René Olivier

Rene Olivier’s professional dance career began in 1990 with NAPAC in South Africa. From 1998–99, she danced with Alberta Ballet in Canada. She joined Tulsa Ballet Theater in 1999 and, while dancing with the company, began teaching part time for the Preparatory Level at Tulsa Ballet Theater Center for Dance Education.

In 2010, she became a faculty member at Charlotte Ballet Academy, where she taught and choreographed for all levels year-round and for the academy’s summer intensives. She staged Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s Danses Brillantes for Charlotte Ballet alongside Sarkis Kaltakhtchian. She also became an adjunct faculty member in the BFA Dance Program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In 2017, she joined the faculty of the Hartt School Community Division Dance Program and became an adjunct faculty member in The Hartt School’s BFA Dance Program at the University of Hartford. She choreographed Carnival of the Animals for Levels A, B, and C (Division I). Ms. Olivier has also taught as guest faculty for Ballet Hartford and will return as a faculty member for the Chautauqua Institution’s Dance Summer Intensive, as well as teach for John Cranko’s ICM’26 Workshop.

Ms. Olivier has performed in China, Taiwan, India, Italy, Alaska, Sri Lanka, and Germany. Her principal and featured roles include George Balanchine’s Rubies and Serenade; Titania in Mark Hawkins’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Firebird in Jean-Paul Comelin’s Firebird; Sugar Plum Fairy in David Poole’s Nutcracker; and Micaela in Amedeo Amodio’s Carmen. She has also performed featured roles in Jerome Robbins’ In the Night and Fancy Free, Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs, Paul Taylor’s Black Tuesday, Daniel Pelzig’s Nine Lives, Val Caniparoli’s Going for Baroque, Galina Samsova’s Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, Christopher Wheeldon’s Carnival of the Animals, Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, and Ma Cong’s Carmina Burana.

She received her Solo Seal Award from The Royal Academy of Dancing. In 1990, she was named “Most Promising Dancer” by NAPAC. She is also the recipient of the 1997 FNB Vita Award for her performances with the Playhouse Dance Company in Natal, South Africa. A highlight of her career was performing for President Nelson Mandela in 1997.