The American Ballet Theatre principal is pushing herself—and ballet—to be better.

Dancer. Creative director. Rapper. Songwriter. Choreographer. Empire-building businesswoman. Charm La’Donna is all of those things, and she’s defined commercial dance from behind the scenes for years.

Through her marriage of art with activism, performance with protest, the choreographer conjures a better, more interconnected world.

Superhuman. Otherworldly. Next-level. Jeffrey Cirio has reached the top rank of three world-renowned companies—Boston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and English National Ballet.

“My favorite thing in the whole world is to laugh,” she says. “Making people smile is one of the greatest gifts, and if I can do that, then my work here is done.”

Since joining NYCB, Woodward has delighted onlookers with her mix of elegant classicism and ebullient pluck. Both offstage and on it, she brings a warmth and generosity that make her appear just as at home in the Sugarplum Fairy’s mint-green tutu as it does in the minimalist gold lamé leotards of Pam Tanowitz’s Bartók Ballet.

Her Insta posts are reposted and slid into DMs like old-school mixtapes. Ballet celebs and novices alike are enamored with her technique and versatility, her infectious charm and humility.

As a rising senior at the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, Rena Butler asked Amber Lee Parker to create her graduation solo. Parker, a Purchase alumna, was then dancing with choreographer Kyle Abraham’s company. To suss out Butler’s ways of working, Parker invited the 21-year-old to a rehearsal on a hot summer day in […]