Lily
Wills
Lily Wills (she/her) is from Los Angeles, California. She trained at The Portland Ballet, the Oregon Ballet Theatre School, and the graduate program at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. She attended summer courses at The Washington Ballet, HARID Conservatory, and Oregon Ballet Theatre School. She joined Carolina Ballet as a trainee in 2015 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2016, and soloist in 2019. She joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2021.
While at Carolina Ballet, Ms. Wills performed principal roles in Robert Weiss’ Adagietto, Stravinsky Pas de Deux, and Four Seasons; the title role in Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s The Ugly Duckling; and featured roles in George Balanchine’s Apollo, Zalman Raffael’s Rhapsody in Blue and Metaphorical Heart, and Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun.
Featured & Leading Roles
George Balanchine
Allegro Brillante
The Nutcracker
(Harlequin, Hot Chocolate, Coffee)
Peter Boal
Giselle
(Bathilde)
Jiří Kylián
Petite Mort
Edwaard Liang
The Veil Between Worlds
Jean-Christophe Maillot
Roméo et Juliette
(Rosaline)
Penny Saunders
Wonderland
Kent Stowell
Swan Lake
(Queen Mother, Spanish)
Twyla Tharp
Sweet Fields
Original Roles
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa
Khepri
Dwight Rhoden
Catching Feelings
Kiyon Ross
…throes of increasing wonder
PNB Dancers You Should Follow on Instagram
Looking to beautify your feed with more ballet? We have the solution! Here’s a comprehensive list of all the PNB dancers with public Instagram accounts. Plus, be sure to follow the PNB Instagram and PNB School to stay up to date with the company.
Meet the 2024 NEXT STEP Artist: Lily Wills
NEXT STEP provides opportunity, infrastructure, and support to grow tomorrow’s choreographic talent while providing a unique performance opportunity for PNB School's Professional Division dancers. Learn more about this exciting step in Lily's creative journey in this blog!
NEXT STEP 2024: Creativity on the Horizon
Kicking it up a notch. Elevating one’s game. Rising to the next level. It’s all right there in the name. NEXT STEP offers members of the PNB Company more than just studio space, talented dancers, and support from PNB’s incredible costume, lighting, and stage management departments. This is an opportunity to push forward in dance, and one that can have a substantial and long-term impact on a dance artist’s career.
Q&A with Corps Member Lily Wills
What significance does being part of PNB during the 50th anniversary have to you? My mom and I used to have season tickets to PNB when I was in high school, and we would road trip from Portland to see shows a few times a year. I fell in love with this company and its unique dancers and rep.