11 Facts About Melissa Hamilton

Melissa Hamilton was born on 2 August 1989 and is a Northern Irish ballet dancer and a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, London.

Melissa Hamilton's father is a builder and her mother is a pre-school teacher.

Melissa Hamilton's sister is an architect and her brother is a primary school teacher.

Melissa Hamilton attended Dromore Primary School and Banbridge Academy, and left the latter after she finished her GCSEs.

Until that point, the only training Melissa Hamilton had were once-a-week classes.

When Mukhamedovs moved to Athens, Melissa Hamilton followed them to train privately with Masha for 10 months.

However, Melissa Hamilton did not want to move to New York, so Mukhamedov contacted Monica Mason, then artistic director of The Royal Ballet, to let her know Melissa Hamilton would send her a video of her dancing.

Melissa Hamilton was invited to take classes with the company, and offered a contract to join the company as an Artist within a week after her victory at YAGP.

Melissa Hamilton was named First Artist in 2009, Soloist the following year, First Soloist in 2013.

Melissa Hamilton has performed internationally, including Roberto Bolle's Italy tour and Mikhailovsky Ballet's 85th anniversary in St Petersburg, partnering Bolle.

Melissa Hamilton is married to Michael Christou, a property developer, interior designer and cofounder of a property development company called 1.61 London.