Tamara At The Top

English National Ballet has just named Tamara Rojo as it’s new artistic director. The 37-year-old Royal Ballet principal will take the reins from Wayne Eagling, who resigned a few weeks ago. Rojo has had her sights set on becoming an artistic director for quite some time—she has a master’s degree in scenic arts and has previously shadowed National Ballet of Canada’s Karen Kain to gain insight into the position. The task ahead for Rojo won’t be easy: ENB has been plagued by challenging finances since before Eagling took the helm in 2005, and it’s managing director recently left a few weeks before Eagling. Yet despite the hurdles, the company boasts a packed touring schedule with 170 performances a year (ENB was originally designed as a way to show off fancy guest artists to the English countryside) as well as name dancers like Zdenek Konvalina, Bridgett Zehr and the flashy youngster Vadim Muntagirov. Rojo may be taking over a shaky company, but it’s one with serious potential. Beyond the implications for ENB, the appointment spells good news for the ballet world in general: Rojo joins Kain and the recently-announced future Miami City Ballet director Lourdes Lopez as the rare women leading top ballet companies today. See ballet.org.uk.