Character Descriptions
PAUL GRAYSON
(Ben Daniels)
Paul is the bipolar, bisexual Artistic Director of the American Ballet Company. Having founded the company
12 years ago after a long career as an acclaimed dancer, Paul is determined to make ABC rank the highest
among the best of the best. And he views Claire as the key to success. Paul believes himself to be a great
nurturer of talent, and he requires his dancers’ abject devotion in return… to an extremely unhealthy
degree. Paul is mercurial and prone to fits of ebullience and rage. No one ever knows what to expect. He’s
a grenade with a loose pin.
CLAIRE ROBBINS
(Sarah Hay)
Claire is soulful, serious and profoundly emotionally wounded. Having escaped an abusive home life, she
harbors self-destructive tendencies that conflict with her vaulting ambition, and a longing for the sexual
autonomy of a normal young woman. She defies stereotype and expectation. She is a transcendent
ballerina, capable of reaching the sublime, but her inner torment and aspirations drive her in compelling,
unforeseeable ways. She is on a journey of self-discovery without a compass.
MIA
(Emily Tyra)
Mia is a New Jersey native with an eating disorder and a penchant for casual sex. She is also Claire’s
reluctant roommate. Mia has a dry, unfiltered sense of humor that masks a deep reserve of insecurity. She
is desperate to ascend the ranks of the company and prove to her harshest critic, her mother, that she has
merit as a person and a dancer. Mia finds herself facing a major life challenge with dire consequences that
she’s unequipped to handle.
BRYAN ROBBINS
(Josh Helman)
Forced by his abusive, domineering father to enlist in the Marines and serve a three-year stint in
Afghanistan where he experienced the horrors of war, Bryan is focused on returning to Pittsburgh. His
sister, Claire, is his homing beacon. Bryan suffers from PTSD and is consumed by confusion in regards to
his beloved sister – a storm of conflicting emotions clouding his judgment. Bryan is an odd and
uncomfortable mix of strength and vulnerability. He’s sure of little in his life – all he knows is that he is
utterly devoted to Claire and feels he can’t live without her.
ROMEO
(Damon Herriman)
Romeo is a homeless fellow who lives under Claire and Mia’s building. He considers himself the custodian
and believes it’s his job to help and protect all the residents within. Romeo is engaging, guileless, smart
and sensitive, with his own unique way of looking at the world. Like many who suffer from untreated
schizophrenia, Romeo sees signs and omens in everything. Claire’s arrival fits neatly into the context of the
book he’s writing – she is further proof of his prophecy. Any random occurrence may trigger his dormant
psychotic impulses. Regardless, it is always Romeo’s intention to do the right thing... whatever that means
to him.
KIIRA
(Irina Dvorovenko)
Kiira is a prima ballerina. A competitor. A survivor. Having emigrated from the Ukraine, Kiira was born and
bred to overcome adversity. She is the reigning star of the company and Artistic Director Paul’s longtime
muse. She is a complicated, emotional diva who prides herself on being the best no matter what it takes.
Although she has planned ahead for life after ballet by marrying a wealthy man, she still hopes,
unreasonably, that the future will never come. The start of this series finds us witnessing an intensely
vulnerable time for Kiira. She is terrified of “aging out” as a ballerina and subjects herself to punishing
circumstances in order to maintain her status. Claire is a direct threat to her position.
DAPHNE
(Raychel Diane Weiner)
Daphne is a confident and inveterate “wild child” who plays by her own rules. She comes from old New
York money, but what Daphne wants most of all is what money can’t buy: artistic excellence. Despite her
family's financial legacy (and disapproval), she’s driven and relentless. Daphne is one of the rare dancers in
the company who can withstand Paul’s withering scrutiny, and she finds her outlet of release, her ballet
antidote, at Anastasia, a high-end strip club.
JESSICA JORDAN
(Tina Benko)
Jessica is a former American Ballet Company dancer. Several years ago she left ballet to marry and have a
child. Now a recently divorced single mother in a contentious relationship with her ex, Jessica is back in the
workforce out of necessity. Because she’s new at her job as the Company Manager (and living in the
shadow of Paul’s deceased partner), Jessica is struggling to prove herself so that she can keep the ballet –
and her own home life – financially afloat.
ROSS
(Sascha Radetsky)
Ross is the company’s leading man and Lothario. A principal dancer, he is Kiira’s longtime ballet partner
and former lover (although he still carries a torch for her). Ross uses his boundless charm and talent to get
what he wants, but his status at the company turns out to be more precarious than he could ever imagine
when he finds himself caught in Paul’s web.
TREY
(Karell Williams)
Trey is gay and proud of it. He’s snippy, bitchy and funny, and everybody loves and fears him. Trey can
hang with the ballerinas like he’s one of them and is an excellent girlfriend, but he also maintains a close
friendship with Ross. Trey is incredibly ambitious, ruthless, and always on the lookout for opportunity. He
can be a formidable opponent and he’ll prove how far he’s willing to go to win.
SERGEI ZELENKOV
(Patrick Page)
Gentleman. Balletomane. Mobster. Sergei is a very wealthy man due not only to his successful, high-end
strip club, Anastasia, but also because of his other lucrative interests pertaining to underground businesses
with the Russian mafia. He’s extremely savvy and hides all his profits in shell companies. He admires the
ballerinas enormously, and runs a classy operation – the dancers feel safe under his protection. However,
Sergei is a very dangerous man, and will not let anyone stand in the way of his aspirations to enter the
echelon of elite patrons of the ballet world.