Sophia Pielet, a dance artist, educator, and collaborator from El Paso, Texas, grew up studying and performing classical ballet and modern technique. She received her BFA and Minor in Arts Entrepreneurship from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in May 2023. Sophia was awarded the Thomas S. Kenan Fellowship in 2023 where she received training in Lincoln Center’s approach to arts education and developed a capstone dance piece with her artistic partner, performed at Lincoln Center, in 2024 and later at Arts on Site. She joined Marijke Eliasberg’s and Jana Hicks company The Next Stage Project, and has been dancing with them ever since, and performs in many showcases for charity including the yearly Yoga4Cancer benefit, allowing free classes for post-op patients, women in remission, and patients actively undergoing treatment. In January of 2025, Sophia was invited back to perform at the Lincoln Center in a Kenan Fellow Capstone project. Sophia is an arts educator, administrator, and choreographer, and has worked administratively at Lincoln Center and currently with Cornfield Dance. She teaches and choreographs at studios and programs around the city including her self-produced contemporary class in Manhattan, Brava Dance Center, Moves in Motion, and the Imogen Foundation. She has appeared in dance films and music videos directed by Summer Sierra, Sophia Williams, and other local NYC filmmakers. She embodies her love of movement through many mediums including modeling for magazines and photographers. Her passions lie in collaboration, choreography, production, and speaking up for the greater good of the communities around her.