Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan is a Mexican-American

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

who is currently a soloist dancer with

Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004. The company consists of 49 dan ...

in Seattle.

Early life and training

Ryan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a Mexican mother and an Irish-American father. She began dance classes at a local studio before one of her teachers noticed her natural facility for classical ballet and recommended

The Rock School for Dance Education The Rock School for Dance Education is a classical ballet school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, along the city's Avenue of the Arts. The school offers dance training for students age three and older, with pre-professional programs for stu ...

for more specialized and technical training. Ryan also attended classes at Metropolitan Ballet Academy, and eventually enrolled at the newly reopened School of Pennsylvania Ballet, from where she graduated. She attended various summer courses at institutions such as the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Ellison Ballet,

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Franc ...

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the most renowned ballet school in the United States. School of American Ballet is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New ...

, the School of

Pennsylvania Ballet The Philadelphia Ballet, formerly known as Pennsylvania Ballet until rebranding in 2021, is Philadelphia's largest ballet company. The company's annual local season features six programs of classic favorites, as well as new works, including the Ph ...

, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School.

Career

At 16, Ryan received her first professional contract with the company formerly known as Pennsylvania Ballet (now Philadelphia Ballet). Two years later, in 2016, she joined

as an apprentice, and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2017. During her first year in the corps de ballet, she was chosen to replace principal ballerina

Noelani Pantastico Noelani Pantastico (born May 4, 1980) is an American ballet dancer. She was formerly a principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle and also danced at the Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo in Monaco. Early life Pantastico was born in Oahu, ...

(who was injured at the time) in Crystal Pite’s ''Plot Point''. Her successful performance led to a string of featured roles, including ''Maria'' in Jerome Robbin's West Side Story and the ''Sugar Plum Fairy'' in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. In 2018 she was featured in Dance Magazine's "On the Rise" and was the March/April (digital) cover of

Pointe Magazine ''Pointe'' is an international magazine aimed at ballet dancers and students. Releasing four times a year, ''Pointe'' covers international news on company debuts, competition results, and rising stars. Pointe also contains reviews, company profil ...

in 2021. During the pandemic lockdown, when live performances were canceled, Ryan was featured in ''Sylvia Pas de deux'' and the ''Rubies'' pas de deux from Balanchine’s Jewels for PNB's digital season. She was promoted to soloist at Pacific Northwest Ballet in November 2021. Most recently, Ryan danced leading roles during PNB's June 2022 tour in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She was featured in the playbill and poster at the

David H. Koch Theater The David H. Koch Theater is a theater for ballet, modern and other forms of dance, part of the Lincoln Center, at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Originally ...

. Outside of PNB, Ryan has performed as a guest artist at Shut Up & Dance in collaboration with MANNA, Chop Shop Contemporary Dance Festival, and the Seattle International Dance Festival. In 2021, she was a guest artist for Matthew Neenan's residency at the

Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is a theatre, dance and world music venue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It helped to popularize the works of composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass; the Center has also hosted shows by performer ...

, South Dakota Ballet, and Ballet Sun Valley dance festival in Idaho. In addition to her work as a dancer, Ryan choreographed ''Before You Know It'' for PNB's Next Step program.

Selected Repertoire

*''

Agon Agon (Greek ) is a Greek term for a conflict, struggle or contest. This could be a contest in athletics, in chariot or horse racing, or in music or literature at a public festival in ancient Greece. Agon is the word-forming element in 'agony', ...

'' *''

Allegro Brillante ''Allegro Brillante'' is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 3. The ballet is danced by a principal couple and a corps de ballet of eight. Balanchine said it "contains everything I knew about classic ...

'' * ''Rubies'' from ''

Jewels A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...

'' *''

Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...

'' (Giselle, Peasant pas de deux) *''

A Midsummer Night’s Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' (Butterfly) *''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

'' (Sugar Plum Fairy, Columbine, Marzipan, Dewdrop, Hot Chocolate, Coffee) *'' The Sleeping Beauty'' (Fairy of Temperament, Blue Bird pas de deux) *''

The Season's Canon ''The Seasons' Canon'' is a contemporary ballet choreographed by Crystal Pite to Max Richter's recomposition of Vivaldi's '' The Four Seasons''. The ballet is Pite's first work made for the Paris Opera Ballet, and premiered in 24 September 2016 ...

'' *''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

'' (Neapolitan Dance) *''

Tarantella () is a group of various southern Italian folk dances originating in the regions of Calabria, Campania and Puglia. It is characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in time (sometimes or ), accompanied by tambourines. It is among the mo ...

'' *''

West Side Story Suite ''West Side Story Suite'' is a ballet suite choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Robbins conceived, directed and choreographed the 1957 musical ''West Side Story'', then co-directed its 1961 film adaptation, before including parts of the choreogra ...

'' (Maria)

Created roles

*Donald Byrd: ''Love and Loss'' *Kyle Davis: ''A Dark and Lonely Space'' *Amanda Morgan: ''This Space is Left Intentionally Blank'' *Matthew Neenan: ''Bacchus'' *Noelani Pantastico: ''Picnic'' *Miles Pertl: ''Wash of Gray'' *Eva Stone: ''F O I L'' *Ezra Thompson: ''The Perpetual State''

References

{{morecat, date=January 2022 1997 births Living people Ballet dancers American ballerinas School of American Ballet alumni Mexican ballerinas Mexican female dancers Mexican dancers 21st-century American dancers