Leiland Charles is from Columbia, Maryland. He first stepped into a dance studio at the age of 3 with the Howard County Ballet in Ellicott City, Maryland, under the direction of Kathi Ferguson. Leiland furthered his artistic training at The Juilliard School under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes, where he received his B.F.A. in the spring of 2014. While at Juilliard, he performed works by Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp, Alexander Ekman, and many others.

Upon graduation, Mr. Charles joined Alberta Ballet in Calgary, Canada, where he worked for three seasons, dancing many roles, including Benvolio in Jean Grand-Maïtre’s Romeo and Juliet and Red Couple in Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land. Leiland joined BalletMet as a company artist for the 2017-18 season. Some of his favorite roles/ballets with the company include In Creases by Justin Peck and Cacti by Alexander Ekman. Leiland is also an up-and-coming choreographer and has created works including Passages for Alberta Ballet and most recently, Figurines for BalletMet, and Togetherness for BalletMet2. Leiland is in his 5th season with BalletMet.