Clara Thiele grew up in Rochester NY, where she began dancing at the age of 9 at the Draper Center for Dance Education. While training at Draper, she danced lead roles with the Rochester City Ballet and successfully took part in several international dance competitions. In 2020, Clara was one of 9 US candidates at the Prix de Lausanne competition in Switzerland. In 2021, she won the Grand Prix award at the Youth America Grand Prix regional in Pittsburgh and went on to win the Silver medal at the international finals in Tampa. At the finals, Clara received a scholarship to the John Cranko School in Stuttgart, Germany, where she continued her dance education under Tadeusz Matacz until she graduated in July of 2023. While there, she performed soloist roles in John Cranko “Salade”, and Alessandro Giaquinto’s “Drifting Bones”. In 2023, Clara joined Joffrey Ballet’s Studio Company in Chicago. Since arriving, she has performed Gerald Arpino’s “Kettentanz” for the Arpino Centennial Celebration in Chicago.