OWEN MORRIS

Owen Morris is a professional Classical Ballet Teacher, Pilates Instructor, former professional dancer and performer, and published author, with a career spanning professional ballet, opera, musical theatre, film and television, vocational dance education, international teaching, Pilates and dancer development.

Born and raised in Cornwall, Owen began his dance training with former professional dancers Nicola Brice and Terence Etheridge, continuing his studies at Totnes School of Dance in Devon. He undertook pre-vocational Performing Arts training at Kennicott Sixth Form alongside his academic studies before joining Ballet West in Scotland for full-time professional vocational ballet training. During his early training, he performed with the National Youth Ballet of Great Britain, Duchy Ballet and Cornwall Youth Dance Company, before joining the Ballet West Touring Company and touring throughout Scotland.

Owen subsequently established an international professional performing career, working as a Company Soloist with State Opera Varna Ballet Company in Bulgaria and as a Company Artist with Cape Town City Ballet in South Africa. His classical and neoclassical repertoire includes Giselle, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Romeo & Juliet, Don Quixote, La Bayadère and Le Corsaire, with soloist roles including Hilarion, Wilfred, Bluebird, Puss in Boots, Tybalt, Matador, Flowers Cavalier, Russian Dance, Arabian Pas de Deux, Drum Dance and the Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, alongside extensive corps de ballet and neoclassical repertoire.

His professional performance career has also encompassed opera, musical theatre, film, television, contemporary and commercial performance. His credits include Disney's The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, choreographed by Liam Scarlett; Lohengrin and Semiramide at the Royal Opera House; Káťa Kabanová at Glyndebourne Summer Festival; Dido & Aeneas at the BBC Proms and Royal Albert Hall with La Nuova Musica; and Aida at Stadsschouwburg Antwerp in a production directed by Franco Dragone.

International performance credits include Leila – The Land of Imagination for Balich Wonder Studio at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as well as State Opera Varna's musical theatre productions and operas. Owen also originated the title role of Tom in the UK touring production of Tom’s Midnight Garden, choreographed by Gareth Mole and produced by Frances Livesey, and performed as a Soloist Dancer in Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite at the Cardiff Christmas Festival with Jamiel Laurence Productions. His screen and television work includes Channel 4's 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, choreographed by Jenny Logan, alongside further filmed, commercial and events work. He has undertaken Research & Development projects with choreographer Marika Brussel and corporate and events performance work.

Following his professional performing career, Owen developed an extensive career as a dance educator, drawing on his experience of international professional ballet companies and working across classical ballet, vocational training, professional dancer classes, associates, talent development, summer schools, intensives and dancer health. Owen is currently a Classical Ballet Teacher on The Royal Ballet School's Mid Associates Programme at the London Centre, based at the Royal Ballet Upper School in Covent Garden. Alongside The Royal Ballet School, he currently teaches classical ballet at Arts Educational School, Rambert School of Ballet & Contemporary Dance, London Studio Centre, Millennium Performing Arts, City Academy Professional Dancers Course and Bede Legat Dance Academy. His previous vocational teaching includes Laine Theatre Arts, where he taught First Year Classical Ballet and Second Year Classical Pas de Deux, and English National Ballet School, where he worked as a Pilates Instructor and Rehabilitation Ballet Teacher. He has also taught at London Vocational Ballet School, Central School of Ballet, Pineapple Dance Studios, Danceworks and City Academy Adult Courses. Owen has extensive experience working with young dancers through associates, talent development and Centre for Advanced Training programmes. His work includes Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance as an External Assessor, CATS Swindon Dance as a Healthier Dance Lecturer and Ballet Teacher, and teaching with Cecchetti Ballet Associates, Ballet Britain, Elite Ballet Project, Almur Academy and the Cape Town City Ballet Outreach Programme.

His summer school and intensive teaching include Elmhurst Ballet School Junior Summer School, BBO Dance Spring Intensives, Royal Academy of Dance Summer Adult Ballet & Pilates and Easter Courses, Tring Park School for the Performing Arts Summer School and Hertfordshire Ballet Intensive. Owen also teaches internationally, including at Mandy Dance Academy in Malta, where he teaches classical ballet, masterclasses and private coaching, and at the English Ballet School in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, Bavaria, Germany. His international teaching experience complements his professional performance career and allows him to work with dancers from a wide range of backgrounds and stages of development.

Alongside his ballet teaching, Owen is a qualified Pilates and Barre Instructor, with experience working with dancers and recreational clients. He currently teaches at Bodyworks West Health Club in Notting Hill and Willesden Sports Centre, having previously taught at Core Clapton and The Flying Boat Club on Tresco Island in the Isles of Scilly.

His Pilates and rehabilitation experience has also formed part of his work with dancers, supporting physical conditioning, strength, alignment and injury-aware training.

Owen holds a BBO Level 5 Diploma in Dance Teaching with Distinction, Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance (ARAD), Progressing Ballet Technique certification, Level 3 Diploma in Teaching Pilates, BA (Hons) Dance with 2:1 from Northumbria University, Higher National Diploma in Professional Stage Dance, and RAD Advanced 2 Ballet. His continuing professional development includes The Royal Ballet School Healthy Dancer and Teaching Observation CPD and the Kerry Nicholls Artist Mentoring Programme. He maintains current Safeguarding, Prevent, Equality & Diversity and Emergency First Aid at Work training, alongside an Enhanced DBS and Public Liability Insurance.

Owen is also the published author of Some People Come in Pairs and Other Musings, written in 2020 and published in 2022. He is an accomplished violinist and holds Grade 5 Violin and Music Theory qualifications from the Royal Academy of Music.