Hometown: Bedford, Massachusetts
Samantha Hope Galler is a native of Bedford, Massachusetts and began training at age five in the Cecchetti method under the direction of Frances Kotelly at The Ballet Academy, Inc. In 2004, she joined the Boston Ballet School and received the PAO Merit Scholarship. Summer and winters were spent training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet; Marcia Dale Weary, the Northeast School of Ballet; Denise Cecere, the Boston Conservatory, and with Nancy Bielski thus exposing her to various ballet methods at a very young age.
In 2008, she joined Cincinnati Ballet and received the Anthony Albano and K. Ann Choe–Albano Fellowship award; A.D. Victoria Morgan. She joined Alabama Ballet, 2009-2014, and rose from apprentice to principal dancer under direction of Tracey Alvey and Roger Van Fleteren. Pivotal roles at Alabama Ballet include Juliet in Romeo and Juliet(MacMillan/Fleteren), Odette and Odile in Swan Lake (Petipa/Ivanov), Mercedes and Dryad Queen in Don Quixote, Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, Myrtha in Giselle (Petipa), the Sylph in La Sylphide (Bournonville), the Rancher’s Daughter in Rodeo (Agnes de Mille), Dark Angel in Serenade, and the Principal in Allegro Brillante (Balanchine). In May of 2014, Galler joined Miami City Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet.
In February 2018, she was promoted to soloist, to principal soloist in February 2022, and to principal dancer in October 2023 on a special evening where she performed as the Russian Girl in Serenade (Balanchine) the Ballet Woman in In the Upper Room (Tharp), and in Sea Change (Roberts). Galler’s teaching spans 15 years in classical ballet and pointe technique. In 2018, she established a Mentorship Program Series for the pre-professional division of the Miami City Ballet School which completed its fifth season. In 2015, she received her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and is currently obtaining a Master of Science in Arts Administration and Cultural Entrepreneurship from Boston’s Northeastern University. Galler deeply thanks her entire family and husband, Ryan, for their invaluable support.
Roles since joining MCB
Richard Alston
Carmen
George Balanchine
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Allegro Brillante
Bourrée Fantasque
Concerto Barocco
Emeralds from Jewels
George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® (Sugarplum Fairy)
La Source
Piano Concerto No. 2
Raymonda Variations
Serenade
Swan Lake
Symphony in Three Movements
Theme and Variations
Walpurgisnacht Ballet
Brian Brooks
One Line Drawn
John Cranko
Romeo and Juliet
Amy Hall Garner
ViVa (Digital commission in collaboration with Paul Taylor Dance Company)
Paul Taylor
Company B
Mercuric Tidings
Sunset
Sir Kenneth MacMillan
Carousel Pas de Deux (Louise)
Liam Scarlett
Viscera (Soloist)
Twyla Tharp
Nine Sinatra Songs (All the Way)
Sweet Fields
Justin Peck
Heatscape
Year of the Rabbit
Alexei Ratmansky
Concerto DSCH
Swan Lake (Swan Queen, Pas de Trois)
Symphonic Dances
Jerome Robbins
Dances at a Gathering (Mauve)
I’m Old Fashioned (Lazy Pas de duex and On Pointe Pas de deux)
In The Night (Couple #2)
The Cage
The Concert (Or, The Perils of Everybody)
West Side Story Suite
Classical Repertoire
Giselle, Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot (Peasant Pas de Deux)
Romeo and Juliet, John Cranko