Sasha De Sola is an American

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

. She is a principal dancer at the

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 Fra ...

Early life

De Sola was born in

Winter Park, Florida Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 29,795 according to the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Orlando, Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winter Park was foun ...

. Both of her parents are musicians. She started dancing at age 3. She began her training at the Central Florida Ballet Academy, then moved on to train at

Kirov Academy of Ballet The Kirov Academy of Ballet (formerly the Universal Ballet Academy) was a ballet school in Washington, D.C. founded by Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon in 1990. It closed in May 2022. Facilities The Kirov was located in a former monastery on a 1.2 ...

on full scholarship.

Career

In 2011, De Sola joined the

as an apprentice at age 17, and became a member of the corps de ballet the following year. She was named soloist in 2012 and principal dancer in 2017. She has danced roles such as Princess Aurora in '' The Sleeping Beauty'', Titiana in ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'', Princess/Henriette in ''The Little Mermaid'', and Kitri in ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

''. She has also originated roles such as

Stanton Welch Stanton De Burgh Welch (born 1969) is an Australian dancer and choreographer. He is the artistic director of the Houston Ballet. Early life Welch was born in Melbourne to Marilyn Jones and Garth Welch, two prominent Australian dancers. Care ...

's ''Bespoke'', Dwight Rhoden's ''LET'S BEGIN AT THE END'' and Trey McIntyre’s ''Your Flesh Shall Be a Great Poem'' Reviewing her debut as Princess Aurora in ''The Sleeping Beauty'', the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' wrote she “finds an emotional line through this passive character and molds steps into statements”. On a mixed bill performance which includes ''Bespoke'' and ''Hummingbird'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' noted De Sola "transformed from the prim perfection of a pageant queen in ''Bespoke'' to earnest, lyrical dancer of ''Hummingbird'' in the time it took to change costumes." Outside of San Francisco Ballet, De Sola has appeared in international galas in United States,

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. In 2018, a bilingual children's book based on De Sola's life, ''On Tiptoes - De Puntitas'' was published.

Selected repertoire

De Sola's repertoire with the San Francisco Ballet includes:

Awards

*Silver medal - Professional Division at the World International Ballet Competition, Orlando, Florida, 2017. *Best Junior Couple Prize - USA International Ballet Competition, Jackson, Mississippi, 2006. *Junior Division bronze medal - Varna International Ballet Competition, Varna, Bulgaria, 2006.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Sola, Sasha San Francisco Ballet principal dancers Living people People from Winter Park, Florida Year of birth missing (living people) American prima ballerinas Dancers from Florida 21st-century American ballet dancers 21st-century American women