10/16/2026
Get to know the dancers behind the characters of Dracula.
Nayara Lopes will dance the role of Mina - who is the center of the story with her fiancé Jonathan and the obsession of Dracula.
Nayara Lopes is a Brazilian ballet dancer from Curitiba and a Principal Dancer with Philadelphia Ballet. She trained at the Escola de Dança Teatro Guaíra in Brazil and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre in New York.
Her professional career has included Orlando Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Philadelphia Ballet, and, most recently, Finnish National Ballet, where she danced as a First Soloist during the 2025–2026 season.
Throughout her career, Lopes has performed leading roles including Kitri in Don Quixote, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, the Sugar Plum Fairy in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®, Cinderella in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Nikiya in La Bayadère, Myrtha in Giselle, Gulnare in Le Corsaire, and featured roles in Swan Lake. Her repertoire also includes works by George Balanchine, Jiří Kylián, Nacho Duato, Christopher Wheeldon, Helen Pickett, Jorma Elo, and Ulysses Dove.
In 2026, Lopes returned to Philadelphia Ballet as a Principal Dancer.
