Sofiane Sylve was born in Nice, France, where she studied at the Académie de Dance. She danced with Germany’s Stadttheater, Dutch National Ballet, and New York City Ballet prior to performing with San Francisco Ballet as a guest artist in 2007. She joined the Company as a principal dancer in 2009.
Sylve has danced major roles in full-length ballets including Myrtha in Tomasson’s Giselle, Sugar Plum Fairy and Grand Pas de Deux Ballerina in Tomasson’s Nutcracker, and Prayer in Balanchine’s Coppélia. She has danced principal or featured roles in Balanchine’s Agon, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (4th movement), “Diamonds,” “Emeralds,” The Four Temperaments, “Rubies,” Serenade, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, and Symphony in C (4th movement and finale); Caniparoli’s Ibsen’s House; Forsythe’s Artifact Suite and in the middle, somewhat elevated; Lifar’s Suite en Blanc; MacMillan’s Winter Dreams; van Manen’s Two Pieces for Het (For Rachel) and Variations for Two Couples; McGregor’s Chroma and Eden/Eden; Morris’ Sandpaper Ballet; Ratmansky’s Le Carnaval des Animaux, Russian Seasons, and Shostakovich Trilogy (Piano Concerto #1); Robbins’ Glass Pieces (pas de deux) and In the Night; Tomasson’s The Fifth Season and Prism; Taylor’s Company B; Tudor’s Jardin aux Lilas; and Wheeldon’s Continuum and Ghosts. She created principal roles in Liang’s Symphonic Dances, McGregor’s Borderlands, Ratmansky’s From Foreign Lands, Wheeldon’s Ghosts, and Zanella’s Underskin, among others.
Prior to joining the Company Sylve danced a variety of works by George Balanchine, Jorma Elo, William Forsythe, Hans van Manen, Wayne McGregor, Alexei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, Glen Tetley, and Christopher Wheeldon.
Sylve has danced as a guest artist with numerous international companies. In 2012 she performed with former SF Ballet principal dancer Vito Mazzeo at the Chicago Dancing Festival in The Australian Ballet’s 50th Anniversary Gala in Sidney. She danced Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated for Dutch National Ballet’s 50th anniversary. She has taught as a guest faculty member at San Francisco Ballet School for six years, as well as at the Alvin Ailey Extension summer program and Ballet Society Vancouver.