My Story
Photo by Andrej Uspenski
My name is Annette Buvoli. I was born in Boulder, Colorado, where I spent the first 14 years of my life. My love of art began early, nurtured by my mother, who enrolled me in after-school programs and gifted me my first paintbrushes and canvases.
At the age of 10, however, I discovered another art form: ballet, and quickly fell in love. I still remember my first lesson. Although I had little understanding of the technique, I immediately felt at home in the world of music and movement. Even then, I knew I wanted to dedicate myself to ballet wholeheartedly. Since that first class, ballet has remained one of the great loves of my life. It is an art of silent storytelling and deep emotion, offering the chance to inhabit many lives, to move through fairy-tale worlds, abstract realms, and characters far removed from ourselves. I value the creative freedom it brings just as much as I am drawn to the discipline it demands. The refinement of small gestures, the pursuit of balance, and the precision of intricate footwork are where I feel most at ease.
Ballet brought me to London at 15, where I continued my training and have since spent the past 13 years working with the Royal Ballet. Being part of the community at the Royal Opera House has surpassed my wildest expectations. From the coaches I work with to the musicians and stage technicians, bringing a ballet to life is a true collective effort, one I am incredibly proud to be part of. The early years of my career were entirely devoted to understanding the demands of professional dance. It was all-consuming, both physically and mentally, but incredibly fulfilling to be living out a dream I had held for so long.
Like much of the world, our theatre closed in 2020, giving me an unexpected pause for the first time in years. During that time, I realised I needed a creative outlet while away from dance, and I returned to painting. I ordered a large canvas and a few tubes of acrylic paint and quickly rediscovered how important visual art was to me.
I began sharing my artwork on Instagram, starting with a painted portrait series titled Girls. I began selling prints and originals, gradually expanding into florals and full-body portraits. A few months later, I discovered Procreate, which opened up a new sense of creative freedom and eventually led me to children’s illustration. At first, I created small whimsical scenes. Mice in polka dot trousers, foxes taking baths, raccoons going out for coffee. Over time, I realised this was the artistic world I wanted to fully explore. I enrolled in an online course focused on creating a children’s book, where I developed both my skills and confidence as an illustrator. During this period, I also created a collection of greeting cards in collaboration with the Royal Opera House shop, where they were sold in the gift shop. It felt like a meaningful meeting point between my two creative worlds, dance and art, and remains something I hope to continue building on. As the world reopened, I returned to ballet full-time. My career took me to places I had only ever dreamed of, performing roles I had long aspired to and working at an even higher level of intensity and focus.
Now at 30, after 13 years as a professional dancer, my love for dance is as strong as ever. At the same time, I have felt a growing pull to develop my work in illustration more seriously. Over the past year, I’ve returned to it with clear intention, not as a fallback, but as an exciting and evolving creative path that I am committed to building alongside my career in dance. I’ve since explored a range of mediums, including acrylic, watercolour, collage, markers, and coloured pencils. Through independent study and online learning, particularly following artists such as Becca Hall, I’ve seen a real transformation in my work. This has encouraged me to seek further training so that I can continue to develop my skills, refine my visual voice, and fully realise my ideas. I am especially drawn to storytelling through image, and my goal is to work within the world of children’s illustration. Dance has given me a strong sense of narrative, movement, and emotional expression, qualities I now strive to bring into my visual work.
I am no stranger to the discipline and dedication that a life in the arts requires, and I’m excited to continue growing, learning, and building this next chapter of my creative life.
If you would like to see me in motion click the link below.