The Latest

Your September Ballet Roster Roundup: Dancers and Directors on the Move

September 11, 2023

The past few weeks have brought another exciting round of dancer career news—check out the latest farewells, appointments, promotions, and more in this month’s roster roundup.

Promotions and Appointments

Hannah Fischer has been promoted to principal at Miami City Ballet. She is starting her third season with the company.

Former Bolshoi Ballet principal Jacopo Tissi has joined Dutch National Ballet as a principal. Tissi left the Bolshoi in early 2022 and performed with Teatro alla Scala as a guest artist before joining DNB.

In addition, DNB has promoted Elisabeth Tonev to soloist; Davi Ramos to grand sujet; Dingkai Bai, Arianna Maldini, and Alexandria Marx to coryphée; and Skya Powney to élève.

Onstage amid hazy purple-blue lighting, a female dancer sits on a large rock formation and reaches upward to the ceiling.
Alana Griffith in Swan Lake. Photo by Rachel Malehorn, courtesy Milwaukee Ballet.

Lizzie Tripp and Alana Griffith have been promoted to leading artist at Milwaukee Ballet. Tripp joined MB in 2016 and was featured as one of Dance Magazine’s 2020 “25 to Watch”; Griffith has been with the company since 2014.

Alexander Koulos, Amanda Lewis, Raven Loan, Flynn Stelfox, and Jacqueline Sugianto join MB as company artists after being promoted from Milwaukee Ballet II.

Sumi Ichikawa has been promoted from apprentice to company member at BalletMet.

At Colorado Ballet, Christophor Moulton has been promoted to principal; Kenny Allen and Alexandra Gilliom to corps de ballet; and Lily Bines, Mylie Buck, Leopold Foster, Tate Ryner, and Lili Travaglia to apprentice.

AJ Maio has been promoted from apprentice to company member at Ballet Rhode Island.

At Columbia City Ballet, Nicole Millwood and Joshua Van Dyke have been promoted to principal, and Gabrielle Gardner and Amanda Hwang to demi-soloist.

Trinidad Vives, shown chest-up in black and white, smiles for a portrait photo.
Trinidad Vives. Photo by Jim Retratos, courtesy The Washington Ballet.

The Washington Ballet has announced that Trinidad Vives will begin as acting artistic director starting Thursday, August 17, through the end of December. Vives has worked with Houston Ballet and Boston Ballet in artistic leadership and as a choreographer for the past 20 years. TWB will continue its search for a permanent artistic director with a deadline of early 2024.

Choreographer and former Houston Ballet principal Dominic Walsh has been named program director and principal instructor of Oregon Ballet Theatre 2.

Megan Philipp will begin as State Street Ballet’s artistic director in January 2024. SSB founder and current artistic and executive director Rodney Gustafson will transition to founding director, and Cecily MacDougall will join as executive director.

Farewells and New Arrivals

Boston Ballet welcomes seven new dancers to the company: Yue Shi as a principal dancer; Chenxin Liu as a second soloist; Alexandria Heath, Isaac Mueller, Courtney Nitting, Emma Topalova, and Alexa Torres as company artists.

BB also bids farewell to soloist Isaac Akiba, who has retired after 15 years with the company. Akiba graduated from Northeastern last spring and will go on to study at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University.

Ballet Hispánico welcomes Daryn Diaz, Adam Dario Morales, and Amanda Ostuni as company members, effective as of August 1.

Jennifer Hackbarth, formerly of Dresden Semperoper Ballet, will join Sarasota Ballet as a principal for the company’s 2023–24 season.

Jennifer Hackbarth poses in a soaring saute in a perfect split, arms in high third. She wears a white and gold tutu, and the background is a light peach color.
Jennifer Hackbarth. Photo by Iain Webb, courtesy The Sarasota Ballet.

Royal New Zealand Ballet soloist Matthew Slattery took his final bow at the completion of the company’s Lightscapes tour. Slattery was a part of the RNZB company from 2012–13 and 2022–23, dancing with Boston Ballet in the interim.

Houston Ballet welcomes Gian Carlo Perez as a first soloist; Adelaide Clauss, Rench Soriano, and Masanori Takiguchi as demi-soloists; and Nikita Baryshnikov, Rylan Doty, Taela Graff, Alejandro Molina Leon, and Allison Whitley as apprentices.

Amanda Pérez Duarte, formerly of National Ballet of Cuba and Finnish National Ballet, joins Cincinnati Ballet’s corps de ballet.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet says hello to new artists Chloe Dureya, Alex Haquia, Anthony Rhee-Reynoso, and Manuel Vaccaro; Laura Perich joins as an apprentice.

Milwaukee Ballet welcomes Ben Zusi as a company artist.

Raquel Smith has joined Collage Dance Collective as a company dancer.

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens welcomes Sarah Branch, Aurora De Mori, Thomas Leprohon, Marcel Gutiérrez Morales, and Christian Pforr, to its corps de ballet, and Tuesday Rain Leduc and Anaïs Roy as apprentices.

Matthew Slattery and Ana Gallardo Lobaina stand side-by-side for a dramatic image onstage. They are surrounded by orange- and blue-colored light and dry ice, Lobaina's long dark hair flying around her face.
Matthew Slattery and Ana Gallardo Lobaina in Lightscapes. Photo by Stephen A’Court, courtesy Royal New Zealand Ballet.

After six years with the company, American Contemporary Ballet artist Cara Hansvick has retired from the stage.

William Wisneskey joins Grand Rapids Ballet’s company for the upcoming season.

Cruz Vining joins Colorado Ballet this season as a corps member.

The newest company dancers at Ballet Rhode Island are Brian Gomez, Ashley Griffin, Garret McNally, and Alexandria Troianos.

Eli Gruska of the ABT Studio Company and Joan Sebastian Zamora have joined BalletMet as company dancers.

Vitacca Ballet welcomes new dancers Nikolas Darrough and Aidan Wolf.

Aviva Gelfer-Mundl joins Los Angeles Ballet as a company dancer.

Lizzie Tripp and Parker Brasser Vos dance together onstage, the photo capturing them from the wings. Tripp reaches offstage on point, Brasser Vos reaching for her arm and pulling her toward him.
Lizzie Tripp and Parker Brasser Vos in Swan Lake. Photo by Rachel Malehorn, courtesy Milwaukee Ballet.

Miu Kato, Larissa Leung, and Parsons Dance Company’s DaMond LeMonte Garner have joined Ballets Jazz Montréal.

Oakland Ballet says hello to new dancers Al Abraham, Florrie Sésé Geller, and Alexander Griffith.

Ethan Ahureo is State Street Ballet’s newest company dancer.

Elizabeth Chapa and Lucy Pearce have joined Ballet Fantastique.

Awards and Recognitions

Virginia Johnson, founding member and artistic director emerita of Dance Theatre of Harlem, received the 2023 Bessie Award for Lifetime Achievement. Johnson accepted the award at the 39th annual Bessie Awards ceremony on Friday, August 4, at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park as part of Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City program.

Richmond Ballet presented legendary dancer and choreographer Carmen de Lavallade with the Richmond Ballet Lifetime Achievement Award on August 30. She accepted the award onstage prior to the company’s performance of John Butler’s Carmina Burana and Ma Cong’s Thrive at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.

National Ballet of Canada corps member Oliver Yonick and apprentice Keira Sanford have won the company’s 2022/23 Season RBC Emerging Artist Apprentice Award, which recognizes current and former members of the RBC apprentice program for professional growth, talent, and artistry.

ballet hispanico balletmet boston ballet colorado ballet complexions dance theatre of harlem dutch national ballet houston ballet jacopo tissi miami city ballet milwaukee ballet richmond ballet roster roundup royal new zealand ballet sarasota ballet state street ballet the washington ballet virginia johnson