Sofiane Sylve (born 1976) is a French

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 ye ...

. She is currently a principal dancer and ballet master with the

Dresden Semperoper Ballett The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the T ...

, and the artistic advisor and school director of Ballet San Antonio, and is set to run the latter's new school. She was previously a principal dancer with

Dutch National Ballet The Dutch National Ballet (Dutch: Het Nationale Ballet) is the official and largest ballet company in the Netherlands. History The Dutch National Ballet was formed in 1961 when the Amsterdam Ballet and the Nederlands Ballet merged. The company h ...

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

and

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 Fran ...

Biography

Sylve was born in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, France. She started ballet at the age of 4 and trained at Académie de Danse. After she was discovered at a competition, she joined the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, Germany when she was 14. Shortly after that,

Patricia Neary Patricia Neary (born October 27, 1942) is an American ballerina, choreographer and ballet director, who has been particularly active in Switzerland. She has also been an ambassador for the Balanchine Trust, bringing George Balanchine's ballets to ...

, a former

dancer and

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

répétiteur A (from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. A feminine form, , also appears but is comparatively rare. Opera In opera, a is the person ...

'', met Sylve and cast her as the lead in ''

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 ...

''. Neary then recommended Sylve to join for

, which had more Balanchine repertoire. At age 17, she danced the title role in ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

.'' She was promoted to principal dancer and was offered a lifetime contract at age 20, and danced roles including Aurora in '' The Sleeping Beauty'', as well as works by Balanchine and

Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the opposit ...

. In 2003, New York City Ballet invited Sylve to join the company, as Sylve had previously performed with the company as a guest dancer, she accepted the position after several months of consideration. Sylve joined the

as a principal dancer in 2008. In 2020, Sylve joined

as principal dancer and ballet master. In 2020, she was also appointed Artistic Advisor of Ballet San Antonio. And as of 2022, Sylve became both Artistic Director of Ballet San Antonio and Director of the School of Ballet San Antonio. Sylve completed and received her Management Essentials and Leadership Principles certificates from the Harvard Business School Online.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sylve, Sofiane French ballerinas San Francisco Ballet principal dancers New York City Ballet principal dancers Dutch National Ballet principal dancers Living people People from Nice French expatriates in the United States French expatriates in the Netherlands French expatriates in Germany 1976 births Prima ballerinas 21st-century French ballet dancers 20th-century French ballet dancers