Pornpim Karchai

Pornpim Karchai was born in Bangkok where she started her dance training at the age of five at the "Royal Academy of Dance". At the age of fifteen, Pornpim received a full scholarship for the "Conservatoire Superieur de Musique et de Danse", in Lyon. One year later she continued her professional dance training at one of the most prestigious schools in the world "The Australian Ballet School", in Melbourne, where she was educated in the Vaganova ballet technique as well as extensively trained in body-conditioning workouts suited for professional dancers such as Pilates for dancers and Floor-Barre technique.

In 2003, Pornpim was offered a contract with the Ballet Zurich, where she had the opportunity to work personally with world-renowned choreographers including William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek, Wayne McGregor and Heinz Spoerli as well as many up and coming choreographers such as Edward Clug, Marco Goecke, Ohad Naharina and Douglas Lee.
After fifteen years of working with the company, Pornpim continued her studies and received a master’s degree in Teaching and Coaching Dance Professionals, from "Zürcher Hochschule der Künste".

With her comprehensive knowledge and experience as a professional dancer, Pornpim combines her dance teaching with strengthening exercises that help increase strength and flexibility appropriate for both dancers and non-dancers. Her method of teaching blends technical aspects, musicality and artistry to create a well-rounded ballet workout class (Photos by Gregory Batardon and Eke Miedaner).