Charlie Klesa

Charlie Klesa is a member of New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet. He was born in Lakeside Park, Kentucky, and began his dance training at the Cincinnati Ballet Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio at the age of 9 under Zack Grubbs. He continued his training at De La Dance Center in Cincinnati, under Mario de la Nuez and Meridith Benson. Klesa attended the summer program at the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet, in 2018, before enrolling full-time at SAB for the 2018 winter term. Klesa became an apprentice with NYCB in August 2022, and joined the corps de ballet in May 2023.

As an apprentice, Klesa performed a leading role in Justin Peck’s The Times Are Racing. Klesa was a recipient of the Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise in 2022.

^{Portrait © Erin Baiano}