and now I have been here for a full season. Previously, I was at Houston Ballet for two years, but felt it was time for a change. I auditioned last February and secured a contract and was so excited to get the opportunity. I moved to London at the end of July and the season started in August. Not anything I would have imagined for myself.

“It has been a transformational season for me in terms of mindset and as dancer.”

I kicked off the season with Lilac Fairy, in Sleeping Beauty and it felt crazy to have an opportunity like that, right off the bat, it has been very exciting. Then we went into Nutcracker and I danced the role of Ice Queen which was an amazing opportunity. It is a beautiful costume, with an incredible headdress which in itself is very challenging as a dancer. I really enjoyed the experience; it has been so nice to switch my mindset from corps to company roles. It was very height orientated in the corps in Houston, but my height is appreciated here and Aaron (ENB Artistic Director) sees potential for me. It has been challenging mindset wise, but such a cool opportunity to be front and centre and get over nerves. I have also made some incredible friends in Lois Fraiz and Zai Calliste (both performed in Hatch House 2025) and Jakob Wheway. Lois has just helped me find my first home in London!

How are you feeling about dancing at Ballet Under the Stars?

This gala comes in as part of the whirlwind of everything happening for me, so this is a big step change. This will be my first opportunity to do a gala of this prestige and I am so excited and nervous. I am bringing everything I have learned this year to the Hatch House stage, including managing my nerves. It is an incredible opportunity and is a cool way to kick off my next period of growth, to upgrade to the next stepping stone.

Who are you most looking forward to sharing the stage with?

I couldn’t choose; it is a whirlwind for me. I am not used to working alongside this big segment of the dance world. I fell into this world when I was 13 and so I am not as well versed in the dance world, it is so shiny to me, everything is so inspiring. It will be amazing to watch more seasoned performers prepare and carry themselves for a performance and learn to enhance my performance. I’m excited to meet all of them, I couldn’t choose!

You will be performing alongside some world-renowned artists, what are you most looking forward to?

I cannot wait to learn from these international artists. I am a visual learner, I am a people watcher and I am looking forward to observing behaviours and performances - which stems from dance, especially in a company space – with peers and ranks people that you look up to. I have benefitted the most from watching people doing those incredible roles and watching and learning from how they carry themselves in the studio and prepare mentally for the stage.

I am also looking forward to exploring another part of the UK to get new inspiration. As dancers, we are always chasing inspiration – it keeps us moving and it gets hard when you stay still. I am inspired to see these dancers, see a new space and tap into my own new potential, It will be a challenge and I will have Zai by my side, but I am excited for the opportunity to keep growing and be a sponge and soak it all up. These are the years where I take it all in.

What will you be dancing?

Zai and I met this season and we became close very quickly. He is doing Marius Petipa’s Le Talisman for the ENB Emerging Dancer award, so we will dance this and are also performing a contemporary piece, yet to be decided.

We hear that thanks to the Covent Garden Dance Company, you are connecting with your Bahamian heritage?

Courtney Celeste Fox and I are WhatsApping! I was born in Miami, but my Mum is Bahamian. This gala has brought my two worlds together. Courtney introduced me to an opportunity for Bahamian Independence Day and a fashion show in July when the Ambassador comes over. It is a full circle opportunity, I don’t have too much of a link to my Bahamian heritage because my Mum moved to the States over 20 years ago, but she didn’t know she would be staying in the US. Now I have the time as an adult to reconnect. I am desperate to link to my Bahamian heritage; my mum is one of 10 siblings and there are some people I haven’t even met yet, it would be so cool to link back to the Bahamas through this gala opportunity.

What do you hope the audience at Ballet Under the Stars will feel when they watch you dance?

So, you have technical performers, and they are amazing, but for me, as a late starter to ballet, I grasped the emotion and artistry. That is what I want to bring to my performance – that is always my main focus. I hope that the audience will feel the passion and joy that Zai and I both have for this art form. It can feel very heavy for people to put themselves on a stage, in front of the limelight.

If you really think it through, you need courage and love for this art form to do something so terrifying. We are both young dancers starting out in our careers and we hope they feel the hopes and dreams and hunger that we have for this art.

Plus I hope we can convey the lightness and juvenility of Le Talisman. It is light and flirty and very fitting to match our immaturity, joy and hunger for what’s possible. I hope we can bring this to the stage.  

What would your favourite role to dance be?

It is constantly changing, but I think Myrtha in Akram Khan’s Giselle. It is a very dark and emotional role, something you get to do as a seasoned dancer. Now I’m doing the light hearted roles, but I would like to dive into my darker artistry in the future.

Tell us three things people don’t know about you.

1) I’m a home body – I love just being at home on my days off.

2) I crochet. My mum and I used to have a legwarmers business, she is an  amazing seamstress and used to make all my costumes. Then we combined our talents and I would crochet and she would sew the legwarmers.

3) I was part of a TV show, En Pointe, on Disney Plus. My mum and I both appeared on that show and there is a scene where she is making me legwarmers before I went off to fulltime ballet school aged 14. I was so little and naive and it is quite nostalgic to look back at that time, I go back to that series when I am feeling low, and it reminds me how far I’ve come.