Derrick Agnoletti grew up in San Jose, California, training at the San Jose Cleveland Ballet School and receiving scholarships to San Francisco Ballet School, The School of American Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre NYC intensives. He was educated at the University of California, Irvine, graduating with a BS in Sociological Sciences and BFA in Dance, high honors. A National Merit Scholar and a member of the UCI NCAA swim team, he studied/danced works by Antony Tudor, Jose Limón, George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Donald McKayle, and Martha Graham. He performed with the UCI/Conservatoire National Superiuer de Paris exchange program as well as McKayle’s UCI Etude Ensemble. 

Since joining the Joffrey in 2003, Agnoletti has performed David Parson’s solo Caught!; William Forsythe’s In the Middle Somewhat Elevated, New Sleep, Artifact II, and Steptext; Gerald Arpino’s Light Rain, Celebration, Confetti, Trinity, Round of Angels, Viva Vivaldi, and Kettentanz; Twyla Tharp’s Deuce Coupe, Nine Sinatra Songs, and Waterbaby Bagatelles; Frederick Ashton’s The Dream, Cinderella (Jester), and A Wedding Bouquet; Kurt Jooss’ The Green Table; Giselle; Jerome Robbins's NY Export; Opus Jazz!; John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio); Le Sacre du Printemps; Paul Taylor’s Cloven Kingdom; Jessica Lang’s Crossed; Antony Tudor’s Lilac Garden and Dark Elegies; Robert Joffrey’s Postcards and The Nutcracker; Christopher Wheeldon’s Carousel: A Dance, Swan Lake, Fool’s Paradise, and The Nutcracker (Snow Soloist, Chinese, Teenage Boy); George Balanchine’s Serenade, Western Symphony, Valse Fantasie, Square Dance, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Stars and Stripes and Tarantella; Lar Lubovitch’s Othello (Cassio) and Smile with my Heart; Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort and Forgotten Land; Stanton Welch’s La Bayadère (Fire God); Alexander Ekman’s Episode 31 and Tulle; Justin Peck’s Year of the Rabbit, The Times Are Racing (Role of Robbie); Myles Thatcher’s Body of Your Dreams; Wayne McGregor’s Infra (Second Pas); and Yuri Possokhov’s The Miraculous Mandarin, Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine, and Kathy Marston’s Jane Eyre.

Agnoletti has originated roles in Nicolas Blanc’s Purple and EvenFall, Beyond the Shore and Under the Trees Voices,  Edwaard Liang’s Age of Innocence, Welch’s Son of Chamber Symphony, Val Caniparoli’s Incantations, James Kudelka’s Pretty BALLET,Donald Byrd’s Motown Suite, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Mammatus, Ekman's JOY, and Ashley Page’s Tipping Point.

A social butterfly and certified Personal Trainer through NASM, Agnoletti’s hobbies include deep sea fishing, boating, country music, volleyball, Barrys Bootcamp, traveling, visiting Chicago restaurants and bars, The San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Cubs and Blackhawks. Also a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s national chapter, he enjoys time with his big Italian family and group of lifelong friends whom he cherishes.

If you can’t find him on stage you can also catch a Agnoletti hurdling you through a rigorous sprint and lifting class in the infamous Red Room at Barry's, as one of Chicago’s beloved Instructors.