Hometown: New Berlin, Wisconsin

Harrison Monaco followed his sister into ballet class as soon as he could walk. He started lessons at 3 years old, and at age 10 he started formal training with Lori Romito. Through Romito, he came to study at the Ruth Page School of Dance under the direction of Larry Long and Dolores Lipinski. He joined the Civic Ballet of Chicago performing in their famous Nutcracker and other works by Ruth Page and Larry Long.

At age 16, Monaco was accepted to the School of American Ballet and trained there for two years as the recipient of the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation Scholarship. He attended summer programs at Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Chautauqua Institution, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center and American Ballet Theatre, all with full merit scholarships. In 2010, he was a member of the Professional Division at Pacific Northwest Ballet School on a full scholarship, under the direction of Peter Boal.

Prior to joining Miami City Ballet, Monaco danced with Pennsylvania Ballet for six seasons, under the direction of Roy Kaiser and later Angel Corella. During this time, he performed principal roles in Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Square Dance, The Four Temperaments (Phlegmatic, First Theme), The Nutcracker (Cavalier), Angel Corella’s Don Quixote (Espada) and Le Corsaire (Lankendem), as well as the Prince in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella. Monaco has also performed numerous featured roles including Christopher Wheeldon’s Polyphonia, Swan Lake (Pas de Quatre), William Forsythe’s The Second Detail, Nacho Duato’s Without Words, Nicolo Fonte’s Ghost Stories, Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land and Wayne MacGregor’s Chroma. He also performed roles in Jerome Robbins’ In G Major, Opus Jazz, and The Concert, Alexei Ratmansky’s Jeu de Cartes, Matthew Neenan’s Shift to Minor and Archîva, William Forsythe’s Artifact Suite and Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Prodigal Son, Stravinsky Violin Concerto and “Rubies” and “Diamonds” from Jewels.

He joined MCB as a corps de ballet dancer in 2017.

Roles since joining MCB

George Balanchine
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bottom)
Emeralds from Jewels (Pas de Trois)
La Valse (Demi-soloist)
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 (Pas de Trois)

Justin Peck
Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes

Alexei Ratmansky
Concerto DSCH (Demi-soloist)