Currently a principal dancer with New York City Ballet, Sofiane Sylve was born in Nice, France, where she studied at the Academie de Dance. In 1990 she joined the ballet company of the Stadtheater in Karlsruhe, Germany, as a first soloist. In 1993 she joined the Dutch National Ballet of the Netherlands as a member of the corps de ballet. In 1994 she was promoted to Grand Sujet and in 1998 to Principal. Ms Sylve’s repertory at Dutch National included

Leading roles in:
Cinderella (Ashton)
Giselle and The Sleeping Beauty (Wright)
The Magic Flute (Eagling/Van Schayk)
Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake (Van Dantzig)
La Sylphide (Bjorn)

Featured roles in:
Apollo, Concerto Barocco, Kammermusik No 2, Diamonds from Jewels, Symphony in C, Symphony in 3 Movements and La Valse (Balanchine)
The Grey Area and A Million Kisses (Dawson)
Artifact and The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude (Forsythe)
5 Tangos, Four Schumann Pieces and Three Pieces for Het (Hans van Manen)
Choreartium and Les Presages (Leonide Massine)
Pierrot Lunaire and Voluntaries (Glen Tetley)

Photos of Sofiane Sylve taken by Daria Klimentová in June 2007 (Click for full images)

In 1997 Ms Sylve was awarded first prize at the Split Festival in Croatia, and in 1998 received the Alexandra Radius Prize. She appeared as a Guest with New York City Ballet during the company’s winter season 2002-3. Her repertoire included: Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker (Balanchine), Symphony in 3 Movements, Kammermusik No 2, Serenade, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Western Symphony (Balanchine)

In the Fall of 2003 Ms Sylve joined New York City Ballet as a Principal Dancer.
Since joining New York City Ballet she has danced featured roles in:

Agon, Allegro Brillante, Apollo (Polyhymnia), Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (fourth movement), Cortège Hongrois, Firebird, The Four Temperaments (Sanguinic) The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum and Dew Drop), Harlequinade (La Bonne Fée), Jewels (Emeralds, Ivesiana), Kammermusik No 2, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Titiana, Hippolyta), Serenade, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, La Sonnambula, Stars and Stripes, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Symphony in C (second movement), Symphony in 3 Movements, Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux, Tchaikovsky Suite No 3 (Theme and Variations), Union Jack, Western Symphony and Who Cares? (Balanchine)
Fearful Symmetries, Swan Lake (Odette/Odile) (Peter Martins)
Concertino, Dances at a Gathering and In The Night (Jerome Robbins)
The Blue Necklace (Dorothy Brooks from a Double Feature) (Susan Stroman)

Ms Sylve has created roles in:
Two Birds with the Wing of One (Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux)
Slice to Sharp (Jorma Elo)
Tala Gaisma (Peter Martins)