News of Note: What You Might Have Missed in May 2021

June 1, 2021

Here are the latest promotions, appointments and departures, as well as notable awards and accomplishments, from the last month.

Comings & Goings

At The Royal Ballet, Fumi Kaneko and Cesar Corrales have been promoted to principal, Meghan Grace Hinkis, Nicol Edmonds and Calvin Richardson to first soloist, Gina Storm-Jensen and Joseph Sissens to soloist, and Leticia Dias, Mariko Sasaki and Harry Churches to first artist, effective immediately. Mayara Magri and Anna Rose O’Sullivan have been promoted to principal, commencing in September.

Jonathan Batista
and James Kirby Rogers have joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as soloists. Steven Loch will depart PNB to join Miami City Ballet at the start of the 2021–22 season.

Eleonora Abbagnato
has retired from Paris Opéra Ballet.

Linda Celeste Sims
has joined Ballet Hispánico as rehearsal director.

Endalyn Taylor sits in a folding chair in a sunny studio with her hands crossed on her lap, smiling serenely up at the camera. She wears a black and white polka dotted button down, and her hair is styled in a chic short cut.
Endalyn Taylor

Elliot Reza Emadian, Courtesy Shuman Associates

Endalyn Taylor
has been named dean of University of North Carolina School of the Arts’ School of Dance, effective August 1.

Jennie Scholick
has been appointed director of education and training at San Francisco Ballet.

Jill Johnson
will step down from her role as director of Harvard Dance Center on August 1.

Cincinnati Ballet artistic director Victoria Morgan will step down at the conclusion of the 2021–22 season.

Northern Ballet artistic director David Nixon will step down December 1.


Lucy Bowen McCauley
will retire and Bowen McCauley Dance Company will close at the end of the company’s 25th season, which kicked off in May. Its final performances are scheduled for September.

Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre
has folded and its affiliated facility, RIOULT Dance Center, has closed due to the impact of COVID-19.

Awards & Honors

Guillaume Côté
has been appointed a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec.

John Neumeier
was awarded the Ingenio et arti medal by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Recipients of spring 2021 Ca$h Dance Grants, $3,500 each, are Afro Urban Society, Alyssandra Katherine Dance, Antara Asthaayi Dance, Bellwether Dance Project, Dancing Around Race, dawsondancesf, Detour Dance, Dohee Lee Puri Arts, GERALDCASELDANCE, Helen Wicks Works, Mud Water, pateldanceworks, RoundAntennae, Vishwa Shanthi, Byb Chanel Bibene, Elizabeth Boubion, Erik Lee, Evie Ladin, Farah Yasmeen Shaikh, Ishika Seth, Julie Crothers, Malie Byrne, Marcelo Solis, Megan Lowe, Nicole Moria Hoffschneider, Olivia Eng, Ousseynou Kouyate, Rasa Vitalia, Sammay Dizon and Sara Shelton Mann.