Jon Upleger

Jon Upleger began his formal training in 1997 under the direction of Petrus Bosman and David Keener at the Virginia School of the Arts. Upon graduation, he received the school’s prestigious Dean’s Award and then joined Nashville Ballet as an apprentice in 2000.

During his time at Nashville Ballet, Upleger has performed roles from such varied repertoire as Romeo in Nashville Ballet Artistic Director & CEO Paul Vasterling’s Romeo & Juliet, the Sugar Plum Cavalier in Nashville’s Nutcracker, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake and Albrecht in Giselle.

Other leading roles include Salvatore Aiello’s Satto, Sarah Slipper’s Ploughing the Dark, Vasterling’s Awaiting Redemption, the Protagonist in Vasterling’s Firebird, Twyla Tharp’s Sinatra Suite, Vasterling’s Cinderella, Carmina Burana, Peter Pan and The Ben Folds Project.

In addition to performing with Nashville Ballet’s company, Upleger also performs with Configurations Dance Theater in New York, Missouri Ballet Theater and Terpsicorps Theater of Dance in Asheville, N.C. He also teaches men’s class and pas de deux to students from across the country at Nashville Ballet’s Summer Intensive. Upleger also helped create Nashville Ballet’s new Young Men’s Scholarship Program, which provides tuition-free ballet training for males age 6-18, and serves as a Principal Instructor.