Born in Italy in 1989, Melissa graduated from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds (UK) in 2011 with a First Class Honours Degree, being granted the Award for Outstanding Achievement.
Melissa has worked profesionally with numerous international choreographers like Akram Khan, Anouk Van Dijk, Andonis Foniadakis, Aakash Odedra, Nicolas Cantillon and Laurence Yadi, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Barak Marshall, İhsan Rüstem, Bruno Caverna and Beyhan Murphy, alongside performing both new creations and repertoire works with Companhia Instàvel (Portugal), LamatDance Company (Spain) and James Wilton Dance Company (UK).
In 2013 Melissa moved to Turkey, where she became a full-time member of the national company Modern Dans Topluğu for the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet. In 2017 she began taking part in various choreographic collaborations both with fellow dancer Evrim Akyay and with the Italian musician Jacopo Mariotti, presenting their works in various festivals. Melissa currently shares her practice through workshops in Italy, UK, Turkey, Iran and India, Melissa is a member of the Aakash Odedra Company (UK) and of Compagnie 7273 (Switzerland).
Melissa performed at the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games alongside the Akram Khan Company and became part of the ensemble at the Münchner Kammerspiele (Germany) in 2020, performing in Falk Richter’s new production Touch, in collaboration with choreographer Anouk Van Dijk.
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