Board of Trustees MemberTasman Davids

Tasman Davids, the first New Zealander to graduate from the Vaganova Ballet Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia, completed his studies in 2014 under the guidance of Nikita Shcheglov. Following his graduation, he was accepted into the troupe of the Yacobson State Academic Ballet Theatre in Saint Petersburg, where he performed for the next ten years. During his tenure with the Yacobson Theatre, Tasman regularly performed as a soloist at prestigious venues such as the Mariinsky and Bolshoi Theatres. In 2019, Tasman earned a nomination for Best Male Artist at the Golden Mask Festival held at the Bolshoi Theatre. His career took him on international tours, allowing him to dance at renowned stages worldwide, including the Chatelet Theatre in Paris and Bunka Kai in Tokyo. Throughout his career, Tasman had the honor of being mentored by esteemed ballet figures such as Makhalina, Ruzimatov, Sarafanov, Nikitin, Fadeeyev, Batalov, Pavlenko, and Lopatkyna. In his final years as a dancer with the Yacobson troupe, he took on the role of mentoring and teaching young artists within the company. Alongside this, he has taught and prepared students across Russia for major competitions and entrance to the Vaganova Ballet Academy. Recently he taught at the world-famous Pineapple Dance Studios in London as part of Ballet with Isabella's ballet program.