Aya-Belsheim

Ballet Teacher

Aya found a love for dance at age five and started her training with the Alberta Ballet School in Edmonton. She later joined the professional programme with intensive focus on ballet, modern, jazz and pointe. She moved to the Edmonton School of Ballet for her graduating year where she danced many leads in their junior performing company. Upon graduating, Aya joined Ballet North and toured Alberta, B.C. and Russia. A year later, Aya moved to Jonquière, Quebec, where she started teaching ballet, pointe, variation and modern at L’École de Danse Le Prisme Culturel. In 1996 she joined Ballet Jörgen Canada in Toronto, where she stayed for the next twelve years, touring all over Canada and the United States.

Aya has performed many roles in various classics such as Waltz of the Flowers, Russian and Spanish in The Nutcracker, the Nurse and Harlot in Romeo and Juliet, and various roles in Coppelia, Petrushka, Cinderella and Anastasia. She was also very prominent in contemporary works, featuring her signature role in Crystal Pite’s Two Dances for Jane. Aya has also taught and rehearsed Ballet Jörgen Canada for many years. Aya has worked with many teachers and choreographers such as Ruth Carse, Deborah Morgan, Lambros Lambrou, Brydon Paige, Ross Brierton, Glenn Gilmour, Paula Groulx, Tracey Flye, Danny Austin, Brian MacDonald, Annette av Paul, Bengt Jörgen, Arnold Spohr, Crystal Pite, Gioconda Barbuto, Debbie Wilson, Wen Wei Wang, Roberto Campanella, Allen Kaeja, Benjamin Hatcher and Robert Desrosiers.

Since retiring from her dance career in 2008, Aya has been teaching mostly ballet and pointe at various studios. With her extensive professional stage experience, Aya excels at getting dancers to find freedom in their movement in order to awaken their inner artistry, while maintaining a strong technical base.