Gabriela Nicholson-Dunbar - Principal

Dance, Drama and Singing

Gabriela Nicholson-Dunbar was born in Newport, S. Wales and has worked as a professional performer for 20 years. She has worked mainly as a dancer specializing in ballet. Her early training was with the late Myra Silcox in Pontypool, Torfaen, then at 16 she moved to London after gaining a place at the Urdang Academy, Covent Garden. Here she completed a three year, full time course in ballet and the performing arts, being taught by many of the top teachers in the country.

She started her professional career dancing with the Vienna Festival Ballet Company performing in ballets such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. She returned to Wales briefly to work as a dancer in various light entertainment shows for HTV Wales and she has also appeared in the TV shows, Casualty, Dr. Who and The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe for the BBC. Around this time she also danced in Die Frau Ohne Schatten, The Bartered Bride and Carmen for the Welsh National Opera and as a principal dancer and founder member of Gwent Ballet Theatre (now known as Independent Ballet Wales). Following this she won the role of Meg Giry in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom Of The Opera (Stella Musicals) where she was coached for her role by Gillian Lynne, the choreographer of Phantom and Cats. She was also given the job of Dance Supervisor and on occasion acted as In House Director as well as auditioning artistes for the production.

It was whilst working in this show that she met her husband Nicholas Dunbar. During her time at Phantom she helped set up a production of Miss Saigon in Stuttgart, Germany, and also adapted the Masquerade scene from Phantom for German television. More recently she has worked along side Colin Baker (Dr Who) and Louise Jameson (Rosa di Marco, Eastenders, Bergerac) in Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs in London. Her last contract took Gabi and her husband to Tokyo, Japan where they worked for Disney International as principal performers in the original cast of Broadway Encore. They were the only British performers to be chosen and worked with renowned American choreographers Patti Columbo and John Sharron who were 2001 Emmi Award nominees. In February 2002 Gabi and Nick moved to Wales and in April of that year Gabi set up Nidus Dance in Cwmbran and Pontypool. Within one year of opening, she already had eighty pupils for ballet and jazz dance and in April 2003 Nidus Theatre Arts senior department was officially opened followed by the junior section 5 months later.