The FoundingVision

Alice De Nardi is an Italian ballet artist whose training and career trace a lineage through three of the most distinguished institutions in European ballet — from the Ballet School Academy of Teatro alla Scala Foundation in Milan, through The Royal Ballet School in London, to the Ukrainian Academy of Ballet in Kiev.

She began her classical training at age seven at the Teatro alla Scala Ballet School (2000–2005), one of the oldest and most prestigious ballet academies in the world. In 2005, she was invited to study at The Royal Ballet School in London. She continued her advanced training at the Ukrainian Academy of Ballet in Kiev from 2006 to 2012 under teachers Natalia Glumova, Alexandru Frunza, Egor Ščepaciov, Nadia Ščepaciova, and Elena Zarikova, graduating in 2012 with a Diploma as Professional Ballet Dancer and Choreographer. Concurrently, she completed her academic studies at the Teatro alla Scala Language High School in Milan.

From 2012 to 2014, De Nardi was engaged as a Soloist at the Macedonian Opera and Ballet in Skopje, performing across the company's full repertoire and touring Italian theaters. In 2015, she was invited to join the Cairo Opera House as First Soloist, where she performed through 2018 in a wide and demanding repertoire including Giselle, Don Quixote, Raymonda, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire, Coppelia, La Bayadère, Cinderella, Aida, Carmina Burana, Scheherazade, and Peter Pan — alongside leading roles in New Year's Eve Galas and the original production of Alexander the Great.

Her earlier performance credits include appearances at the Arena di Verona in Divina Commedia (2011), tours with the Royal Czech Ballet Theater Company in Giselle at the Quirino Theater in Rome, and participation in the International Ballet and Contemporary Dance Competition Domenico Modugno at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari (2015).

Alongside her performing career, De Nardi served as Ballet Teacher at the Alexandria Bibliotheca Art Center in Egypt (2016–2017). Today, as Artistic Director of Columbia Youth Ballet, she has coached students to international competition success at the Youth America Grand Prix and Universal Ballet Competition — with top placements across Classical and Contemporary divisions. As Co-Founder and Founding Executive Director of Columbia City Ballet, she brings the rigor of European classical training and the breadth of an international performing career to the company's artistic foundation.