Biography
Haley Schwan began her dance training at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C., and later at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 2010, she joined Staatsballett Berlin as a member of the corps de ballet. In her five seasons there, she toured internationally to Thailand, Taiwan, and China, and performed a wide range of works, including solos created for her in Marco Goecke’s And The Sky on that Cloudy Day and Itzik Galili’s Open Square.
Schwan moved to New York City in 2015 to expand her artistic scope as a freelance dancer and choreographer. She performed with Emery LeCrone, acted in S. Dylan Zwickel’s immersive theater work Here We Dance, and choreographed Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora’s performance of “Black Widow” for the MTV VMAs.
Since joining Boston Ballet in 2017, Schwan has been featured in wide-ranging repertoire across classical, neoclassical, and contemporary works, including Sir Fredrick Ashton’s The Sleeping Beauty (Carabosse, Golden Vine Fairy) and Cinderella (Summer Fairy, Woodland Glade Fairy, Puss in Boots, Bluebird, Pas de Trois), August Bournonville’s La Sylphide (Effie), Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette (Rosaline), Rudolf Nureyev’s Don Quixote (Kitri’s friends), Marius Petipa’s Sleeping Beauty and La Bayadère (Third Shade variation), Raymonda (Clemence), and Swan Lake (Pas de Trois, Big Swans, Pas de Cinq, Lead Czardas), and Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen).
Schwan’s repertoire also includes George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Apollo (Calliope), Agon (Sarabande), Chaconne (Pas de Cinq solo), Mozartiana, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, and Symphony in Three Movements (Turning Girl), William Forsythe’s Approximate Sonata, Artifact (Chaconne Pas), Blake Works III (Pas de Deux), In the Middle Somewhat Elevated, Pas/Parts 2018, and Playlist, Akram Khan’s Vertical Road, Jorma Elo’s Carmen, and Ruth’s Dance, Lia Cirio’s After, Stephen Galloway’s DEVIL’S/eye, Justin Peck’s Everywhere We Go, Tiler Peck’s Thousandth Orange, Jirí Kylián’s 27’52”, Bella Figura, and Petite Mort, Helen Pickett’s Petal, Ken Ossola’s The Space Between, and Zoom In, Crystal Pite’s The Seasons’ Canon, Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free, and Glass Pieces, Claudia Schreier’s Slipstream, and Melissa Toogood’s Butterflies Don’t Read Books.
Schwan has appeared as a guest artist with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet in The Nutcracker (2023, 2024), worked with the Cirio Collective (2025), and performed in the Boston to Bay Harbor Gala curated by Boston Ballet Principal Dancer Paul Craig. She has toured nationally and internationally to Jacob’s Pillow, Los Angeles, Ottawa, and Paris. Schwan is a dedicated teacher for dance schools across the United States and continues to develop her voice as a choreographer.
Schwan joined Boston Ballet as an artist of the Company in 2017. She was promoted to second soloist in 2020 and soloist in 2022.
Position funded by Tricia Glynn
