Born in Shanghai, China, Tan Yuan Yuan joined San Francisco Ballet in 1995 and became Principal Dancer in 1997.

She has danced principal roles in many classical ballets and ballets by Heigi Tomasson, Yuri Possokhov, George Balanchine and more. Tan danced in The Nutcracker on Public Broadcasting Service’s ‘Great Performances’.

Her accolades include being named ‘Asia’s Hero’ by Time (Asian edition) in 2004, 2013 Dance Magazine Award and 2014 Critics’ Circle National Dance Award, being named one of the world’s most influential Chinese people by Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV in 2015 and the Major Art Award from San Francisco, US in 2018.

©Chris Hardy

Born in San Francisco, US, Sarah Lane received her dance training at Classical Ballet Memphis and Draper Centre for Dance Education. In 2003, Lane joined American Ballet Theatre as an Apprentice and later became Principal Dancer in 2017. 

Her accolades include the Bronze Medal at the 2002 Youth America Grand Prix competition and the Silver Medal at the Jackson International Ballet Competition that same year. She performed at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and was Natalie Portman’s dance double in the Academy Award-winning film Black Swan.

Born in Matanzas, Cuba, Adiarys Almeida trained at Vocational Art School and National Ballet School in Havana before joining National Ballet of Cuba in 2001. She is a former Principal Dancer of Cincinnati Ballet and the Spanish Corella Ballet.

Almeida has guest performed with Ballet Concerto de Puerto Rico, NBA Ballet in Japan and BalletMet and at galas and competitions like USA International Ballet Competition, World Ballet Competition, Youth America Grand Prix, Dance Open International Ballet Festival in St Petersburg and The Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition. She was the first Cuban female finalist at the USA International Ballet Competition in 2006.

Born in San Luis, Argentina, Herman Cornejo joined American Ballet Theatre in 1999 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2003. Cornejo served as Artistic Director at the 2015 Latin American Stars Gala organized by the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County. He also became an independent producer in 2017. 

His accolades include the gold medal at the 8th International Dance Competition in Moscow at age 16, the youngest to get this award in the history of the competition, ‘Dancer of the Year’ by The New York Times in 2005 and Prix Benois de la Danse in 2014.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Taras Domitro trained at Alejo Carpentier School and National Ballet School in Havana. He was a Principal Dancer with National Ballet of Cuba before joining San Francisco Ballet as a Principal Dancer in 2008. 

Domitro has guest performed around the world, including at World Ballet Competition (WBC) in 2009, The Alicia Alonso Foundation Gala in 2006, The Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition in 2013 and Youth America Grand Prix in 2016. His accolades include a Gold Medal at WBC 2008 and being nominated for Best Male Dancer at Benois de la Danse in 2013.

Born in South Carolina, US, Brooklyn Mack trained at the Pavlovich Dance School before studying at and graduating from The Kirov Academy of Ballet. As a professional, Mack danced with the Joffrey Ballet and American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company and later became Principal Dancer with Orlando Ballet. He is currently a Principal Dancer with The Washington Ballet.

Some of his accolades include silver medals at the 2006 Jackson International Ballet Competition, 2009 Helsinki International Ballet Competition and 2011 Korean International Dance Competition as well as gold medals at Varna International Ballet Competition, Boston International Competition and the Grand Prix Award at Istanbul International Ballet competition in 2012.

Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, Matthew Golding won the Youth America Grand Prix Ballet Competition and the Prix de Lausanne in 2002, then joined American Ballet Theatre in 2003. He was promoted to Principal Dancer of Dutch National Ballet in 2010, and danced as a Principal of The Royal Ballet during 2014-2017. He has guest performed with Bavarian State Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, The National Ballet of Canada, English National Ballet and more. His accolades include the Dutch Zwaan Award in 2010, the Alexandra Radius Prize in 2011 and nominations for the Prix Benois de la Danse in 2012.

©Erwin Olaf