Francesca Hayward

Francesca Hayward is a Principal of The Royal Ballet. She studied at The Royal Ballet School from 2003-2011. While a student at The Royal Ballet School she won the Lynn Seymour Award for Expressive Dance, the 2010 Young British Dancer of the Year and both the silver and Audience Choice Award at the 2010 Genée International Competition. After graduating into the company in the 2011/2012 season, she was chosen to represent The Royal Ballet at The Eric Bruhn Prize 2012 and won Best Emerging Artist in 2014 and the Grishko Award for Best Female Dancer 2016 and Tendu Award for Best Female 2019 at the Critic's National Dance Circle Awards.

Francesca's repertory with The Royal Ballet includes Juliet, Manon, Giselle, Alice, Titania in The Dream, Clara and The Sugar Plum Fairy (The Nutcracker), Princess Aurora and Princess Florine (The Sleeping Beauty), Lise (La Fille Mal Gardée, Ondine (pas de deux), Principal Female in Rhapsody, Principal Woman in 4th Movement Symphony in C, Perdita (The Winter's Tale), The Girl (The Invitation), Princess Stéphanie (Mayerling), Vera (A Month in the Country), Tarantella and Principal Woman in Emeralds and Concerto First Movement Principal. Francesca appeared as Juliet in The Royal Ballet film of Romeo and Juliet : Beyond Words directed by Ballet Boyz and as Victoria in the 2019 movie adaptation of Cats.