Mélissa Ligurgo

Mélissa Ligurgo was born in Belgium and discovered her affinity for expressing herself through dance at the age of four. After completing her dance training at The Royal Ballet School of Flanders in 2004, she entered The Royal Ballet of Flanders under artistic director Robert Denvers and, eventually, she danced under the creative lead of Kathryn Bennetts. Mélissa starred in title roles of works by John Cranko, Jirí Kylián, David Dawson, Jerome Robbins and Nicolo Fonte. Furthermore, she performed acclaimed works of William Forsythe - such as Impressing the Czar - which were part of many prestigious dance festivals worldwide. In 2011, Mélissa joined Theater Basel, performing numerous works of director Richard Wherlock and guest choreographers - she's mainly well known for her excellent rendering of Juliet in Angelin Preljocaj's Romeo and Juliet. 2012 Mélissa transferred to Ballet Zurich, based at the Zurich Opera House, where ballet director Christian Spuck had taken the helmet. Until her very recent retirement from the stage, she's danced in various works by Spuck himself, Heinz Spoerli, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Hans van Manen, Patrice Bart, Alexei Ratmansky, Martin Schläpfer, Edward Clug, Marco Goecke, Jacopo Godani, Johan Inger, Wayne McGregor, Li Cunxin, and Filipe Portugal.

After her diverse career as an outstanding performer, we are proud to have Mélissa join our CORE team, teaching barre and ballet classes for beginners and professionals alike. With her knowledge and experience, Mélissa helps her students find expression through the language of dance. Combining the dynamics of music and body gives way to freedom of movement: Mélissa's classes let you forget your daily grind and enter the magic and joyful world of dance.

In her spare time, Mélissa enjoys relaxing at the lake of Zurich with her husband or reading a good novel at home in her lovely garden.