Sara Knight
Sara Knight is the founder and artistic director of SLK Ballet School and Chevalier Ballet Company. Ms. Knight is a graduate of England's Royal Ballet School, and was the first British dancer to graduate from Russia's Vaganova (Kirov) Ballet Academy. Whilst at the Royal Ballet School, she was one of four dancers selected by John Field and Anne Heaton to work on a new syllabus for the British Ballet Organization (BBO) and demonstrate the new work. Ms. Knight is also a recipient of the Royal Ballet School Award for Excellence, personally awarded by Dame Ninette de Valois (founder of the Royal Ballet). Ms. Knight is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance (A.R.A.D.), and a graduate of the Royal Ballet School Teacher's Training Course (R.B.S. Dip. TTC.).
Upon graduation from the Vaganova Academy, Ms. Knight remained in Russia, becoming a soloist with the Leningrad State Ballet Theatre and the Russian Ballet of St. Petersburg. In Western Europe, she appeared with Northern Ballet Theatre (UK) and Swansea's Ballet Russe (UK), and was a principal dancer with European Ballet. While in the USA, Ms. Knight guested with Boston Ballet and was a principal dancer with both Configuration Dance and Rebecca Rice Dance Company.
Ms. Knight has served as Ballet Mistress for London's Central School of Ballet and Ellison Ballet of NYC. She was also the Artistic Director of the Ballet School of Stamford and the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Greenwich Ballet Academy (USA). She has been a guest teacher at institutions including Boston Ballet Company, Boston Ballet School, Tulsa Ballet Center for Dance Education, Cincinnati Ballet School, Laban Centre London, Northern Ballet Theatre (UK), Arts Educational School (UK), Boston Conservatory, The International Festival of France, and most recently Masters of Ballet at Sadler’s Wells Theatre (London) and the English National Ballet School. In 2022, Ms. Knight was invited by the newly formed United Ukrainian Ballet to stage their international touring production of Swan Lake.
In September 2010, Ms. Knight founded SLK Ballet School in New York City as "a professional training school for gifted young dancers.” In 2017, she founded Chevalier Ballet Company, New York City, a touring company that is dedicated to bringing dance to communities in the Northeastern United States and Europe with limited access to dance. In 2023, she introduced Chevalier Ballet’s Professional Training program (CBPTP), a three year program designed to allow dancers to experience life as company members whilst continuing their technical development.
Ms. Knight is committed to outreach and conducts workshops in schools and hospitals both in the USA and Europe on a regular basis. She continues to teach and choreograph worldwide.