Through choreography, education, and performance, Sophia Smith creates accessible, empowered, authentic environments for future generations of dancers and choreographers.
Sophia began training in dance at age 3 at a small studio in her hometown of Charlotte, NC, before training in the academy at Charlotte Ballet beginning in 2016. At age 13, Sophia was accepted into the renowned University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and spent four years training in the High School program under Dean Susan Jaffe, performing soloist roles in several classical ballets, and originating works by Grady Bowman (Before We Go) and Julia Eisen (Sound Waves).
Sophia received a BFA in Ballet Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma School of Dance, with concentrations in American Sign Language and Lighting Design. While at OU, she performed works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Penny Saunders, and Yuri Yanowsky; and toured with the School of Dance to Colorado Springs, CO, performing featured roles on two occasions. In 2025, Sophia danced in the World Premiere of Rena Butler’s pas de deux Tsela, and danced “Puck” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream choreographed by Glenn Edgerton and Michael Bearden.
Sophia brings over a decade’s experience as an educator to the studio, with experience teaching creative movement, ballet technique, pointe, pas de deux, contemporary, and accessible education classes. Having studied in the Vaganova, French, and Cecchetti syllabi as well as the ABT National Training Curriculum, Sophia merges these philosophies to help cultivate well-rounded, creative, and versatile dancers. Sophia believes that students should play an active role in their education, working with their educators to balance joy, creativity, and tradition in ballet education.
Sophia choreographs in contemporary and ballet styles, exploring sound, light, and visual architecture to create narrative works that allow our stages to reflect our world. She is best known for her full-length ballet The Sacred Veil, which premiered in May 2025 in collaboration with Windsong Chamber Choir and world-renowned composer Eric Whitacre. This ballet was restaged at Inspiration Point Center for the Arts in April 2026. She most recently created “Un-assume-ing” as a part of CURE-8 2026, exploring the barriers disabled students often face in accessing higher education.
As a lighting designer, she has crafted nearly a dozen works for University of Oklahoma and Human Creature Dance Company, and has worked on numerous other productions in electrics roles. Sophia is pursuing a certification to teach Dance for Parkinson’s Disease through the Mark Morris Foundation, and was a recipient of the 2025 Juli Busken Memorial Scholarship and the 2016 President’s Volunteer Service Award.
