Before We Officially Announce Our 2013 "25 to Watch"…

It’s almost time to announce the new class of “25 to Watch,” one of our favorite Dance Magazine features of the year. In choosing the annual list of 25 standout artists and companies, we ask our contributing writers and senior advising editors to identify who is on the verge of a breakthrough, who has all the potential to become the next big star of the dance world. Many of them are now principal dancers, artists making some of the field’s most challenging and exciting work, or once fledgling, are now established companies. (Of course, there are many who have moved in other directions or on to other projects.)

As we prepare to welcome the 2013 “25” in our January issue, we thought it would be fun to highlight just a few of past “25” artists and companies who’ve made headlines this year:

There was a power struggle at the top of Miami City Ballet (2001). Ultimately, longtime leader Edward Villella was ousted, and Lourdes Lopez stepped in ahead of schedule this fall.

David Hallberg (2004)
was our May cover star. (We’d planned for him to be on our cover even before it was announced, in late 2011, that he’d be joining the Bolshoi as a premier danseur—the first American to do so.)

Christopher Stowell (2004)
announced that he will leave Oregon Ballet Theatre at the end of 2012.

Jonah Bokaer (2006) gave the inaugural performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s new Fishman Space with his Eclipse.

Hee Seo (2006) was promoted to principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre.

Jamar Roberts (2007) rejoined Ailey—where he belongs!



Ekaterina Kondaurova (2008), a longtime star of the Mariinsky in title if not in rank, finally got promoted to principal over the summer.

Ivan Vasiliev (2008), was upgraded from principal guest artist status to full principal at American Ballet Theatre, joining his offstage partner Natalia Osipova (2007). The pair left the Bolshoi in November of last year to join the Mikhailovsky.

Ballet Nouveau Colorado (2009) is reinventing itself as Wonderland. The company (under the same artistic leadership and with the same dancers) will move to new headquarters in Denver in March of next year, while the school, now called the Colorado Conservatory of Dance, will remain in Broomfield.



Kyle Abraham (2009) had a huge year. The 2012 USA Fellow and recipient of 2012 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award was just named the 2012-2014 New York Live Arts Resident Commissioned Artist—which comes with nearly $280,000 in salary, residency, and commission funds. (Plus, his first work for Ailey was just terrific.)



Aparna Ramaswamy (2010) was nominated to the National Council on the Arts by President Obama. With her daughter Ranee Ramaswamy, Aparna also received a 2012 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Choreographers.

Teddy Forance (2011) was one of the stars of the reality series All the Right Moves, which followed new company Shaping Sound.

Keenan Kampa (2012), formerly of Boston Ballet, was invited to join the Mariinsky—a rare honor for an American—and, amazingly, will debut as Kitri in January.



Brooklyn Mack (2012) won a gold medal in the men’s senior division at the International Ballet Competition – Varna (plus the Grand Prix at the Istanbul International Ballet Competition and another gold at the Boston International Ballet Competition).