Clare Merchant Andreou
Director
“Dance is music made visual” – George Balanchine
Clare Andreou – RAD Examiner and Tutor / Ballet Teacher & Choreographer / Director of Dance Works School of Ballet
Clare Andreou was born in the UK and educated at Arts Educational School, graduating from the Royal Ballet School’s Teachers’ Training Course as Head Girl and “Most Promising Teacher” in 1985.
Clare immediately went into teaching and eventually settled in Nicosia, Cyprus, opening Dance Works School of Ballet in 1991. Her studio produces work of excellence, with prize winners and finalists in National and International Ballet Competitions, and a number of alumni from her studio work as professional dancers and/or teachers of dance.
In 1994 Clare was invited to become an Examiner and Tutor of the Royal Academy of Dance. In this role she has examined and conducted seminars in over 37 countries.
Clare’s school was one of five studios to pilot the current Intermediate Foundation and Intermediate syllabus, as well as Grades 1-3. This year Dance Works will also pilot group exams for the currently developing Musical Theatre awards.
In 1999 Clare initiated the idea and was on the Founding Committee of the Lefkosia Youth Ballet. She dedicates her free time to developing projects and opportunities for talented students in Nicosia. Over the last years, LYB has secured annual funding from the Ministry of Culture, as well as purpose-built studios.
Clare was also on the Founding Committee of the Lefkosia Dance House, a space that used to house the Lefkosia Youth Ballet until they secured their own premises in 2024. Until recently, she was also on the faculty of the University of Nicosia Dance Programme.
Since 2025 Clare has been on the Panel of the Artistic Subcommittee of the Royal Academy of Dance
Over the years, Clare has choreographed for the local television station CYBC, THOC National Theatre, Theatro Ena and ACT. She is also a member of the Cyprus Professional Dance Association.
Choreography for theatre includes: for Theatro Ena – M. Butterfly, Wuthering Heights, The Bird Cage, The Graduate and Boulouksides; for THOC – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kasmir & Carolina.
Courses taught on behalf of the Royal Academy of Dance include:
- 2024 – Summer School – Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre and CPD Advanced 1 Variation Course
- 2023 – CPD Grades 3 & 5 Revision Workshop, Cyprus
- 2020 – Summer School – Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre & CPD Pointe Work Course, Cyprus: From Beginners and Beyond
- 2019 – CPD Courses, Cyprus and Portugal RAD Courses
- 2018 – CPD Courses, Cyprus: Discovering Repertoire and Inside the Exam; Summer School, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, Toronto
- 2018 – CPD Courses, Cyprus; Sundance Summer School, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, Toronto
- 2017 – CPD Grades 6 & 7 Course, Turkey
- 2016 – CPD Courses, Cyprus; Sundance Summer School, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, Toronto
- 2014 – Malta & Greece: Advanced Foundation, Advanced 1 & Advanced 2 Courses
- Numerous courses in Cyprus since 1994, including New Grades 1-3 in 2012 and New Advanced Foundation, Advanced 1 & 2 in 2013
- 2011 – Barbados, Trinidad and Cyprus: Introduction to Intermediate Foundation and Intermediate
- 2010 – New Zealand and Northern Ireland Summer Schools
- 2009 – Northern Ireland Summer School
- 2009 – Malta and Cyprus: Introduction to Pre-Primary and Primary Teacher’s Course
- 2000 – Athens, Greece: Teaching Certificate Course
- 1999 – Tokyo, Japan: Summer School
- 1997 – Athens, Greece and Guadalajara, Mexico: Teaching Certificate Course
- 1995 – Luxembourg Easter School
- 1994 – Korea Summer School
Andria Michaelidou
Dance Instructor
“I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself” – Mikhail Baryshnikov
Andria Michaelidou was born in Limassol in 1995. She graduated form the University of Nicosia with a BA Dance and continued her studies in Madrid, Spain at Carabdanza with an Eramus scholarship. There, she choreographed “TRILOGIA” (2018) winning second place in “Dance of Rivas” – the national choreographic competition, for a group piece. While in Spain she also performed with choreographers Gonzalo Diaz and Jessica Russo.
With Cypriot choreographers Andria has collaborated with Eva Panayiotou ( dance group aRttitude), Milena Urgen Koulas and Lia Haraki.
As choreographer, Andria has presented works at Flash Dance, Yard Residency17- 2017, the 16th Nea Kinisi Summer Dance Festival – 2019, Parallel Events “ Dance Throughout the Year –in the 2019 Dance Platform. Also she choreographed an experimental video “(IN)VISIBLE” shown at the NO Body Festival/ Moving On 2018, and later shown at the Inshort film festival in Nigeria Goethe-Institut. Her work Transfigurations was selected for the 28th Quinzena de Dance de Almada, International dance Festival, Portugal 2020.
In 2020 Andria has choreographed a new work – PRIVATE KINGDOM for the Nea Kinisi 17th Summer Dance Festival and has been selected to choreograph for the 2020 Dance Platform.
Charis Georgiou
Dance Instructor
Charis Georgiou was born in Nicosia in 1996. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dance and the London Studio Centre, where she specialized in contemporary and ballet. She has performed with companies such as INTOTO Dance Company and Mein Schiff Cruises, while also teaching ballet, contemporary, and Pilates in Switzerland and Cyprus. In addition, she has prepared students for competitions, including the Swiss Championship and GDO Switzerland.
Ariadne Andreou
Dance Instructor
Ariadne began dancing at Dance Works at the age of 4. After attending different Drama and Musical Theatre summer schools in the UK she was encouraged to audition for full time studies in this field. Ariadne was accepted into MGA Academy of Performing Arts where she had solo roles in Legally Blonde, the musical, and was a featured dancer and vocalist in the Christmas concerts at the Usher Hall. While training, she was offered a part-time teaching position at the weekends at JHM Dance and Cheer dance academy- teaching musical theatre, hip-hop and jazz classes. She also took part in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in The Great American Trailer Park Musical, which went on to win different awards that year. She graduated MGA with an agent and was offered a contract by Live Business in 2019 as a vocalist and spent 9 months in a resort as a vocalist and entertainer. Upon returning to UK she took up a position as teaching assistant / cover supervisor at different special needs secondary schools in London, gaining much experience teaching. She also had the opportunity to facilitate a couple of summer schools and in the summer of 2020 headed a two week musical theatre intensive for Dance Works. As of January 2021, Ariadne has been offered a job as a vocalist/performer as part of Boo and Franklin’s production team which will be based in Cyprus. She is excited to be able to balance her two passions- teaching and performing, in the country she loves so much and is very excited to be returning back to her roots where she will bring her new knowledge of the industry, experience and passion to Dance Works!
Stavriani Ttandi
Dance Instructor
Stavriani was born in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 2000. In 2017, she was awarded 2nd place and received a scholarship at the Terpsichoris Erga competition in Thessaloniki, Greece. She was also awarded a scholarship to train at the IFPRO – Institut de Formation Professionnelle de Danse Rick Odums in Paris, France.
She went on to complete a BSc in Psychology at Canterbury Christ Church University (UK), followed by an MA in Dance Movement Psychotherapy at the University of Derby (UK).
Stavriani trained as a Dance Movement Psychotherapist because she believes movement is more than physical expression, it is a powerful way to process emotions, build resilience, and reconnect with ourselves.
Over the past six years, Stavriani has been teaching and leading workshops, seminars, and classes across both the UK and Cyprus, combining her expertise in Dance Movement Psychotherapy with her professional dance practice.
Achievements
- 1st Place – Dance Link(2025), Contemporary 18+ Professional Dancers category.
- 2nd Place & Scholarship – Terpsichoris Erga(2017), Thessaloniki, Greece in adult contemporary category
- Scholarship Recipient – IFPRO – Institut de Formation Professionnelle de Danse Rick Odums, Paris, France.
Marianna Dimatsa
Dance Instructor
“Dance takes you to an unexplainable state of mind which allows you to relax and find your soul. That state of mind cannot be described in words; it has to be danced.”
Mariana was born and raised in Cyprus. She began her dance journey from the age of 4 with “ISTD” ballet exams. She participated in summer school programs that took part in England which were organized by different dance colleges such as Laine Theatre Arts, Urdang Academy and Bird College Conservatoire for dance and musical theatre. After graduating from high school, she auditioned and got accepted to ‘Bird College Conservatoire for dance and musical theatre’ with a scholarship where she studied and got a diploma in ‘Professional Musical Theatre’. During her studies, Marianna represented her college on “MOVE IT UK” in 2016, with a hip hop piece from Simeon Qsyea, and in 2017 where she performed at the opening with a commercial piece and on the main stage with a technical jazz piece both from Matt Nicholson. After completing her college diploma, Marianna was offered a job at Carnival Cruise Line, a cruise ship company, as a dancer/singer. In her 4 years of work as part of the entertainment crew in the company she completed 4 contracts where each was at a different cruise ship. Lastly, she is thrilled to return to her roots and start sharing her passion in cooperation with Danceworks.