E. Stierle, 22; Dancer With Joffrey Ballet

Joffrey Ballet dancer and choreographer Edward Stierle has died at 22, according to company publicists. No other information on his death is available, pending release of facts by his family. However, Stierle was quoted in a Tuesday Calendar story as saying that he had AIDS.

His latest ballet, “Empyrean Dances,” premiered Tuesday at a Joffrey gala in the New York State Theatre, and Stierle took a bow onstage at its conclusion.

In her New York Times review of the work, dance critic Anna Kisselgoff wrote of Stierle: “His is a stunning talent, delving unabashedly into images of emotional turbulence--a ceaseless outpouring of passions that both disturb and thrill. . . . ‘Empyrean Dances’ is a rarity, a visionary ballet, and the vision of the Empyrean or highest heaven that Milton extolled is translated by Mr. Stierle into a burning onrush of hope.”

“Empyrean Dances” had been scheduled for performance on opening night of the Joffrey’s upcoming May engagement at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion--a season now reportedly in jeopardy because of financial conflicts between the company and the Music Center.

Stierle was born and raised in Hollywood, Fla., and his first dance lessons were in his home state. He also studied at the School of American Ballet in New York, and from 1983 to 1985 was a student at the North Carolina School of the Arts.

In June, 1986, Stierle won a Gold Medal in the junior men’s division of the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Miss. A month later, he joined the Joffrey Ballet, making his debut in the role of Alain in Frederick Ashton’s “La Fille mal Gardee.”

His leading roles with the Joffrey included such ballets as “The Clowns,” “La Vivandiere Pas de Six,” “Parade,” “Petrushka,” “The Dream,” “The Nutcracker,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Cotillon,” “The Green Table” and “Trinity.”

In 1988, Stierle choreographed “Lacrymosa d’Amore” for the Joffrey II Choreographer’s Workshop and the ballet was subsequently taken into the repertory of the main company under the title “Lacrymosa.” Stierle also choreographed “Concerto con Brio” for the March, 1989, Winter Dance Concert at North Carolina School of the Arts and, in the same year, created “Effigy” for the Joffrey II Choreographer’s Workshop.

He is survived by his parents, William and Rose Stierle of Hollywood, Fla.