Giusi Santagati began her classical dance studies in Catania. From 1984 to 1986, she worked at the Opera Theater under the direction of M. Plisetskaya. In the following years, she worked as a freelancer in various companies and in 1988, she joined the Stadttheater in Bern as a soloist. In 1991, she returned to Italy and worked for the Balletto di Sicilia under the direction of R. Zappalà and with the Balletto di Napoli under the direction of L. Cannito, where she remained until 1994. In 1995, she worked with Aterballetto, directed by A. Amodio, and that same year, she was a soloist for the Balletto di Roma, directed by F. Bartolomei and W. Zappolini. In 1996, she joined the Virgilio Sieni Danza Company, with which she collaborated until 1998. From 1998 to 2000, she danced as a prima ballerina with the Staatstheater company in Karlsruhe, under the direction of O. Schmidt.
In 2001, she began her teaching career by joining the Zappalà Danza Company as a maitre de ballet, assistant, and responsible for the advanced training courses. In 2004, she became the artistic and educational director of StarTanz, a professional training course in classical and contemporary dance based at Scenario Pubblico, and created a young dance company, Compagnia Pareri Variabili. In 2006, she was a maitre de ballet for the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and the Teatro Nuovo in Turin.
In September 2010, she moved to Florence and joined the teaching staff at the Opus Ballet International Choreographic Centre, and collaborated with V. Sieni on dance projects within the Accademia del Gesto at Cantieri Goldonetta. In September 2011, she worked as a classical dance teacher with the Balletto di Toscana, and from September 2016, with DAW Dancer At Work, directed by E. Buratti. In 2018, she moved to Rome and worked as a classical dance teacher at the BDR Scuola di Danza Parioli. Since October 2019, she has been the maitre de ballet for the Spellbound Contemporary Ballet, directed by M. Astolfi. Since September 2022, she has been a classical dance teacher for the Dance Perfection Course at Art Village.
She has danced with international étoiles such as: Luciana Savignano, Alessandra Ferri, Carla Fracci, Florence Clerc, Elena Pankova, Letizia Giuliani, Greta Hodgkinson, Eleonora Abbagnato, Marie-Claude Pietragalla, and Myrna Kamara. She has performed in New York, Budapest, Prague, Stockholm, Tunis, Ljubljana, Munich, Dortmund, Ontario, St. Petersburg, and many of the major Italian theaters.
In 2012, with the choreography of P. Chalmer in the world premiere of “Swan Lake and the Tchaikovsky Enigma,” she concluded her dancing career and continued her activity as a classical dance and repertory teacher, also participating in numerous workshops, festivals, and competitions.