MATISSE LOVE

Matisse began her ballet career under the direction of the Kirov Ballet Soloist Marat Daukayev in Los Angeles.  At 11 she danced the Lead of The Nutcracker and danced the Lead four more consecutive years as well as the lead of Marat’s other ballet productions.

At 12 she was cast as “Matisse” as a series regular on ABC Family’s TV show Bunheads created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of the Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

At 14 she co-starred in the Academy Award-nominated Documentary Getting to the Nutcracker, created by Serene Meshel-Dillman.

At 15 Matisse was cast as the Cinderella ballet model for Mariinsky’s Production of Cinderella at the Dorothy Chandler Music Pavilion appearing on several Billboards throughout Los Angeles. She is the Ballet Model for The Pointe Shop stores and interviewed by Pointe Magazine, on YouTube.

At 16 Matisse won a ballet scholarship to train at Juilliard in New York with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. There, she won 1st Place in the Bolshoi Ballet Academy’s competition and was then offered to study at the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow.  She trained in the highest Russian class, graduated in 1.5 years and achieved the highest grades.    

Matisse speaks fluent Russian and French.

Matisse competed in International Ballet Competitions and was named “Laureate” after winning 2nd place at the Azerbaijan International Competition in Baku and was the only American to compete.

Upon graduating from the Bolshoi, Matisse danced professionally with the Russian State Ballet Theater in Moscow under artistic director Vyacheslav Gordeev. She became the first American Soloist and performed in over 250 European cities with the Theatre. 

Matisse currently resides in Los Angeles. She performs internationally and nationally as guest principal ballerina.

In 2024, Matisse acted and danced in the Amazon prime TV series, "Etoile" as the character L.J. 'Etoile' written, directed and created by Amy-Sherman Palladino and Dan Palladino and choreographed by Marguerite Derricks premieres on April 24th on Amazon prime.