Tenley Connors

Originally from Hutchinson, Kansas, Tenley began her ballet training at age five with the Patel Conservatory Youth Ballet under the direction of Philip Neal. She continued her studies with Philip Neal as a trainee with Next Generation Ballet, performing featured roles in Next Generation Ballet's productions of The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Giselle, and Swan Lake. Connors then joined Boston Ballet School's Professional Division at Walnut Hill under the direction of Mikko Nissinen and Miranda Weese, where she performed soloist and demi-soloist roles in excerpts from Petipa's Copellia and Le Corsaire, as presented in Boston Ballet's Next Generation, and with the Boston Ballet Company in Mikko Nissinen's The Nutcracker.

With an interest in choreography, Connors was selected to set her piece, The Descent (music by Inon Zur), on fellow Professional Division students in Boston Ballet School's 2023 Student Choreographic. After attending the summer course at the San Francisco Ballet School, Connors was offered an invitation to join the highest level of the school to complete her training. While there, she was featured in new choreographic works by San Francisco Ballet Company members, performed with the San Francisco Ballet Company in Helgi Tomasson's The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, and performed as a demi-soloist in a student production of George Balanchine's Symphony in C.

As co-choreographer, Connors set Internal Echoes (music by Ezio Bosso) on fellow San Francisco Ballet School students and presented the original work at the school's 2024 Spring Festival. Connors has also attended summer courses with the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Boston Ballet School, and San Francisco Ballet School.