Following a career that encompassed 20 years as a dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet, and then as a tutor at Elmhurst School for Dance, Saidi has also taught at both The Royal Ballet School’s Junior and Senior Associate programmes, and most recently conceived and managed Elmhurst’s satellite Associate Programme which is run throughout the UK.

In a press release announcing her appointment, Saidi said, “Over 30 years of experience comprising both performance and dance education has instilled within me the importance and value of treasuring, retaining and passing on the history and honesty of the profession, and I am now greatly looking forward to taking up my new role… at English National Ballet School.”

Photograph: courtesy of John Hackney