Your May Roster Roundup: Dancers and Directors on the Move
The past few weeks have brought another exciting round of ballet career news—check out the latest farewells, appointments, promotions, and more in your May 2025 roster roundup.
Promotions and Appointments
Maya Schonbrun has been promoted to principal at Royal Swedish Ballet.
At San Francisco Ballet, Cavan Conley has been promoted to principal; Katherine Barkman and Joshua Jack Price have been promoted to first soloist; Jihyun Choi, Luca Ferrò, Nathaniel Remez, Mingxuan Wang, and Seojeong Yun to soloist; and Thamires Chuvas, Dylan Pierzina, Simone Pompignoli, Alexis Francisco Valdes, and Adrian Zeisel to demi-soloist.
Bayerisches Staatsballett’s Zhanna Gubanova has moved up to soloist.
Several promotions have been made at Boston Ballet for the 2025–26 season: Seokjoo Kim and Gearóid Solan have moved up to second soloist; and Boston Ballet II’s Sebastian Bondar, Kylie Dyson, and Layla Porter will be company artists.
Philadelphia Ballet has also announced a slew of promotions: Federico D’Ortenzi to demi-soloist; Kyleigh Johnson and Natalie Patel to the corps; and Ava DiEmedio, Petra Johnson, and Gavin Nicholson to apprentice.
Marcelo Gomes has been appointed head ballet master of Wiener Staatsballett, effective September 1, 2025.
Dane Hurst, who has been serving as Joburg Ballet’s interim artistic director since January, has officially been named artistic director starting this June.
Ethan Stiefel has been appointed senior faculty member at the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, effective September 2025. Stiefel, a former ABT principal, recently served as artistic director at American Repertory Ballet, where he is currently The Nora C. Orphanides artist in residence.
Texture Contemporary Ballet company dancer Madeline Kendall Schreiber has been named resident choreographer, beginning at the start of the company’s 2025–26 season.
Farewells, New Arrivals, and Guestings
On April 17, Paris Opéra Ballet étoile Ludmila Pagliero took her final bow following her performance in Mats Ek’s Appartement.
American Ballet Theatre principal Cassandra Trenary will leave the company at the end of the 2025 Metropolitan Opera House season; she will join the Vienna State Opera Ballet as a principal.
Pacific Northwest Ballet will bid farewell to principal Cecilia Iliesiu and soloists Miles Pertl and Price Suddarth at the end of the 2024–25 season. Iliesiu will pursue an MBA at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Pertl will continue his work with the nonprofit Damfino Arts, and Suddarth will move forward with his choreographic career.
Oregon Ballet Theatre principal Jessica Lind and company artist Ben Youngstone will retire next month.
After over 18 years with Alberta Ballet, principal Mariko Kondo will take her final bow at the end of the 2024–25 season.
Ballet Idaho bids farewell to soloist Madeline Bay, who has been with the company since 2012.
Dutch National Ballet soloist Elisabeth Tonev and Finnish National Ballet principal Violetta Keller will move to Bayerisches Staatsballett as principals at the beginning of the 2025–26 season. FNB first soloist Clark Eselgroth will join as a demi-soloist.
Principals Madison Young and António Casalinho, and soloist Margarita Fernandes, will depart Bayerisches Staatsballett at the end of this season to join Wiener Staatsballett.
San Francisco Ballet principal Aaron Robison is returning to Houston Ballet for the 2025–26 season.
Minjoo Kim has joined The Joffrey Ballet as a company artist for the remainder of the 2024–25 season.
New York City Ballet corps member Maxwell Read has announced that he will retire on June 1 to pursue his undergraduate degree at Columbia University.
Texas Ballet Theater principal Carl Coomer will retire at the end of the 2024–25 season. Starting this fall, he will serve as TBT’s Studio Training Company principal.
At Nashville Ballet, company artists Owen Thorne, Noah Miller, and Imani Sailers, one of Pointe’s 2018 Stars of the Corps, took their final bows this month.
After 13 years with Ballet Arizona, Nayon Iovino retired from the stage this month. He will continue on as the company’s resident choreographer.
Smuin Ballet company artist Mengjun Chen is concluding his performance career after 10 seasons with the company. Smuin celebrated Chen onstage on Sunday, April 27.
Longtime Milwaukee Ballet leading artist Barry Molina has announced his retirement at the end of the season.
Rachael Parini, who has been a BalletMet company dancer for nine seasons, took her final bow after performing in the company’s production of Sleeping Beauty.
Orlando Ballet’s Amir Dodarkhojayev has departed the company to return to his home country, Kazakhstan.
Emma McGirr is leaving Nevada Ballet Theatre after 11 years with the company.
Ballet Theatre of Maryland celebrated the careers of principals Lindsey Bell and Ryan Massey, soloist Anne Gutcher, demi-soloist Caroline Anderson, and corps member Sarah Hoffman. They took their final bows on Saturday, April 26.
The following eight dancers will join London City Ballet for its upcoming season: Samuele Barzaghi, Constance Devernay-Laurence, Josue Gomez, Lydia Rose Hough, Yuria Isaka, Pilar Ortega, Sahel Flora Pascual, and Siméon Sorange-Félicité. Alina Cojocaru will return as a guest artist.
Victoria Lorenzo is joining Philadelphia Ballet as an apprentice.
Paris Opéra Ballet étoile Hugo Marchand will guest with The Australian Ballet for its production of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, performing as Des Grieux May 1, 3, and 7 in Sydney.
Awards and Recognitions
This year’s National Dance Awards nominees include: The Royal Ballet’s Francesca Hayward and English National Ballet’s Sangeun Lee and Erina Takahashi, for Best Female Dancer; The Royal’s Marcelino Sambé and Joseph Sissens and ENB’s Francesco Gabriele Frola, for Best Male Dancer; and The Royal’s Daichi Ikarashi and Caspar Lench and ENB’s Ivana Bueno, for the Emerging Artist Award. The Outstanding Company nominees are: Birmingham Royal Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, The Royal Ballet, and Sarasota Ballet.
Northern Ballet has won the Van Cleef & Arpels Fedora Dance Prize for its production of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Gentleman Jack.
Alonzo King LINES Ballet company member Babatunji Johnson has been nominated for two Isadora Duncan Dance Awards: Outstanding Achievement in Performance/Individual, for his dancing in King’s Welcome Table; and Outstanding Achievement in Performance/Ensemble, for his work with San Francisco–based contemporary dance company RAWdance.
The School of American Ballet has honored Debra Austin, New York City Ballet’s first Black female dancer, with its 2025 SAB Alumni of Distinction Award.
Stoner Winslett, Richmond Ballet’s founding artistic director, will receive the Dance/USA Honor Award, which recognizes leaders who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to dance.
