Francesca Hayward

Francesca Hayward is an English ballerina and a principal dancer in the Royal Ballet. She has been announced to portray Victoria the White Cat in the 2019 film adaptation of Cats.

Career
She attended Royal Ballet Upper School at the age of 11 and joined the Royal Ballet in 2010 after graduation. She was promoted to Soloist in 2014 and principal ballerina in 2016. In 2012, Francesca danced a pas de deux from The Flower Festival in Genzano with fellow Royal Ballet dancer James Hay at the Erik Bruhn Competition in Canada. She danced Clara for the first time in The Nutcracker at Covent Garden in 2012. Her performances have been praised by critics.

Credits Include:
 * A Month in the Country
 * Manon
 * Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
 * Romeo and Juliet
 * Rhapsody
 * The Winter's Tale
 * The Invitation
 * Frankenstein
 * The Nutcracker
 * Tarantella
 * The Dream
 * Giselle

Trivia

 * Whilst a student at The Royal Ballet School, Hayward won the 2009 Lynn Seymour Award for Expressive Dance and the 2010 Young British Dancer of the Year Award. She was also awarded the silver medal and Audience Choice Award at the 2010 Genee International Ballet Competition. Hayward won the Best Emerging Artist and the Grishko Award for Best Female Dancer at the Critics Circle National Dance Awards in 2016.
 * She was the first alumna of the Royal Ballet to be cast in Cats (2019), alongside Steven McRae and Eric Underwood, as well as the first alongside Steven to have graduated from the Royal Ballet School. Both Francesca and Steven have co-starred in ballets Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Winter's Tale, and Frankenstein. She has also previously danced alongside Eric in Manon.