Atlanta Ballet's Mikaela Santos joined 11 other dancers in Dance Magazine's Annual "25 to Watch" at the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture in New York City, on July 24.

Mikaela performed a masterful rendition of a variation from Pepita's Le Talisman, before joining editor in chief Caitlin Sims and fellow first-act performers onstage for a brief panel discussion on pathways to dance, repertoire, and career aspirations.

Mikaela was born in Manila, Philippines and began her ballet training at Effie Nañas School of Classical Ballet. In 2014, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Ballet Competition, she was awarded second place. In 2016, she was among the top 15 finalists at the World Ballet Competition. She joined the Philippine Ballet Theatre as an apprentice in March 2016. At the age of 17, Mikaela joined the Fellowship program of Atlanta Ballet and became a Company apprentice in 2017. She was promoted to the Company in 2018. She took the summer intensive at Jacob’s Pillow and was featured in performances such as Peasant Pas de Deux and Zulma in Giselle, Kitri’s friends in Don Quixote, Chinese and Spanish in The Nutcracker and Demi Sylphs in La Sylphide. Mikaela has had the opportunity to work with renowned choreographers such as Yuri Possokhov, Johan Kobborg, Gemma Bond, Craig Davidson, Helgi Tomasson, Maxim Petrov, Kiyon Ross and Dwight Rhoden, among others.

Click here to read more about the "25 to Watch" evening.

Photo by Rachel Papo.