Sterling Manka is from Fishers, Indiana. After receiving a scholarship at their summer intenisve, Sterling spent time training at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, Russia in 2015. In 2019 he graduated from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with a Bachelor of Science in ballet. At IU, he had the privilege of training under Sarah Wroth, Carla Körbes, Kyra Nichols, Michael Vernon, Sasha Janes, Christian Classens, Shawn Stevens, and Violette Verdy. Sterling spent the 2019 – 2020 season as a member of the Cincinnati Ballet Second Company. Some of his favorite ballets and roles he has performed include the Shy Boy in Jerome Robbins’ The Concert (or The Perils of Everybody), the Toto Puppeteer in Septime Webre’s The Wizard of Oz, George Balanchine’s The Steadfast Tin Soldier and Valse Fantaisie, Christopher Wheeldon’s Carousel (A Dance), Mark Morris’ Sandpaper Ballet, Penny Saunders’ Ghost Light, and Suzanne Haag’s Conduct. Sterling joined Eugene Ballet in 2021.
