Hadriel Diniz is from Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He joined Ballet West in 2015 and was promoted to Demi-Soloist in 2018, to Soloist in 2019, to First Soloist in 2020, and to Principal in 2021. He began training at the age of twelve with Guiomar Boaventura at the Vórtice Escola de Danças. Soon after, he started competing in international competitions and has won numerous awards. He qualified for the Youth America Grand Prix NYC finals in 2010, 2011, and 2012, where he placed in the top 6. He was offered a full-year scholarship from San Francisco Ballet School, and Hadriel left Brazil to study there at age seventeen. After two years of training on full scholarship, he joined the Trainee Program under the direction of Patrick Armand. With Ballet West, Hadriel has danced the leading roles of Benno in Sklute’s Swan Lake, Hilarion in Sklute’s Giselle, Balanchine’s Prodigal Son, and Romeo in Smuin’s Romeo + Juliet, to name a few.