Laura Smeak

Born in the USA, Laura Smeak studied dance at the Washington Academy of Ballet and completed her formation at the Harkness House for Ballet Arts under the direction of David Howard. Her professional career began in the Ballet du Grand Théatre de Genève under the artistic direction of Patricia Neary and George Balanchine, and later continued in the Zurich Ballet. She performed as a soloist in numerous ballets of the Balanchine repertory, including Apollo, Concerto Barocco, Western Symphony, Rubies, Agon, The Four Temperaments, Coppelia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Symphony in C, Divertimento, La Valse, and the Prodigal Son with Mikhail Baryshnikov at a gala performance in Geneva. She has also interpreted soloist roles in the choreographies of Alvin Ailey, John Cranko, Mats Ek, Ben Stevenson, and Rudolf Nureyev. Upon returning to Geneva, engaged once again by the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève under the artistic direction of Oscar Araiz, she participated in numerous creations.

Upon ending her stage career, she began teaching full-time and was later appointed Dean of the Dance Department at the Conservatoire populaire de musique, danse et théâtre in Geneva from 1994 to 2009. As a guest teacher, she has taught in various institutions in Switzerland, such as the Conservatoire Cantonal de Sion and the Ballet Junior of Geneva.

For the past six years, she has participated as a jury member in the Prix de Lausanne video preselections, including South American and Summer Intensive preselections.

She has served as a member of the jury for la Bourse vaudoise de danse, the Talent Scouting Days of Danse Suisse, and the Sport, Art and Etudes audition in Geneva, and has repeatedly served as a jury member for the dance exams in the conservatories of Switzerland.

She is currently a freelance ballet teacher as well as routinely teaching in various schools across French-speaking Switzerland.