Francesca Hayward
Francesca Hayward is a Kenyan-born English ballet dancer and actress, the daughter of an English father and a Kenyan mother. She is a principal dancer in the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden in London. At the age of two, she moved to the Goring-by-Sea suburb of Worthing in West Sussex to live with her grandparents. She started ballet at age 3, after her grandparents bought her a video of The Nutcracker. When she was young, she danced at Le Serve School of Ballet and Theatre Dance in Worthing until her teacher encouraged her to audition to White Lodge, the junior section of the Royal Ballet School. After being a Junior Associate from the age of nine, she entered the School at the age of 11 in 2003, and progressed to the Royal Ballet Upper School in 2008. According to Hayward, due to an injury, she did not officially graduate, but received a certificate of attendance.
Acted in
RB&O Live 2024/25: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
2024
as Alice
Like Water for Chocolate
2023
as Tita
The Royal Ballet: Mayerling
2022
as Princess Stephanie
Royal Ballet All-Star Gala
2020
Audrey
2020
as Audrey Hepburn
Live from Covent Garden - Royal Opera House
2020
as Dancer
The Cellist / Dances at a Gathering (The Royal Ballet)
2020
as Dancer
Cats
2019
as Victoria
Romeo and Juliet: Beyond Words
2019
as Juliet
Concerto / Enigma Variations / Raymonda Act III (Royal Ballet)
2019
as Dora Penny (Dorabella)
The Royal Ballet: Within the Golden Hour / Medusa / Flight Pattern
2019
as Principal Dancer (Golden Hour)
Swan Lake
2018
as Prince Siegfried's younger sister
The Sun Is God
2017
Woolf Works
2017
as I Now, I Then / Becomings
The Nutcracker
2016
as Clara
Giselle
2016
as Pas de six
Dancing the Nutcracker: Inside the Royal Ballet
2016
as Herself, Sugar Plum Fairy
The Nutcracker (The Royal Ballet)
2015
as Clara
La Fille Mal Gardée (The Royal Ballet)
2015
as Hen
The Royal Ballet: A Diamond Celebration
The Nutcracker (The Royal Ballet)
as Clara