Clara Ruf Maldonado | Soloist2024-01-04T12:00:03-08:00
PNB Dancer Clara Ruf Maldonado

Clara
Ruf
Maldonado

Clara Ruf Maldonado 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, and became a soloist in 2023.

Leading Roles

George Balanchine

George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®

(Sugar Plum Fairy, Columbine, Marzipan)

Agon
Duo Concertante
A Midsummer Night’s Dream

(Butterfly)

Donald Byrd

Love and Loss*

Kyle Davis

A Dark and Lonely Space

William Forsythe

One Flat Thing, reproduced

Ronald Hynd

The Sleeping Beauty

(Fairy of Joy, Red Riding Hood)

Jessica Lang

Let Me Mingle Tears With Thee*

Vincent Michael Lopez

Op. 21*

Amanda Morgan

This Space Left Intentionally Blank*

Anabelle Lopez Ochoa

Khepri

Crystal Pite

The Seasons’ Canon

Alexei Ratmansky

Wartime Elegy*

Kent Stowell

Cinderella

(Spring, Columbine)

Price Suddarth

Signature

*Originated role

Pointe Shoe: Ballet’s Beloved Illusion

December 21st, 2023|Life at PNB|

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!

Dancer Promotions! Clara Ruf Maldonado, Kuu Sakuragi, and Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan

November 3rd, 2023|Dancer Announcements, Dancers, Life at PNB|

Before the curtain-raiser performance of Alexei Ratmansky’s Wartime Elegy on opening night of LOVE & LOSS, Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal and Associate Artistic Director Kiyon Ross announced to the audience that corps de ballet dancers Clara Ruf Maldonado and Kuu Sakuragi have been promoted Soloists, and Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan has been promoted to Principal dancer.

Q&A with Corps Member Clara Ruf Maldonado

May 8th, 2023|Dancers|

Describe your perfect day off. I’m usually pretty exhausted from the week, so I tend not to go far from home on my rest days. I would consider a perfect off day to be a quiet night in cooking to some tunes over a glass of wine with fellow dancer Ryan Cardea while we get harassed by my beagle, Bob.

Celebrating our Latinx, Chicana, & Hispanic Dancers

October 14th, 2021|Dancers, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Accessibility (I.D.E.A.), Life at PNB, Q&A with Dancers, Choreographers & Staff|

Celebrating our Latinx, Chicana, & Hispanic Dancers September 15 to October 15 is Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month. To celebrate, we asked PNB artists identifying as Hispanic and Latinx share the many ways their heritage informs their artistry. Keep reading to hear from dancers Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan, Amanda [...]

Headshot © Lindsay Thomas
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