Young ballet star Yasmine Naghdi is a born and bred Londoner, with an exotic name and an exotic look, courtesy of the genes from her Iranian father and Belgian mother.

Her association with the capital’s prestigious Royal Ballet began at a young age.
She was selected to represent the Royal Ballet in an exchange programme with the Vaganova Academy in St Petersburg, the school of the Marinsky Ballet Company.

Yasmine graduated from the Royal Ballet School in 2009, winning ‘The Young British Dancer of the Year’ and was offered a contact with the company at the age of 17, becoming First Artist a year later. In 2014 she became a soloist. She has established a truly International following, performing all over the globe including China, the Bolshoi in Moscow, Taiwan Japan, Barcelona, Monaco, Milan and Columbia.

During the 2015/16 season she made her principal debut as Juliet in ROMEO & JULIET as part of the Royal Ballet’s celebration to mark 50 years since Sir Kenneth MacMillian’s production premiered at Covent Garden in 1965 with Margot Fonteyn in the lead role.

I left this drawing at the Royal Opera House last October, where Yasmine signed and  dedicated it for me.