Francoise Pender

About

Francoise Pender began ballet in Paris at the age of 6 with Olga Alexendrovitch, principal dancer from the Paris Opera, becoming a student there as well, studying with Raymond Franchetti, Alexandre Kalioujny, Rene Bon, Gilbert Mayer and Daniel Franck, later joining the company as a corps member. She Danced in London with The London festival Ballet . In the US she has studied jazz at the Roland Dupre Dance Academy in Los Angeles. When a knee injury cut short her dance career, she became an actress and performed for several years at the French National Theatre, la Comedie Francaise. She also worked on TV and films. In the past few years she has returned to dance, working with actors doing choreographic work for theater and films in France and in the US. She is currently teaching Ballet for the junior and professional divisions at the Ailey School and the BA and BFA program at Marymount Manhattan College in New York