James
Kirby
Rogers
James Kirby Rogers (he/him) is from San Francisco, California. He trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he was a YAGP finalist in 2014. He attended summer courses at San Francisco Ballet and Houston Ballet. James joined Houston Ballet II in 2015 and Kansas City Ballet in 2016. He joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a soloist in 2021 and was promoted to principal in 2022.
While at Houston Ballet II, James performed leading and featured roles in John Neumeier’s Yondering, Ben Stevenson’s The Sleeping Beauty, and Stanton Welch’s The Long and Winding Road. At Kansas City Ballet, Mr. Rogers danced leading roles in Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias; Devon Carney’s Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, and The Sleeping Beauty; William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated; Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort; and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room.
James is the co-founder of Creative Intersections, a Kansas City-based dance festival.
Featured & Leading Roles
George Balanchine
Diamonds
The Nutcracker
(Cavalier, Herr Drosselmeier)
Allegro Brillante
Duo Concertant
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
(Divertissement pas, Demetrius, Cavalier)
Peter Boal
Giselle
(Albrecht)
Donald Byrd
Love and Loss
Alejandro Cerrudo
Silent Ghost
Ulysses Dove
Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven
Alexander Eckman
Cacti
Jiří Kylián
Petite Mort
Sechs Tänze (Six Dances)
Edwaard Liang
The Veil Between Worlds
Jean-Christophe Maillot
Roméo et Juliette
(Tybalt)
Crystal Pite
Plot Point
The Seasons’ Canon
Kent Stowell
Swan Lake
(Prince Siegfried, Pas de trois)
Carmina Burana
Twyla Tharp
Brief Fling
Original Roles
Alejandro Cerrudo
Black on Black on Black
Alonzo King
The Personal Element
Jessica Lang
Let Me Mingle Tears With Thee
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa
Khepri
Alexei Ratmansky
Wartime Elegy
Dwight Rhoden
Catching Feelings
Kiyon Ross
…throes of increasing wonder
Dani Row
The Window