Simone Orlando is a classically trained dance artist, working as a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Her professional career thus far has spanned 15 years, during which time she has pursued and endured intense challenges in her discipline in an attempt to make a unique contribution to performance, choreography, and mentoring.

Born in Vancouver, Simone began her training at age 11 at the Carisbrooke School of Dance, the Vancouver Academy of Dance and the Goh Ballet Academy. She later graduated from the National Ballet School in Toronto, and went on to dance with the National Ballet of Canada (touring across Canada, to Europe and Asia), and Desrosiers Dance Theatre (touring to Brazil and Aruba). Simone is currently in her eighth season with Ballet BC where she has had the opportunity to work with acclaimed choreographers such as James Kudelka, Serge Bennathan, Mark Godden, Dominique Dumais, Jean Grand-Maître, and John Alleyne.

Simone’s part-time studies at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design prompted her to turn her creative energy toward choreography in 1997. Her choreographic credits include two commissioned group pieces for the Ballet BC Mentor Program (wake, 2000, and cart, 2003); a solo piece in collaboration with photo-based artist Mia Weinberg for which she received assistance from the BC Arts Council (the I unbound, 2000); a group piece for Arts Umbrella (Kinderlied, 2001); a piece for three Ballet BC dancers (blow away all this idleness, Dancing on the Edge Festival, 2001); and her first piece of choreography for film/TV, (Chimère, Moving Pictures Festival/Bravo!TV, 2000). In addition, Simone has created over 20 solos for students at the Flora Pigeau Dance Academy, many of which have been performed at the annual BC Festival of the Arts.

In July of 2003, Simone attended workshops for emerging choreographers at the Impulstanz Festival in Vienna, Austria. Shortly after her return, she received a grant from the BC Arts Council to research and develop movement to further define her voice as a contemporary ballet choreographer. Simone was the inaugural recipient of the Performing Arts Commission at the Vancouver Arts Awards in March 2004.