The
Dancers

Originally from Ukraine, Yaroslav moved to Calgary at age 11. He received all of his ballet training at the Alberta Ballet School. After working alongside the company in multiple productions as a student, he officially joined Alberta Ballet as an apprentice dancer in 2020. Yaroslav returned as a Corps de Ballet member for the 2023/24 season. Dalis and Sentinels in Jean Grand-Maître's PHI, his first soloist role in Alysa Pires' Skyward, and Boterosutra, Tango, and Soldiers in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's BOTERO were particularly memorable roles for Yaroslav.

Jolie Rose Lombardo was born in Tyler, Texas, the Rose Capital of America. She began her passion for dance at the age of four in Atlanta, Georgia. From ages nine to 14, she received private ballet training from Rebecca Metzger, a former soloist with the New York City Ballet. She then joined the International City School of Ballet under the direction of Georne Aucoin before moving to Florida, where she joined the Orlando Ballet School.

During her time at Orlando Ballet, she developed a special relationship with Deirdre Miles Burger. At just 14 years old, Miles Burger coached Jolie to become the youngest finalist at USA IBC as well as a gold medal at the YAGP Finals. This achievement earned her a full scholarship to the John Cranko School in Stuttgart, Germany.

At 17, Jolie performed the principal role in the ballet Glazunov Suite for her graduation and was offered a contract with the Stuttgart Ballet. During her years in the Corps de Ballet in Stuttgart, she enjoyed dancing in beautiful ballets by Cranko, MacMillan, Marcia Haydée, Edward Clug, and Uwe Scholz.

Some of her most memorable roles include Concerto pas de deux by Kenneth MacMillan and a specially created soloist role in IFIMA by Louis Stiens & Shaked Heller as well as Corps roles in remarkable ballets such as Mayerling, Onegin, and The Taming of the Shrew.

She is thrilled to continue her ballet career on the North America continent in the beautiful country of Canada with Alberta Ballet.

Hotaru is originally from Japan.

She began her training in Tokyo and Okinawa before studying at Staatlich Ballettschule, Berlin and Alberta Ballet School’s Post-Graduate and Trainee program.

After graduation, she joined the Alberta Ballet for the 23/24 season. Her most memorable role was dancing a Ballerina Doll in Edmund Stripe’s The Nutcracker, but Hansel & Gretel was the her most memorable production.

Originally from Perth, Australia, Matthew began his ballet training with Samantha Leeman. In 2014 Matthew relocated to Brisbane, Australia where he trained for several years at the Annette Roselli Dance Academy. In 2020 he graduated from the Australian Ballet School with a Graduate Diploma in Classical Ballet.

After graduation, he joined Queensland Ballet as part of the Pre-Professional Program and in 2022 he became a Jette Parker Young Artist with the company. During this time he had the opportunity to perform at The Royal Opera House in London as part of the Next Generation Festival. Matthew first joined Alberta Ballet in the Spring of 2023. During his career, he has had several standout roles including: Bluebird in Christopher Anderson's Sleeping Beauty, Cavalier in Edmund Stripe's The Nutcracker and Hansel in Loughlan Prior’s Hansel and Gretel.

Originally from Naples, Italy, Mirko graduated from Harmony Dance School of Arnaldo Angelini in 2019 and from Choreutic High School "Palizzi" in 2020. In 2023 he joined Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, Teatro Massimo in Palermo (Sicily) and Teatro San Carlo in Naples as Corps de Ballet. In 2024 he has had the opportunity to dance as guest Soloist at Tirana Opera House (Albany) for Peasant pas de deux in Agron Aliaj’s Giselle.

Originally from Fukuoka, Japan, Hinata began her dance training at home at the Chikako Tanaka Ballet Academy, later moving on to study at the Alberta Ballet School.

During her schooling, she enjoyed performing the Prelude in Les Sylphides, and she had the opportunity to dance with Alberta Ballet Company dancers during the 2023/24 and 2024/25 productions of Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker and Hansel & Gretel.

Originally from Modena, Italy, Federico moved to Rome when he was 14 years old to attend the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma ballet school. He worked with the main company of Teatro dell'Opera on several occasions dancing in The Nutcracker, Cinderella and Swan Lake.

Federico graduated in Rome in 2024.

Victoria was born in Calgary, AB, where she began her ballet training at a local ballet school. To further her training, she joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School before heading to Vancouver and San Diego to train under, Tania Brossoit, Lynette Kelley, Barbara Seibert-Chatelain, Tony Calucci, and Igor Yurlov. Victoria then completed her training at Alberta Ballet School’s Post-Graduate Program. Victoria’s most memorable roles so far have been performing as a Wili in Christopher Anderson’s Giselle and as a Chorus Witch and Dew Fairy in Loughlan Prior’s Hansel & Gretel.

Chizuru is joining us for her second season as an apprentice dancer. She is originally from Aichi, Japan. Before joining Alberta Ballet for the 2023/24 season, Chizuru trained for two years in Alberta Ballet School, and also had opportunities to dance with Alberta Ballet Company. She enjoyed dancing the Cupid from Don Quixote during her schooling. One of her memorable roles was Fairy of Joy from Christopher Anderson’s the Sleeping Beauty in 2023.