Jacy Contreras is originally from Brighton, Michigan and began her ballet training at the age of 5 at Brighton School of Ballet. She finished her high school years under Denise Paavola at Young People’s Ballet Theatre and joined Cincinnati Ballet as a trainee after graduating high school in 2018. In 2021, she joined Charlotte Ballet’s trainee program and was promoted to second company halfway through the season. After two years with Charlotte Ballet, she became an apprentice with Grand Rapids Ballet from 2023-2024. While with those companies, Jacy’s favorite roles include Tinker Bell in Christopher Stuart’s Peter Pan, Little Red Riding Hood in Devon Carney’s Sleeping Beauty, Five Girls in George Balanchine’s Who Cares, and Bluebird in Matthew Hart’s Sleeping Beauty. She has had the opportunity to work with Patricia McBride, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Christopher Stuart, Alejandro Cerrudo, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Rena Butler, Helen Pickett, Stephanie Powell, and Andrew McNicol. Additionally, she was invited to the Contemporary Ballet Program at Jacob’s Pillow where she received the Professional Advancement Award in Dance and was featured in a world premier choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.
