Pacific Northwest Ballet principal Kyle Davis has had a longtime dream of bringing professional ballet to his hometown of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Five years ago, he and his fiancée, fellow PNB principal Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan, decided to make it happen. The couple started conversations with community leaders in the Green Bay area, including Kelli Strickland, executive and artistic director of Green Bay’s Weidner Center for the Performing Arts, and the team set plans in motion. Then a familiar obstacle rose: the pandemic. “We honestly thought it was the end,” says Davis, “and that the idea wasn’t g ..read more

New York City’s midtown streets were abuzz with bunheads last week—it seemed everywhere you looked, you’d see large groups of young dancers, hair slicked and garment bags in tow, rushing to a studio or to Lincoln Center’s Koch Theater for Youth America Grand Prix. It was a nostalgic moment; for much of its 25-year history, YAGP, the world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition, held its Final Round in New York City. It relocated its finals to Tampa during the pandemic—it’s logistically easier and more affordable for dancers and their families, said Larissa Saveliev, YAGP’s founder an ..read more

When it comes to her dance bag, Anais Bueno takes a practical, no-frills approach. “I don’t really need a lot, and I’ve always carried the same things,” says the Joffrey Ballet artist. She’s relied on her LeSportsac bag since she first joined the company 11 years ago. “It’s very durable, and I like the size, too,” says Bueno, who hails from Mexico. “It’s not too big and yet I can fit most of my stuff in it. And I like that it has shorter straps—it stays up by my shoulder and doesn’t interfere with my tutu when I’m backstage.” Another item she’s had for years: a striped Juicy Couture pouch, whi ..read more

Ballet-book lovers are in for a treat this spring with the release of Karen Valby’s The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History (Penguin Random House, $29). Valby’s book, out April 30, reports on five women who were the bedrock of Arthur Mitchell’s Dance Theatre of Harlem. Lydia Abarca Mitchell was a prima ballerina for the troupe, and the first Black ballerina to grace the cover of Dance Magazine. Gayle McKinney-Griffith and Sheila Rohan were founding company members, as well, while Karlya Shelton and Marcia Sells we ..read more

In 1989, Ariel Serrano, then 17, and Carlos Acosta, 15, were selected from among hundreds of peers at the Cuban National Ballet School to spend a year dancing in Italy as part of a cultural exchange. That year, which Acosta recalls as one of the most beautiful of his life, opened their eyes to the world, ignited their careers, and sealed their friendship for life. Acosta, now artistic director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, would, of course, go on to worldwide fame, dancing internationally and as a principal with The Royal Ballet in London; he retired from The Royal in 2015, then founded Acosta D ..read more

When Youth America Grand Prix was founded 25 years ago, ballet training experienced a big shift. While elite international ballet competitions have existed for decades, YAGP’s model helped democratize them by granting access to any student wishing to participate. Not only did it give young dancers an opportunity to gain valuable performance experience and feedback, it offered a platform for them to be seen by top school directors and considered for placement and scholarships. Since then, several other ballet competitions have entered the scene that are similarly education-focused. Performing i ..read more

Minori Sakita recalls being rather naïve about how to effectively cross-train when she was starting out in her career. “I used to always go to the gym when I was in my first year in the corps, but I would be exhausted or get hurt,” she explains. “There was no strength training, and if there was, it was something very little.”  With the guidance of her former Tulsa Ballet colleague, Chong Sun, a National Council on Strength and Fitness personal trainer, Sakita was able to learn the basics of cross-training and maintaining proper form. Now a Cincinnati Ballet first soloist, Sakita has a tho ..read more

With the rise of adult ballet classes all over the country, it’s no surprise that summer intensives for adults are popping up coast to coast and internationally. Such programs area great way to take your training to the next level or give your bodies some much-needed cross-training. Here is an extensive list of summer intensives made for adults. So pack your duffels, dancers, and let’s go to camp! Photo courtesy Chicago Ballet Arts.Arizona Ballet Tucson Adult Summer Workshop June 3–7 and June 10–14, Tucson Head to sunny Arizona for a two-week workshop geared toward beginner and intermediate/ad ..read more

This month, American Ballet Theatre will make the North American premiere of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works. The critically acclaimed ballet, created for The Royal Ballet in 2015, is based on three works by 20th-century modernist author Virginia Woolf: Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando, and The Waves. The triptych’s three acts are titled “I now, I then,” “Becomings,” and “Tuesday,” respectively. Set to an expansive score by Max Richter, Woolf Works pulls from Woolf’s characters and thematic elements, building an illustration of the author herself rather than following pure narrative. “Tuesday,” the final a ..read more

The past few weeks have brought another exciting round of dancer career news—check out the latest farewells, appointments, promotions, and more in this month’s ballet roster roundup. Promotions and Appointments Bleuenn Battistoni has been promoted to étoile of the Paris Opéra Ballet. POB artistic director José Martinez and national opera director Alexander Neef announced the news on March 26, following Battistoni’s performance of Lise in Frederick Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardée. Bleuenn Battistoni in La Fille Mal Gardée. Photo by Benoite Fanton, courtesy Paris Opéra Ballet. On March 13, American ..read more