Clara
Ruf
Maldonado
Clara Ruf Maldonado (she/her) is from New York, New York. She studied on scholarship at the School of American Ballet, where she was a 2015 Mae L. Wien Award recipient, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She attended summer courses at Ballet Academy East, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Chautauqua Institution, Houston Ballet Academy, Miami City Ballet School, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Clara was an apprentice with New York City Ballet before joining Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2018. She was promoted to corps de ballet later that year, became a soloist in 2023, and principal in 2025.
Featured & Leading Roles
George Balanchine
Agon
Duo Concertant
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
(Butterfly)
The Nutcracker
(Sugar Plum Fairy, Columbine, Marzipan, Dewdrop)
Allegro Brillante
Peter Boal
Giselle
(Peasant pas de deux, Moyna)
Kyle Davis
A Dark and Lonely Space
Alexander Ekman
Cacti
William Forsythe
One Flat Thing, reproduced
Ronald Hynd
The Sleeping Beauty
(Fairy of Joy, Red Riding Hood)
Jiří Kylián
Petite Mort
Anabelle Lopez Ochoa
Khepri
Crystal Pite
The Seasons’ Canon
Plot Point
Penny Saunders
Wonderland
Kent Stowell
Cinderella
(Spring, Columbine)
Swan Lake
(Pas de Trois, Pas de Quatre, Neopolitan)
Carmina Burana
Price Suddarth
Signature
Twyla Tharp
Brief Fling
Sweet Fields
Waiting at the Station
Original Roles
Donald Byrd
Love and Loss
Jessica Lang
Let Me Mingle Tears With Thee
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa
Khepri
Vincent Michael Lopez
Op. 21
Robyn Mineko Williams
Before I Was
Amanda Morgan
This Space Left Intentionally Blank
Alexei Ratmansky
Wartime Elegy
Kiyon Ross
…throes of increasing wonder
Dani Rowe
The Window
(The Watcher)
Dancer Promotions! Christopher D’Ariano, Clara Ruf Maldonado, Mark Cuddihee, Ashton Edwards, Juliet Prine, and Yuki Takahashi
Following the opening night world premiere performance of AfterTime in Pacific Northwest Ballet’s current mixed rep program, PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal announced the promotion of four corps de ballet dancers to the rank of soloist, and two soloists being elevated to principal dancers. Read all about it here!
PNB Dancers You Should Follow on Instagram
Looking to beautify your feed with more ballet? We have the solution! Here’s a comprehensive list of all the PNB dancers with public Instagram accounts. Plus, be sure to follow the PNB Instagram and PNB School to stay up to date with the company.
Hispanic Heritage Month at PNB Roundup
This year, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, PNB is excited to share that we've created a podcast version of our 2023 Baila Conmigo Panel discussion, with transcripts in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Click here to access the podcasts, as well as many other resources PNB has curated in honor of this celebratory month!
Pointe Shoe: Ballet’s Beloved Illusion
Ballet has become synonymous with the pointe shoe—every time a little one dreams of spinning around on a massive stage under glowing lights dressed in a sparkling tutu, their feet are clad in such shoes. PNB's Artistic Director, Peter Boal, says “to be honest, I don’t know where PNB would be without the pointe shoe…. [E]verything balances on the pointe shoe.” Read on to learn more about this fundamental tool of ballet dancers and what PNB dancers have to say about their relationship with pointe shoes!