Céline Gittens was born in Trinidad and grew up in Vancouver, Canada. She trained with her mother, Janet Gittens, and at Vancouver’s Goh Ballet Academy. She joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2006 and was promoted to Principal in 2016.

She has danced lead roles in ballets by Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, David Bintley and Kenneth MacMillan. Her notable roles include Juliet, Odette/Odile, Aurora, Lise, the Sugar Plum Fairy, Swanilda and Giselle. In 2005 Céline was awarded a Gold medal and Audience Award at the Genée International ballet competition, which was held at the Sadler’s Wells theatre, London. In 2011 Céline was invited to Buckingham Palace to celebrate young performers in the Arts and had the honour of meeting her Majesty the Queen, and in 2016 Céline performed Swanhilda at Buckingham Palace in the presence of HRH Prince Charles. Céline also gained a Master of Philosophy in 2012 from the University of Birmingham. 

Céline has also committed her time to pursuing her passion for teaching and is an annual teacher for Elmhurst Summer School. She has held masterclasses in conjunction with the Vancouver Ballet Society (Canada), and taught masterclasses for the Royal Academy of Dance (England). She was an Artistic Examiner for the Solo Seal 2019 (London, England), and has privately coached many pre professional dancers in England and Canada. She coached the Principal dancers at Birmingham Royal Ballet for the 2020 performances of “The Nutcracker”.