Francesca Hayward

Biography

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.

Most Known For

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

as Self - Guest

Audrey

as Audrey Hepburn

Cats

as Victoria

Like Water for Chocolate

as Tita

Royal Opera House: Swan Lake

as Prince Siegfried's younger sister

Cygnes

Woolf Works

as I Now, I Then / Becomings

The Nutcracker

as Clara

Royal Ballet & Opera 2024/25: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

as Alice

Romeo and Juliet: Beyond Words

as Juliet

Giselle

as Pas de six

La Fille Mal Gardée (The Royal Ballet)

as Hen

Concerto / Enigma Variations / Raymonda Act III (Royal Ballet)

as Dora Penny (Dorabella)

The Royal Ballet: Within the Golden Hour / Medusa / Flight Pattern

as Principal Dancer (Golden Hour)

The Sun Is God

The Cellist / Dances at a Gathering (The Royal Ballet)

as Dancer

Dancing the Nutcracker: Inside the Royal Ballet

as Herself, Sugar Plum Fairy

The Royal Ballet: A Diamond Celebration

Live from Covent Garden - Royal Opera House

as Dancer

The Nutcracker (The Royal Ballet)

as Clara