Misseldine was born in Orlando, Florida,[1] where she grew up dancing at the Orlando Ballet School. Her mother, Yan Chen, was also a dancer with American Ballet Theatre,[2] and was a ballet mistress at Orlando Ballet School while Misseldine was growing up.[3]
Though she stopped attending regular school during high school to focus on training,[4] Misseldine continued her studies online, even after moving to New York to start her professional career at age 16.[5] When she finished high school, she started taking classes at Fordham University[6] (a popular choice for New York City ballet dancers, as the college has a Lincoln Center campus as well as a dual program with Alvin Ailey).[7]
In 2017, Misseldine was awarded second place at the Youth America Grand Prix competition in senior women's classical.[8] In 2018, she competed in the prestigious Prix de Lausanne,[9] and was a finalist,[10] again following in her mother's footsteps (Yan Chen was a prizewinner at the competition in 1987).[11]
Career
Misseldine joined American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company in 2018 after participating in multiple ABT Summer Intensives.[12] She became an apprentice with the main company in December 2019,[6] but only had a few months before the pandemic hit. During the pandemic, she returned home to Orlando, where she ended up performing with the Orlando Ballet (who had returned to in-person work before ABT did)[13] in productions of Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, and Jorden Morris' Moulin Rouge.[6]
Misseldine joined the Corps de Ballet of ABT by September 2021, and was promoted to the rank of soloist in September 2022.[12] In July 2024, she was promoted to Principal dancer by director Susan Jaffe on stage after a sold-out run of Swan Lake.[14]
Selected repertoire
Misseldine's repertoire with the American Ballet Theatre includes:[12]
