Cirio Siblings Prove Ballet Is Alive and Well
Jeffrey and Lia (Photo courtesy of Lia Cirio)
Whether Chalamet disparaged ballet and opera to create the illusion that he would have beaten the humbler and more charismatic Michael B. Jordan for the Oscar had he not sabotaged his chances, hinges on the belief that Hollywood values ballet and opera over the nephew of director and producer Rodman Flender. Nepotism or not, Chalamet’s offhand remark bothered ballet dancers and fans.
The Chalamet affair provided an excuse to reconnect with Jeffrey Cirio, 34, and connect with his sister, Lia Cirio, 39. They are principal dancers with Boston Ballet.
“I think Timothée is a great actor,” Mr. Cirio starts with a disclaimer. “Artists putting down artists is not the right. As artists, we get into an art form because of our passion for it. I think some Hollywood actors may have lost sight of the passion that got them into acting.
“If it was all about the money, then they’re doing the art form for the wrong reasons, and it’s very telling.” He believes, “You can see when people are doing it with the right intention, they’re completely driven by the goal of creative freedom in their art and sharing it with the masses.”
Ms. Cirio agrees: “Like Jeffrey, I was surprised that he (Chalamet) said that ballet is dying because I found him to be passionate about art. I was taken aback because we’re friends with some of his family’s friends who are big supporters of ballet.” The Cirio clan hails from Newton, near Philadelphia, which is a train ride from Chalamet’s Hell’s Kitchen Manhattan roots.
Lia Cirio in William Forsythe's Blake Works (Photo by Liza Voll, courtesy of Boston Ballet)
Chalamet’s comments may have injected new life into ballet by drawing the attention of Gen-X and Gen-Z adults in the pool from which his fan base is drawn. “Timothée Chalamet made them intrigued with ballet,” observes Mr. Cirio. “They’re saying, ‘Let’s prove him wrong.’ Now young people are showing up at the theater, and posting, ‘Hey, I went to a ballet. It’s not dead.’”
Not that Boston Ballet needed help filling seats. In 2025, the company performed Vivaldi-inspired Seasons Canon by Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite with music composed by Max Richter. “When we brought the production back last year, people were banging on the door to get tickets to see it again,” Ms. Cirio says of the innovative work that concluded in February 2026.
Yes, They Can Dance, and They Can Sing!
Jeffrey Cirio in George Balanchine’s Mozartiana ©The George Balanchine Trust (Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet)
The vocal pieces of opera tax vocal cords more than most other musical genres. Opera is also demanding of the audience. In a separate article, opera baritone Roberto Perlas Gómez discusses the demands on the audience that hinder an opera company from becoming economically viable without donations and public funds.
Ballet tests the body’s limits in strength, agility, speed and timing. An appreciation of ballet requires an open mind and education. By degrees of difficulty, ballet is the opera of dance.
Filipinos have a cerebral metronome that makes them lively guests on a dancefloor. Quite appropriately, the siblings’ Filipino dad, Ardel, met his Irish, German and French-mix bride, Mimi, at a disco. Two of their three offspring stretched their dance DNA far and wide to excel in ballet. When San Lorenzo Ruiz was dishing talents for Gómez, he dipped his ladle twice into the singing cauldron and skipped dancing altogether. Of course, the two Cirio siblings each received two heaping helpings of dance talent, but also a generous scoop of singing.
Lia and Jeffrey can dance like Margot Fonteyn and Mikhail Baryshnikov, and they can sing like Martha Reeves and Frank Sinatra. When she’s handed the karaoke mic, she’ll pick a Motown classic like My Girl by The Temptations. Her brother is a natural born crooner, so he’s partial to the classics in Old Blue Eyes’ catalog.
From Mass Ave. to Manila
Lia Cirio and Jeffrey Cirio rehearsing Jiřà Kylián's 27'52" (Photo by Brooke Trisolini, courtesy of Boston Ballet)
After training at Swarthmore Ballet Theatre in her native Philadelphia, Ms. Cirio began her tenure with Boston Ballet at age 16, and within five years, she was a soloist before becoming a principal dancer in 2010. Ballet has taken her around the world and given her the opportunity to dance with Ballet Manila in the Philippines.
She has avoided major injuries during her 22 seasons with Boston Ballet. “I’ve been super lucky.” She says she protects her body by doing “a lot of cross training. I like cycling, and I do some Pilates and I like acupuncture and have physical therapy to cope with wear and tear from the workload we have in ballet every day.”
Until last year, she was busy outside of the studio, planning her wedding. Now that she and fellow Boston dancer Paul Craig are married, she can return to crafting, with emphasis on DIY Christmas gifts.
Baby Love
Jeffrey Cirio in Mikko Nissinen’s Raymonda (Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet)
Mr. Cirio started out with his sister at Boston Ballet in 2007 before leaving to compete in international competitions that culminated with gold medals at the 2009 World Ballet Competition and 2009 Helsinki International Ballet Competition, a first time for all Americans. In 2009 he returned to Boston Ballet where he rose to principal in 2012. Between 2015 and 2016, he ascended from soloist to principal at American Ballet Theatre.
In 2018, he crossed the Pond to perform as Lead Principal with English National Ballet where his then fiancée and now wife, Anjuli, danced for 15 years. In 2022, he returned as a principal with Boston Ballet. He and Anjuli had a baby boy in 2025. Around the same time, a new work assignment enabled Mimi and Ardel to relocate from Philly to Boston and spend time with their grandson.
“I wanted to be able to be married to the love of my life and have a child,” he professes. “So, I’m truly blessed with the life I’ve been given.” He hopes to eventually return to his serious hobbies of photography and DJing.
As Fun as Fenway
Lia Cirio in Mikko Nissinen's Raymonda (Photo by Theik Smith, courtesy of Boston Ballet)
Spring at Boston Ballet concludes with The Sleeping Beauty from May 28 to June 7, 2026.
The siblings have devoted summers to their Cirio Collective since 2015. “Lia and decided to make the Collective a safe haven of creation,” the brother explains. “It lets artists create without the stigma that comes when someone dictates that you must make a piece this way with this music, this cast, and this type of costumes. That’s what happens because ballet companies must fill a program. The Collective can bring an artist in, and if they want to create a ballet with X, Y, and Z, we let them do it.
“Lia and I, and the people we bring in are open to new processes and to sharing opinions,” he says of the Open Ground concept that nurtures Cirio Collective dancers. “The best thing about art is it doesn’t have to be literal. It doesn’t have to be spoon-fed to you to make you think or for it to be provocative. Art has these small ways of speaking to you like a little bird in your ear.”
“Lia and I, and the people we bring in are open to new processes and to sharing opinions.”
Ms. Cirio cannot credit her early success to a ballerina who shared her Filipina identity. She made a life in ballet despite an absence of Asian role models in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. “I never had a ballerina who looked like me to look up to,” she recalls. “I want to be a role model for young generations of girls who want to do ballet but are discouraged by the thought that ballet is for people paler than them.” The 2026 season of Cirio Collective will bring her and her brother to Martha’s Vineyard in July. Anthony Maddela is a staff correspondent who’s located in Southern California. More articles from Anthony Maddela
No comments