Meet Reiley Kohler, one of our 2026 Level 8 students!
Born in Adelaide, raised in Port Augusta, Reiley would dance whenever he heard music playing. This made his parents enrol him in his first dance classes with Jodie Jones at BDS in Whyalla at age eight. In Port Augusta, he did numerous styles of dance that ranged from jazz, lyrical, even cheerleading. He then continued his training at the Vivienne Winter School of Ballet with Natanya Andonas and Vivienne Winter. This prompted his move to Adelaide at age 12.
After Auditioning for The Australian Ballet School in 2021 he joined as a Level 5 student the following year. Reiley finds that the music is what drives him to dance. One of his favourite parts of dance is making the audience feel something, as it is a performing art to be shared. Going into his graduating year Reiley was honoured to receive the Igor Zambelli Scholarship for Level 8 and the Graeme Murphy AO Excellence in Contemporary Dance Award.
Throughout his time at the school, he has had the opportunity to perform repertoire from many established choreographers including George Balanchine, Stephen Baynes, Kevin Jackson, Paul Knobloch, and Prue Lang. At the end of Level 7, Reiley received a short-term contract with The Australian Ballet to perform in their Storytime Ballet: The Nutcracker. Over the Christmas holidays, he performed 62 shows across Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne. 33 of these performances were at the Sydney Opera House.
In his graduate year, Reiley has also received a secondment to perform with The Australian Ballet in their Sydney season of Romeo and Juliet. This year Reiley is looking forward to performing in Adelaide during the Australian Ballet’s National Tour. Reiley also enjoys choreographing, this has led him to enter the Prix De Lausanne Young Creation Award multiple times while at The Australian Ballet School.
Outside of Ballet, Reiley has a little dog named Giselle who he takes on walks throughout Melbourne. He has a large Lego car collection and takes an interest in fashion. Reiley grew up sailing with his family where he and his father became back-to-back National Champions in a class of dinghy sailing.
