Principal Dancer with San Francisco Ballet
Born in Winter Park, Florida, Sasha De Sola trained at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C. on full merit scholarship where she studied under the guidance of Ludmila Morkovina, Anatoli Kucheruk, Alla Sizova, and Vladimir Djouloukhadze. In 2004, Ms. De Sola received a scholarship for studies at the Paris Opera Ballet School.
At the age of 17, Ms. De Sola joined San Francisco Ballet where she rose through the ranks and was promoted to the rank of principal dancer in 2017. In 2020, she was appointed the Diane B. Wilsey Principal Dancer.
Sasha De Sola has danced many leading roles with the San Francisco Ballet. Highlights include Odette/Odile in Swan Lake; Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty; Kitri in Don Quixote; Cinderella in Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella; Titania in George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Olga in John Cranko's Onegin; Princess Henriette in John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid; Alexei Ratmansky’s Chamber Symphony, Symphony No. 9, The Seasons, and From Foreign Lands; Harald Lander’s Etudes; Serge Lifar’s Suite en Blanc; Jerome Robbins’s In the Night, Other Dances, Fancy Free and Dances at a Gathering; Helgi Tomasson’s Harmony, On a Theme of Paganini, Haffner Symphony and Trio; and William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Blake Works I, and Pas/Parts 2016.
She has originated featured roles in works by Christopher Wheeldon, Helgi Tomasson, Val Caniparoli, Liam Scarlett, Yuri Possokhov, Myles Thatcher, Trey McIntyre, Stanton Welch, Danielle Rowe, and Dwight Rhoden.
Ms. De Sola has appeared as a guest artist in several galas around the world and was also awarded the junior division bronze medal at the Youth America Grand Prix (2004); the Best Junior Couple prize at the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi (2006); the junior division bronze medal at Varna International Ballet Competition (2006); and the silver medal at World Ballet Competition (2008). She was nominated as Dance Europe’s "Dancer of the Year" for 2020.
On Tiptoes - De Puntitas, an illustrated bilingual children’s book based on the life of Ms. De Sola, was released in November of 2018.
In November of 2019, Sasha De Sola announced the launch of The Ascendant, a charity initiative in which she collaborated with the San Francisco-based jewelry store, Fiat Lux. Together they released a jointly designed, dance-inspired jewelry line where all profits have benefited Dancin Power and San Francisco Ballet, two nonprofit organizations that are dear to her heart.
She has also appeared in several advertising campaigns for Free People, Dr. Scholl’s, JINS eyewear, and Naja, among others. Ms. De Sola has additionally been featured as the lead actress in short films Dancing with Nureyev and Sirens Tango.
Sasha De Sola is in the process of completing her bachelor’s degree in performing arts through Saint Mary’s College of California. Additionally, she completed Harvard Business School’s Crossover Into Business program in 2022.