Boston Ballet Announces 2022-2023 Company Roster

Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen announces the 2022-2023 season roster. The roster includes a diverse roster of dancers from around the world with 63 professional dancers. Five new dancers join the main company, six new dancers join Boston Ballet II (BBII), Boston Ballet's Second Company, and eight Boston Ballet dancers received promotions for the upcoming season.

"I am thrilled to welcome new dancers from around the globe and promote dancers who have demonstrated exceptional growth," said Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen. "I am excited for our audiences to get to know the talent, versatility, and diversity of this world-class Company as we continue to push the art form forward in our 59th season."

The diverse roster represents fourteen nationalities, with dancers hailing from Armenia, Australia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, Georgia, Ireland, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. BBII alumni comprise 36 percent of the Company, and 22 percent are Boston Ballet School alumni.

Boston Ballet welcomes five new dancers to the Company including Jeffrey Cirio (Springfield, Pennsylvania) as a principal dancer and Rasmus Ahlgren (Hämeenlinna, Finland), Matthew Bates (Lincoln, England), Daniela Fabelo (Havana, Cuba), and Crystal Serrano (Seattle, Washington) as artists of the Company. Joining the Company as artists from BBII are Finn Duggan (New York, New York), Henry Griffin (Ambler, Pennsylvania), Kyra Muttilainen (Richmond, Vermont), and Alainah Grace Reidy (Covington, Louisiana).

Nissinen also previously announced the following promotions: María Álvarez (Madrid, Spain) and Haley Schwan (Dearborn, Michigan) were promoted to soloist and Daniel Durrett (Cincinatti, Ohio) and Nina Matiashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) were promoted to second soloist. Boston Ballet II dancers Finn Duggan (New York, New York), Henry Griffin (Ambler, Pennsylvania), Kyra Muttilainen (Richmond, Vermont), and Alainah Grace Reidy (Covington, Louisiana) have been promoted to artists of the Company.

New dancers to join as members of BBII include Grace Boyd (Chicago, Illinois), Aidan Buss (Greenwich, Connecticut), Cassidy Cail (Chesire, Connecticut), Pierre de Korsak (Névache, France), Alexa Malone (New York, New York), and Justin Pidgeon (Houston, Texas).

NEW COMPANY DANCERS

Jeffrey Cirio of Springfield, Pennsylvania, rejoins Boston Ballet as a principal dancer. Cirio began his ballet training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary, where he studied privately with Laszlo Berdo. He also studied at Boston Ballet School (BBS) under the direction of Deirdre Miles Burger and Franco DaVita. At the age of 15, he was invited by Mikko Nissinen to join Boston Ballet II for the 2007-2008 season. Cirio then went on to train at Orlando Ballet School with Peter Stark and Olivier Munoz. Cirio returned to Boston Ballet in 2009 as a corps de ballet member and was awarded the coveted Princess Grace Fellowship. He was promoted to second soloist in 2010, soloist in 2011, and principal dancer in 2012 after his performance of Basilio in Rudolf Nureyev's Don Quixote, for which he received an Honorable Mention in Pointe Magazine's "Standout Performances of the Year 2012." Cirio joined American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in September 2015 as a soloist and was promoted to principal dancer in June 2016. In the fall of 2017, he was a guest artist with English National Ballet, performing several principal roles and the role of Hilarion in Akram Khan's Giselle. He also appeared in the cinematic version of Khan's Giselle. In 2018, he joined English National Ballet as Lead Principal.

Rasmus Ahlgren of Hämeenlinna, Finland, joins as an artist of the Company. Ahlgren began his training at the Ballet School of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet in Helsinki, Finland in 2005. He later trained at the Helsinki Ballet Academy in Helsinki, Finland and the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2018, he joined the Perm Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theatre as Second Soloist and was promoted to First Soloist in 2020. He joined the Finnish National Ballet as a junior company member in 2022.

Matthew Bates of Lincoln, England, joins as an artist of the Company. Matthew Bates joined The Royal Ballet School at the age of 11 and trained at the Lower and Upper School for eight years. In 2019, he joined Ballet Zurich Junior Company in Zurich, Switzerland under the direction of Christian Spuck, where he danced corps de ballet and soloist roles.

Daniela Fabelo of Havana, Cuba, joins as an artist of the Company. Fabelo started dancing at age 10 at the Cuban National Ballet School. In 2015, she joined the National Ballet of Cuba and was promoted to first soloist in 2018. In 2019, she joined Ballet de Monterrey in Mexico and later that year was promoted to principal dancer. She has performed at the Ravello Festival in Italy, the International Festival in Havana, and in Cuban National Ballet's international tours to Europe.

Crystal Serrano of Seattle, Washington, joins as an artist of the Company. Serrano began her dance training at the Olympic Ballet School and later trained at the School of American Ballet. She joined the Professional Division at Pacific Northwest Ballet before joining Sacramento Ballet. She has also danced with Oregon Ballet Theatre and was a lead dancer with Ballet San Antonio and Dance Theatre of Harlem.

BOSTON BALLET II

Grace Boyd of Chicago, Illinois, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. Boyd began her ballet training at the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago under the direction of Alexei Kremnev and Anna Reznik, later joining Kremnev and Reznik's company, A&A Ballet. Boyd attended American Ballet Theatre's Summer Intensive in 2019, and was offered to join ABT's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (JKO) School, graduating in 2022.

Aidan Buss of Greenwich, Connecticut, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. Buss began his dance training at Greenwich Ballet Academy at age 7. In 2016, he joined the Royal Ballet School in London and graduated in 2022.

Cassidy Cail of Chesire, Connecticut, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. Cail began dancing at age 3 studying tap, ballet, and jazz. She trained at New Haven Ballet and attended the School of American Ballet's Summer Intensive Program from 2016-2018. In 2018, she joined Boston Ballet School's Pre-Professional Program under the direction of Margaret Tracey. In 2020, Cail was awarded the Pamela Jones Scholarship, and continued her training with Boston Ballet School's Professional Division at Walnut Hill School for the Arts and Boston Ballet School's Summer Dance Program on full scholarship. Upon graduating from Walnut Hill in 2021, she was selected to join Boston Ballet School's Graduate Program.

Pierre de Korsak of Névache, France, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. De Korsak started training in 2012 at the Marin Dance Theatre in San Rafael, California under the direction of Lynn Cox, continuing his training with San Francisco Ballet School in 2018. De Korsak joined Boston Ballet School's Graduate Program at Boston Ballet School in 2021.

Alexa Malone of New York, New York, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. Malone began her training with New York's Ballet Academy East at age 7. In 2019, she was accepted to the School of American Ballet's Winter Term, where she studied for three years. She spent summers training at Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Washington School of Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Kaatsbaan Ballet Intensive.

Justin Pidgeon of Houston, Texas, joins as a member of Boston Ballet II. Pidgeon began his training with Ballet Center of Houston at age 6. In 2020, he was accepted to The Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington D.C., graduating in 2022.

For full biographies, please visit bostonballet.org.

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