Christina-Maria Mittelmaier
Christina-Maria Mittelmaier is a London-based ballet teacher. She studied dance in Greece and the US. Staying up-to-date and expanding her expertise, she has been taking workshops for more than twenty years with leading people in the field such as Gretchen Ward Warren of the USF in the US and Pilates courses with renowned instructors like David Katz in London. While she also studied RAD, the majority of her training and teaching is based on the Vaganova technique. She is also a certified teacher of the Progressing Ballet Technique. Christina has over twenty five years of experience in teaching ballet and has taught students of all ages and backgrounds with diverse aims and objectives.
Pleasures of teaching
Christina has taught everyone from beginners to professional dancers, actors and professional athletes of Rhythmic Sportive Gymnastics. She has a track record of getting the very best out of her students, taking careful consideration of their training and their individual aims. Her very varied experience as a dancer, teacher and coach plays a major part in her teaching, making her classes particularly dynamic and inspiring.
While artistic expression is a main feature in her approach, she always makes correct technique a priority to help students dance injury-free.
The ballet student and dancer
Christina started her ballet training at the age of six. She had regular ballet classes including RAD approved courses and attended many dance workshops, and then went to Greece with a scholarship to study dance and dance teaching at the Greek State School of Dance. There, she was taught by renowned ballet masters of the Vaganova technique, like Gesh Mihov, Gallina Bokoeva, and Moriana Risova. After her graduation, Christina danced in a variety of classical and contemporary productions touring Greece, Germany, Bulgaria and Hungary.
In 1995, Christina was awarded a scholarship for studies with the Ballet Austin Academy. She danced soloist roles with the Company of Ballet Austin in such well-known classics as Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Nutcracker, etc. and taught ballet at the Academy in the Youth and the Pre-professional Division.
The gymnast and coach
As a teenager, Christina was one of the most successful rhythmic gymnasts of Cyprus. She was a champion in Rhythmic Sportive Gymnastics and was twice named “Athlete of the Year”. Later, she became a choreographer and coach for the Cypriot team and accompanied the Cypriot delegation of the Rhythmic Sportive Gymnastics Team many International Games including the Olympic Games of Barcelona in 1992. In 2000, the Gymnastics Federation of Cyprus presented Christina with a special award for outstanding work in the 20th Century as Choreographer and Coach for the National Team of Rhythmic Sportive Gymnastics.
Working in London
After moving to London in 2001, Christina took up the position of head of ballet at D&B School of Performing Arts. There, she taught ballet and body conditioning and choreographed for the school’s productions. She also taught as a guest teacher for Birkbeck College and was a ballet teacher for Morley College until 2008. Christina also taught for the Danceworks Ballet Academy where, apart from teaching ballet and body conditioning, she also choreographed and set works of great choreographers for the Academy’s productions. Christina is now teaching open ballet classes at Danceworks and private classes in Ballet, Body Conditioning and PBT in London. All throughout lockdown, Christina has been offering very popular group and private e-lessons in Ballet and PBT via zoom.
Christina also studied Classics at the Open University and was awarded her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2010.