The Corps de Ballet News

'If you ask me if a traditional Swan Lake at the Mariinsky can have a black girl in the corps de ballet, I can tell you honestly that I don't have the answer. But I feel like telling you no.' JC Maillot

If an audience is full of Black, Brown, Asian or whatever color people, you as a director will think twice about programming La Bayadere or Petrushka. I really believe that.

San Francisco Ballet and Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson will launch the 2020 Repertory Season with SPELLBOUND: SF Ballet's Opening Night Gala on Thursday, January 16, 2020. One of the Bay Area's most anticipated annual events, the Gala, this year chaired by Patricia Dale Roberts, begins with a cocktail reception and black-tie fundraising dinner at San Francisco City Hall at 5 pm. The evening's performance begins at 8 pm and will feature twelve pieces, including three world premieres by current and former members of SF Ballet's Company: Val Caniparoli, Choreographer in Residence Yuri Possokhov, and Myles Thatcher.

Artistic Director Paul Vasterling has set Nashville's Nutcracker with the Nashville Symphony at the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Here, Drosselmeyer introduces Clara to the magical imagination and diversity of Nashville. In the ballet's opening, Clara sees a Nutcracker doll made by a German Toy Maker. Following the expo at Centennial Park, Vasterling creates a snowy scene of figure skating at Shelby Bottoms as partygoers head towards the Stahlbaum home. Among other Nashville nuances, Vasterling expands the battle scene to include American Infantry, Native American Soldiers, and Frontier Soldiers, all working together to defeat the Mouse King. The Sugar Plum Fairy holds court in the Parthenon Garden as a final homage to Nashville's branding as the “Athens of the South.'

For many, it simply cannot be Christmas without Nutcracker. The enduring story of Clara and her beloved Nutcracker is one to soften the hardest of hearts. The pair defeat the evil Mouse King and his army and journey to the Kingdom Of The Sweets to meet the Sugar Plum Fairy for a magical adventure. English National Ballet present another Christmas revival of the Wayne Eagling version which both enchants and charms.

West Side Story is officially in previews on Broadway! The new production is directed by Tony Award winner Ivo van Hove; and for the first time ever in the United States, will feature all-new choreography by the internationally acclaimed Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker. West Side Story will begin previews on December 10, 2019 and open February 6th, 2020 at the Broadway Theatre.

KATIE McDERMOTT, and CHRISTIAN LAVERDE KÖNIG will appear as guest artists in Ballet Arts of Jackson's production of The Nutcracker on December 13, 14 & 15, 2019 at the Carl Perkins Civic Center in Jackson, Tennessee.

Casting has been announced for Cameron Mackintosh's spectacular new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA for its highly anticipated return to the Fox Cities at Fox Cities P.A.C. next month. With newly reinvented staging and stunning scenic design, this new version of PHANTOM is performed by a cast and orchestra of 52, making this one of the largest productions on tour in North America.

SATORI opened Cape Town City Ballet's Spring Season this past weekend at Artscape Opera House. The limited run presents a trilogy of works presented by the CTCB that includes two that are newly staged as well as an original commissioned work from an international choreographer. True to its meaning of 'enlightenment', SATORI is a refreshing offering from the local company following SLEEPING BEAUTY.

Stella Abrera, a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre since 2015, will give her farewell performance with the Company in the title role of Giselle on Saturday evening, June 13, 2020 at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, and Barry Hughson, Executive Director, today announced that Corps de Ballet member Genevieve Penn Nabity and Apprentice Noah Parets are the winners of the seventh annual RBC Emerging Artist Apprentice Award for their performances as Apprentices during the 2018/19 season.

Choreographers Gabrielle Lamb and Laura O'Malley, along with American Ballet Theatre dancers Claire Davison, Zhong-Jing Fang and Sung Woo Han, have been selected to create work for the 2019 ABT Incubator, a two-week choreographic workshop providing a focused lab to inspire new choreographic voices and generate ideas for the creation of new work. Directed by ABT Principal Dancer David Hallberg, ABT Incubator will be held October 29–November 9, 2019 at ABT's New York studios.

Akram Khan's Giselle is only three years old, but it already has a weighty reputation, as a powerful contemporary reworking of a classic, done with the choreographer's impressive sense of intensity and drama. 

Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced the 2019/20 season roster which features 68 dancers and 10 RBC Apprentices.

ODC/Dance is pleased to announce the addition of five new dancers: Jaime Garcia Castilla, David Calhoun, Christian Squires, Calvin Thomas and Miche Wong.

a??a??a??a??a??a??a?? Pennsylvania Ballet's Artistic Director Angel Corella welcomes four dancers into the Corps de Ballet, including three newcomers and the promotion of previous Pennsylvania Ballet II (PPBII) dancer Lucia Erickson. Two additional PBII dancers, Sophie Savas-Carstens and Denis Maciel are promoted to Apprentices, while six new dancers join the second company.

LG Electronics USA is collaborating with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in a choreographed alliance designed to further raise the profile of LG SIGNATURE. LG SIGNATURE has been named the exclusive ABT Global Electronics Partner.

Kansas City Ballet Artistic Director Devon Carney today announced the 2019-2020 Season which opens with the WORLD PREMIERE of Adam Hougland's passionate Carmina Burana, continues with the enchanting tale of Devon Carney's Swan Lake, and closes with Lila York's riveting Celts, one of three ballets on that program.

In the Jacob's Pillow-exclusive production Sara Mearns: Beyond Ballet, New York City Ballet principal Sara Mearns performs in multiple cross-genre collaborations in the Doris Duke Theatre, August 14-18.