Sofiane Sylve


Sofiane Sylve is a French ballet dancer. She is currently a principal dancer and ballet master with the Dresden Semperoper Ballett and the Artistic Advisor of Ballet San Antonio, and is set to run the latter's new school. She was previously a principal dancer with Dutch National Ballet, New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.

Biography

Sylve was born in Nice, 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, a former New York City Ballet dancer and George Balanchine répétiteur, met Sylve and casted her as the lead in Allegro Brillante. Neary then recommended Sylve to join for Dutch National Ballet, which had more Balanchine repertoire. At age 17, she danced the title role in Cinderella. 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 George Balanchine and Frederick Ashton. 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 San Francisco Ballet as a principal dancer in 2008. She has danced classical roles such as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake and Myrtha in Giselle, as well as contemporary pieces including David Dawson's Anima Animus, Edwaard Liang's The Infinite Ocean and Alexei Ratmansky's Piano Concerto#1. She danced the role of Lady Capulet in the 2015 film version of Romeo and Juliet. She is also principal guest faculty at the San Francisco Ballet School.
Sylve has danced in many international galas, including Dutch National Ballet's 50th anniversary, as well as in United States, Australia and Italy. In 2019, she performed at her former colleague Maria Kochetkova's solo program, Catch Her If You Can at the Joyce Theater.
In 2020, Sylve joined Dresden Semperoper Ballett as principal dancer and ballet master. She is also appointed as Artistic Advisor of Ballet San Antonio, and is set to run its new school.

Selected repertoire

Sylve's repertoire with San Francisco Ballet and other companies includes:Source:

Created roles