Jeraldine Mendoza

Jeraldine Mendoza, from San Francisco, California, trained at the City Ballet School of San Francisco since the age of five, mainly under the artistic direction of Galina Alexandrova. She received full merit scholarship to the School of American Ballet’s Summer Session in 2009 at age 17. Mendoza was selected by Helgi Tomasson to become a trainee at San Francisco Ballet at the age of 17 as well. She was the first American female invited to graduate in the Russian course at the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet Academy (now known as Moscow State Academy of Choreography) and graduated with honors. Mendoza later won first place at the YAGP San Francisco Regional Semi-Finals in 2011. Her lead roles include Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Odette in Swan Lake, The Dying Swan in Carnival of the Animals, Odalisque in Le Corsaire, and various principal roles in new ballets made by choreographer Yuri Zhukov.