Russell Janzen Upped to Soloist at New York City Ballet

New York City Ballet announced today that Russell Janzen has been promoted to Soloist, effective immediately. Peter Martins, NYCB's Ballet Master in Chief, made the promotion on Friday, October 17 following a performance of George Balanchine's Chaconne, during which Janzen performed the leading male role alongside NYCB Principal Dancer Sara Mearns. Janzen made his debut in the role, which Balanchine created for Martins in 1976, at the matinee performance on Saturday, October 11.

During NYCB's 2014 fall season, Janzen has also made debuts in leading roles in George Balanchine's Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 and Peter Martins' Morgen. In recent seasons Janzen has also performed leading roles in Balanchine's Robert Schumann's "Davidsbu?ndlerta?nze," A Midsummer Night's Dream (Titania's Cavalier, Theseus), "Diamonds" from Jewels, and George Balanchine's The Nutcracker (Cavalier); and Martins' Barber Violin Concerto.

Janzen was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and began his dance training at the age of six at The Rock School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Janzen attended summer sessions at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, in 2004 and 2005, and enrolled as a full-time student at SAB in the winter of 2005. In October 2007, Janzen became an apprentice with NYCB, and in June 2008, he joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet.

Since joining NYCB, Janzen has performed featured roles in Balanchine's Concerto Barocco, Orpheus, and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue; Jerome Robbins' Glass Pieces; Martins' The Waltz Project; and Christopher Wheeldon's Les Carillons. He has also originated corps roles in works by Martins, Benjamin Millepied and Justin Peck. Janzen received SAB's Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise in 2007.

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