Born in Winter Park, Florida, Sasha De Sola trained at the Kirov Academy of Ballet. She was named an SF Ballet apprentice in 2006 and joined the Company in 2007. She was promoted to soloist in 2012 and principal dancer in 2017. She was appointed Diane B. Wilsey Principal Dancer in 2020.
“There is something [Suzanne] Farrell-esque about [De Sola] in the way we seem to watch, almost voyeuristically, as her fully entranced imagination toys with each step before our eyes.”—San Francisco Chronicle
Sasha De Sola, who celebrates her 18th season with SF Ballet in 2023, has performed lead roles in Tomasson’s Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Giselle, and The Sleeping Beauty. She has also danced principal roles in Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Coppélia, Diamonds, Divertimento No. 15 (Allegro – Ballerina), Serenade (Russian Girl), and Symphony in Three Movements; Caniparoli’s Ibsen’s House; Cranko’s Onegin (Olga); Lander’s Études (excerpt) (Principal Woman); Liang’s Symphonic Dances; Lifar’s Suite en Blanc; Makarova’s (after Petipa) “The Kingdom of the Shades” from La Bayadère, Act II; Millepied’s Appassionata; Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid (Henriette/The Princess); Nureyev’s Raymonda—Act III; Pas de Deux from Le Corsaire; Possokhov’s Classical Symphony, Firebird (Princess), Fusion and “… two united in a single soul…”; Ratmansky’s Symphony #9 and Chamber Symphony in Shostakovich Trilogy; Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, Fancy Free, Glass Pieces, In the Night, and Other Dances; Scarlett’s Fearful Symmetries and Frankenstein (Justine Moritz); and Wheeldon’s Cinderella (Stepsister Edwina), Ghosts, Rush, and Within the Golden Hour.
Her repertory includes Balanchine’s Agon, Emeralds, Rubies, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Symphony in C, and Theme and Variations; Forsythe’s Artifact Suite, Pas/Parts 2016, and The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; McGregor’s Borderlands; Morris’ Maelstrom; Possokhov’s The Rite of Spring; Robbins’ The Concert and West Side Story Suite; and Thatcher’s Stone and Steel.
De Sola has created roles in Val Caniparoli’s Tears, Trey McIntyre’s Your Flesh Shall Be a Great Poem, Dwight Rhoden’s LET’S BEGIN AT THE END and The Promised Land, Scarlett’s Hummingbird, Thatcher’s Ghost in the Machine, Welch’s Bespoke, and Wheeldon’s Bound To.
Sasha received silver and bronze medals at the World International Ballet Competition and Varna International Ballet Competition, respectively.
In Sasha’s own words:
WHAT BALLET OR ROLE WOULD YOU LIKE TO DANCE BUT HAVEN’T YET AND WHY?
Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun. I love the concept of Afternoon of a Faun and I feel like there is so much beauty and truth intertwined in the work that I would love to interpret it.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT AS A DANCER? WHY?
There have been many moments when I have been proud of the Company as a whole. I always find satisfaction when we all come together to create our best performance possible. Something that stands out in my mind is performing Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering.
WHEN I’M NOT WORKING I ENJOY…
Spoiling my dog.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO KEEP DANCING DURING THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN?
A deep desire to come back to dancing for audiences even stronger than before!
IF YOU WEREN’T A DANCER, WHAT WOULD YOUR JOB BE?
An entrepreneur.