Clair Thomas

Resident Ballet Dance Teacher

Styles
· Ballet

Teaches
· BATCH 16+ Advanced Ballet

Training
· The Susan Robinson School of Ballet
· The Royal Ballet School
· Birkbeck College, University of London
· Royal Academy of Dance

Clair trained at the Susan Robinson School in Byfleet. She was awarded the Phyllis Bedells Bursury in 1988. She won a Prix de Bourse in the 1990 Prix de Lausanne. Clair joined The Royal Ballet School on a Scholarship in 1991. She went on to win the Gold Medal in the RAD’s Flagship Competition, The Adeline Genée Awards (Now Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition) and began her professional career with English National Ballet in 1992. During her career she also danced with London City Ballet, Het Nationale Ballet in Amsterdam, Brussels Ballet in Belgium and The Michael Clark Company in London. Clair graduated with a Professional Dance Teaching Diploma from the Royal Academy of Dance in 2008. She has previously taught for The Urdang Academy in London and Bird College in Sidcup.

She is currently a free lance teacher for the RAD both at Head Quarters and on their international Summer Schools. Clair was Head of Ballet at both The D&B School of Performing Arts in Bromley for three years and then for The Brighton Academy for 4 years. She is currently a Ballet Tutor for IC Theatre in Brighton teaching Ballet to Degree Students as well as teaching Ballet for BATCH Pre Vocational Dance Course at Smikle Dance Studio. She has choreographed for the Sussex Youth Ballet and various other Graduate Performances. Clair founded her own Ballet School, Ballet Brighton in 2015 and in 2020 became a certified PBT teacher.

Clair has taught advanced Ballet to the Smikle Dance Studio BATCH students since the programme’s conception.