Joshua A. Stayton

A Cincinnati native, Joshua Stayton began his training at the School for Creative and Performing Arts before joining the Orlando Ballet School and Houston Ballet II. Prior to joining Cincinnati Ballet as a soloist, Stayton was a Demi-Soloist at Sarasota Ballet and a soloist at Tulsa Ballet. Stayton has performed internationally in Hungary, Italy, Finland, Spain and Switzerland. 

His repertoire includes leading roles in Giselle (Carney), In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated (Forsythe), Emeralds (Balanchine), The Green Table (Joos), Onegin (Cranko), Strictly Gershwin (Deane), A Million Kisses to My Skin (Dawson), Concerto (MacMillian), Mirror Walkers (Sir Wright), Cinderella (Morgan), Age of Innocence (Liang), Bolero (Fonte), Midsummer (Wheeldon), One/end/One (Elo), Sleeping Beauty (Angelini), Romeo & Juliet (Liang), Extremely Close (Cerrudo), among many more.  

As a choreographer, he has had world premieres for Ballet 22, Tulsa Ballet’s second company, DeLa Dance Company, Azara Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet’s second company and academy, as well as SCPA’s Dance Ensemble. Beyond his love for the stage, Joshua enjoys teaching the future generation of dance. He is thrilled to be joining Azara Ballet in December of 2025 as the new Artistic Director.