Electric performances, thought-provoking choreography, buzzy bodies of work—the artists on our annual list of dancers, choreographers, directors, and companies poised for a breakout share an uncanny knack for arresting attention. They’ve been turning heads while turning what’s expected—in a performance, from a career trajectory—on its head. We’re betting we’ll be seeing a lot more of them this year, and for many years to come.

This May, he published his memoir, Illusions of Camelot, with Beaufort Books. It contains a series of reflections on his childhood and adolescence in the wealthy town of Bedford, New York, and then, later, in New York City. Financially and socially, his was a comfortable childhood. But that idyll—the Camelot of the title—concealed a deep vein of turmoil. That contrast between appearance and experience is one of the main themes of his book.

Recently, English National Ballet first artist Precious Adams announced that she will no longer be wearing pink tights. With the support of her artistic director Tamara Rojo, she will instead wear chocolate brown tights (and shoes) that match her flesh tone. It may seem like a simple change, but this could be a watershed moment—one where […]

One inescapable fact of trying to plan for anything during a pandemic is the need for backup plans—many of them. Planning a fall performance season—which usually happens months and sometimes even years in advance—while navigating state reopening guidelines and virus spikes falls somewhere between frustratingly difficult and impossible. To make sense of it, Ginger Farley, […]

From mid-March into early April, dance communities around the world experienced a seismic shift as performance seasons were canceled, training programs were suspended and physical contact outside one’s home was mandated unsafe. As dancers, we are taught to problem solve in real-time, so it came as no surprise when streamed performances and classes began popping […]

When George Balanchine’s full-length Don Quixote premiered in 1965, critics and audiences alike viewed the ballet as a failure. Elaborate scenery and costumes framed mawkish mime passages, like one in which the ballerina washed the Don’s feet and dried them with her hair. Its revival in 2005 by Suzanne Farrell, the ballerina on whom it […]

My January is always busy. Weekdays are filled with rehearsals in Seattle and weekends are spent traversing the country auditioning students for our summer intensive. I direct Pacific Northwest Ballet School and I see these auditions as essential investments in future talent for both our school and company. I do them myself to let students […]

When Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan was 5 years old, her mother took her to a Pennsylvania Ballet production of Swan Lake. “One day, you’ll be a ballerina,” her mother said. Ryan replied, “I already am one.” Even at that age, Ryan was confident about her future; with good reason, it turns out. Sixteen years later, she’s starting […]