Iona Marques

Born in Brazil, Iona trained in Rio de Janeiro at Grupo Cultural de Dança with Eric Valdo, Eliana Caminada and Tatiana Leskova. At the age of 16 she joined Grupo Alternativo de Dança (Brazil) for her Professional Year, during which time she performed in various productions, including Raymonda and Don Quixote suites. Iona won a gold medal at the Joinville Dance Festival in 1996 and a gold medal at CBDD Competition of the Brazilian Council of Dance in 1999.

She began her professional career with Cia Dance 2000 in Brazilia, where she performed in Swan Lake (Moscow Ballet version), among other productions. Since then Iona has worked with a number of companies and independent choreographers in Europe, such as Opus One Dance Company and Lorn McDougal (Amsterdam, Netherlands). She has been a guest teacher with Dance Street and co-founded the Movement Network, also in Amsterdam.

Iona joined West Australian Ballet in July 2006. She performed in various productions with that company, including Simon Dow’s Red Shoes and Alice, and danced a featured solo role in Francis Ring’s Debris.

Iona joined Queensland Ballet in January 2008 and performed in Francois Klaus’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Swan Lake (Dowager Empress), as well as touring to Japan with the Company and to China with theThe Little Mermaid in 2011.