Pilar Ortega was raised in Oakland, California. She started her dance training at Oakland Ballet School. She continued at the San Francisco Ballet School where she had the opportunity to perform alongside the main company in Helgi Tomasson’s The Nutcracker and Liam Scarlett’s Frankenstein.
Pilar was offered a traineeship with the Joffrey Academy of Dance in Chicago, Illinois and was promoted to the Studio Company in 2022 shortly thereafter. During her time with the Joffrey Academy, Pilar performed the lead role in Raymonda, in Kenneth MacMillian’s Winter Dreams Pas de Deux, as well as other new choreographic works. She was chosen to perform with Joffrey Ballet’s main company productions of George Balanchine’s Serenade, Yuri Possokov’s Don Quixote, and Christopher Wheeldon’s The Nutcracker. Pilar was given an apprentice position with the Indianapolis Ballet in 2023 and performed notable repertoire such as Septime Webre’s Romeo & Juliet and George Balanchine’s Who Cares?
Pilar is very excited to join London City Ballet for the 2025 season.