Adriana Pierce (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and director based in New York City. Her dance career began with New York City Ballet and Miami City Ballet, and continues on Broadway and in film and TV. She is passionate about creating and directing work for both stage and film, and her choreography has been seen on stages around the country.

In 2020, Pierce created #QueertheBallet, an initiative whose mission is to broaden the definition of classical ballet to meaningfully include lgbtq+ narratives and creative voices by developing new work and advocating for marginalized artists in the community. American Ballet Theatre included "Overlook", a pas de deux that Pierce created while in #QueertheBallet residency at Bridge Street Theatre, as part of their 2021 spring tour, and The Joyce Theater presented her dance film “Animals & Angels,” which was described in The New Yorker as “a velvet revolution.” #QueertheBallet was featured in the New York Times and Pierce is recognized by Dance Magazine as one of “25 to Watch” in 2022.

Pierce began her professional dance career as an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and completed seven seasons with Miami City Ballet under the direction of Edward Villella and Lourdes Lopez. She attended the School of American Ballet as a scholarship student and graduated from the Professional Performing Arts School in 2007. She danced in Steven Spielberg’s 2021 film remake of “West Side Story," on FX’s “Fosse/Verdon,” and was in the original Broadway cast of the 2018 revival of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s “Carousel."

She first began choreographing dance for musical theater and modern/contemporary projects, and created her first strictly balletic works for the School of American Ballet’s Annual Student Choreography Workshop. In Miami, Pierce sought projects which encouraged collaboration between art forms, including a performance piece for the annual O, Miami Poetry Festival. In March 2014, she curated and choreographed for the cross-disciplinary Movements with dancers from the Miami City Ballet and fellows from the New World Symphony.

Pierce was selected to participate in New York Choreographic Institute's Fall 2014 and 2019 choreographic sessions, and completed an inaugural residency in the Resident Fellows program with the Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University. For five years, she was commissioned to create dance elements for Miami’s annual Mainly Mozart Festival by the Miami Chamber Music Society, performed at the Adrienne Arsht Center's Knight Concert Hall. In March 2017, Pierce’s duet, “Dreaming,” was featured as part of the Adrienne Arsht Center’s 11th Annual Gala: A Celebration of Women in the Arts, and was presented alongside performers such as Chita Rivera, Rita Moreno, and Vanessa Williams.

She has created works for American Ballet Theatre, Carolina Ballet, Hamptons Dance Project, The Ashley Bouder Project, Fire Island Dance Festival, Dance Against Cancer, and more. The Joyce Theater produced an evening of her work with #QueertheBallet in April 2022.