Sônia Melo
Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Sônia Melo received broad classical training in which the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) was an important pillar, though her education was not limited to that method; as part of the first RAD Solo Seal examination session ever held in Brazil, she achieved the Solo Seal. She danced with the Rio de Janeiro Ballet Company alongside Desmond Doyle, Fernando Bujones, and Wilfride Piollet, and with Ballet Contraste with Carla Perotti, Yelle Bittencourt, and Alexander Minz (American Ballet Theatre). Further engagements included São Paulo City Ballet and, in 1982, the Grand Théâtre de Genève (Oscar Araiz). In 1980 she received the Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte (APCA) Critics’ Prize as “Dancer of the Year.” She broadened her range in modern dance (Clive Thompson/Alvin Ailey, Yoshi Morimoto, Noemi Lapzeson, Paola Lensi), jazz (Lennie Dale, Matt Mattox), and conditioning/aerobics (Karen Voight, David A. J. Green, Rog Glick, Marvin Thornton, Madonna Grimes, Jeff Vandiver). From 1983 to 1995 she was engaged at the Stadttheater Bern, working with Riccardo Duse, Reda Sheta, McKim, Bruce Steivel, François Klaus, and Martin Schläpfer, and creating children’s choreographies for “Oliver Twist,” “Zobeide,” and the opera “Lulu.” In 1996, together with Alfonso Bausilio, she co-founded the AS Ballett Schule in Boll (Bern). She is a member of the Swiss Dance Teachers (SDT).). Sie ist Mitglied der Swiss Dance Teachers (SDT).
