Sharni Spencer is an Australian ballet dancer. She is a soloist and senior artist at

The Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and direct ...

Biography

Spencer was born in

Lismore, New South Wales Lismore is a city in northeastern New South Wales, Australia and the main population centre in the City of Lismore local government area; it is also a regional centre in the Northern Rivers region of the State. It is situated on a low flood pl ...

, Australia, and grew up in Tamworth. She started taking dance classes when she was three years old at Sally Kefts School of Dance. When she was 14 years old, the family moved to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

so Spencer could attend Marie Walton Mahon Dance Academy. Spencer also studied dance at the

Elmhurst Ballet School Elmhurst Ballet School is an independent school for professional classical ballet in the United Kingdom. It takes students aged 11–19 years who intend to pursue a career in professional classical ballet. Elmhurst provides a full academic day i ...

in Birmingham, England for six months. She then moved to Wellington, New Zealand and studied at the

New Zealand School of Dance The New Zealand School of Dance was established in 1967 and is a tertiary educational institute in New Zealand that teaches contemporary dance and ballet. It started as the National School of Ballet, and after contemporary dance was added in 198 ...

for two years, graduating in 2007. In 2008 Spencer joined The Australian Ballet; in 2012 she was promoted to

coryphée A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

. In 2012 she received the Khitercs Hirai Foundation Scholarship, and spent three months rehearsing and performing Giselle with Dutch National Ballet. In 2017 she was promoted to soloist and in 2020 to senior artist. Spencer has been nominated for the

Telstra Ballet Dancer Awards The Telstra Ballet Dancer Award has been made annually since 2003, in support of the aspirations of The Australian Ballet's elite young dancers. The winner receives a cash prize of $20,000. This is the biggest prize available specifically to a da ...

three times: in 2013, 2017 and 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Sharni Living people People from Lismore, New South Wales New Zealand School of Dance alumni Australian Ballet senior artists Year of birth missing (living people)