Celeste Gaiera’s love for dance began as a young child in New Zealand where she grew up and trained in many different styles of dance. After arriving in the United States, she joined a pre-professional ballet training program in Oregon, after which she moved to San Francisco to further her dance training. She then was selected to join Pittsburgh Ballet Theater’s graduate program on scholarship, where she enjoyed many opportunities performing with the company. Celeste attended Nederlands Dans Theater in 2016, where she performed works by Paul Lightfoot, Sol León, Mengahn Lou, and Crystal Pite. Celeste joined Texas Ballet Theater as a company member in 2017 and danced there for four years under Ben Stevenson, O.B.E. She then joined Richmond Ballet, where she is currently dancing and has been for the past three years, performing a variety of both classical and contemporary ballets. She attended NCI 2022 and is thrilled to be returning this year!