Bios
Lia Cirio
Lia Cirio began her training at Swarthmore Ballet Theatre with Lori Ardis. She went on to train at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary and Darla Hoover, where she also studied privately with Theresa Crawford and Rafael Grigorian.
At 16, Cirio was invited by Mikko Nissinen to join Boston Ballet II. She was promoted to artist of the Company in 2004, to second soloist in 2006, and to soloist in 2007. From 2008 to 2009, Cirio toured with Trey McIntyre Project, performing throughout the United States and the world. Following her time with Trey McIntyre Project, she returned to Boston Ballet for the 2009-2010 season and was promoted to principal dancer in 2010.
Cirio is the co-founder of Cirio Collective, where she serves as the Assistant Artistic
Director, as well as a dancer. In 2018, Cirio made her choreographic debut with Sta(i)r(e)s during BB@home: ChoreograpHER. In 2019, she choreographed Lenore for the second ChoreograpHER installment, as well as …the peppermint wind for Boston Ballet School’s Next Generation. She choreographed Chesire for Ballet Academy East in New York City and Sabali for Festival Ballet Rhode Island. In 2022, Cirio had her Boston Ballet mainstage choreographic debut and premiered Chaptered in Fragments for the ChoreograpHER program.
Lia Cirio in Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty, Photo by Liza Voll
Paul Craig
Paul Craig, originally from Manistee, MI, is a principal dancer with Boston Ballet. Craig began his training with Debora Knight at the Conservatory of Dance and Jefferson Baum at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. He later graduated with honors at Virginia School of the Arts under the direction of Petrus Bosman and Tyrone Brooks.
Craig finished his training at Boston Ballet School before being hired into Boston Ballet II, the company’s apprentice program. He joined the Boston Ballet’s Corps de Ballet in 2008 and was promoted to Second Soloist in 2014, to Soloist in the middle of Boston Ballet's 2015/2016 season, and to Principal in 2017.
His Boston Ballet repertory runs the gamut of Classical, to Neoclassical, to contemporary, most notably Balanchine, Robbins, Kylian and Forsythe. He has performed at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, Joyce Theater Ballet Festival, Fire Island Dance Festival, Hudson Valley Dance Festival, Spoleto Festival, World Ballet Competition Gala, Lifechance Gala, and performed internationally in Russia, South Korea, Spain, Germany, France, Finland, Mexico, England, and Canada. Craig also choreographs and performs with CirioCollective, a Boston-based contemporary dance company.
He has taught ballet classes across his home state of Michigan, Boston Ballet School, Harvard University, The St Paul School, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Checcetti Council of America, and in Camp Harbor View, a nonprofit outreach program in Boston. Craig holds a Certificate of Arts Management from Umass Amherst and is the Artistic Director of From Boston to Bay Harbor, A Night at the Ballet.
Paul Craig in Ivan Liska’s Le Corsaire, Photo by Liza Voll
Chyrstyn Fentroy
Los Angeles native Chyrstyn Mariah Fentroy began her dance training with her mother, Ruth Fentroy. As a scholarship student at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, she gained early touring experience with the Joffrey Concert Group. She performed as a leading dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) under
Virginia Johnson, and during her five-year tenure with the company, she had the opportunity to perform in Austria, Honduras, Italy, Israel, and Turkey.
Fentroy was featured on the January 2015 cover of Dance Magazine as one of the “25 to Watch,” and she received the Princess Grace Honoraria Award in dance in 2016. In 2018, she was recognized as one of WBUR’s “Artery 25,” which recognizes influential artists of color in the Boston area. Her creative collaborations include the development of the Color Our Future Mentorship Program at Boston Ballet, a choreographic film created for Boston Ballet with Bearwalk Cinema at the Liberty Hotel, and a limited edition shoe design with Rothy’s.
Fentroy joined Boston Ballet as an artist of the Company in 2017. She was promoted to second soloist in 2018, to soloist in 2019, and to principal dancer in 2022.
Chyrstyn Fentroy in George Balanchine’s Apollo, Photo by Brooke Trisolini
Sunwoo Lee
Sun Woo Lee trained at Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts, Yewon School, Seoul Arts High School, and Korea National University of Arts. Lee joined Boston Ballet in 2018 as an artist of the Company and was promoted to Soloist in 2023.
In 2016, Lee won third place at the Varna International Ballet Competition. At the invitation of competition judge Eldar Aliev, Lee joined Russia’s Primorsky Ballet Theatre as a guest principal dancer, and performed as Conrad in Le Corsaire at the Vladivostok Mariinsky Theatre. He won first place at the Seoul International Dance Competition (2014), first place in the pas de deux division at the Youth America Grand Prix (2015), and second place at the Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition in New York City (2015).
He has appeared in iconic roles ranging from classical to contemporary including Basilio in Rudolph Nureyev’s Don Quixote, George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and Who Cares?, Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot’s Giselle, The Nutcracker Cavalier in Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker, and William Forsythe’s Blake Works III and Playlist.
Sunwoo Lee in Mikko Nissinen’s Swan Lake, Photo by Rosalie O’Connor
Haley Schwan
A Michigan native, Haley Schwan began her professional training at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC. At age 15, she was invited to study at the Vaganova Ballet Academy of St. Petersburg, Russia as a pupil of Irina Sitnikova.
Upon graduating in 2010, she joined Staatsballet Berlin under direction of Vladimir Malakhov. During her five-year tenure with the company, she had the opportunity to perform a diverse repertoire of classical and modern works as well as tour with the company to China, Taiwan, and Thailand.
After a two-year hiatus spent as a freelance dancer and choreographer in New York City, Haley joined Boston Ballet as an artist in 2017. She was promoted to second soloist in 2019 and first soloist in 2022. During her time in Boston, Schwan has performed soloist and principal roles by major choreographers such as George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Akram Khan, Jiří Kylián, Justin Peck, Crystal Pite, and Jerome Robbins. In addition to her dance career, Schwan has had her choreography featured in Boston Ballet’s virtual season in 2020, S. Dylan Zwickel’s immersive theater piece Here We Dance, and in Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora’s performance of “Black Widow” for the 2015 MTV VMAs.
Haley Schwan in Mikko Nissinen’s Raymonda, Photo by Rosalie O’Connor
Patrick Yocum
Patrick Yocum began his ballet training in his home state of Pennsylvania. His training continued with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School before joining Boston Ballet’s Trainee Program as its Sydney Leonard scholar. Yocum joined Boston Ballet II in 2009.
Yocum joined Boston Ballet as artist of the Company in 2011, was promoted to soloist in 2015, and to principal dancer in 2017. He has performed internationally in Spain, the U.K., Canada, France, Finland, South Korea, and in many cities in the United States.
He has appeared in leading roles in classical repertoire including Giselle (Albrecht), Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella (The Prince), The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Desire), August Bournonville’s La Sylphide (James), John Cranko’s Onegin (Vladimir Lensky) and Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio), Ivan Liska’s Le Corsaire
(Konrad), and Mikko Nissinen’s Swan Lake (Prince Siegfried) and The Nutcracker. He has especially enjoyed leading roles in neoclassical and contemporary works from esteemed choreographers including Val Caniparoli, Merce Cunningham, Alexander Eckman, Jorma Elo, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Wayne McGregor, John Neumeier, Justin Peck, Tiler Peck, Helen Pickett, Jerome Robbins, Hans Van Manen, and Leonid Yakobson. He has created roles in new works including Karole Armitage’s Bitches Brew, Jorma Elo’s Fifth Symphony of Jean Sibelius, William Forsythe’s Playlist (EP), Jose Martinez’ Resonance, and Ken Ossola’s The Space Between.
Patrick Yocum in George Balanchine’s Apollo, Photo by Brooke Trisolini
Headshots by Liza Voll