Boston Ballet Has Promoted 7 Dancers, Including Tigran Mkrtchyan to Principal
It’s been a rough few weeks for the dance world, but here’s some happy news: Boston Ballet announced seven dancer promotions this morning. Tigran Mkrtchyan will be made a principal, Chisako Oga is being promoted to soloist, Soo-bin Lee, Sun Woo Lee and Haley Schwan will take on the rank of second soloist, and Boston Ballet II dancers Molly Novak and Nations Wilkes-Davis will join the main company. The promotions will go into affect at the start of the 2020-21 season.
“It is truly rewarding to see our talented dancers develop into accomplished, versatile and exceptional artists,” said Boston Ballet artistic director Miko Nissinen in a statement. “I am looking forward to their continued growth as they take on the diversity of repertoire in our upcoming season.”
Read on below to find out more about these seven dancers.
Tigran Mkrtchyan – Principal
Tigran Mkrtchyan in Boston Ballet’s Giselle
Rosalie O’Connor, Courtesy Boston Ballet
Tigran Mkrtchyan
is a relative newcomer to Boston Ballet. The Armenian dancer joined the company as a soloist in 2019 from Zürich Ballet, where he’d danced since 2011. In addition to training at the Armenian Ballet School and the Zürich Dance Academy, Mkrtchyan was a finalist at the 2009 Prix de Lausanne.
Chisako Oga – Soloist
Chisako Oga in William Forsythe’s In the middle, somewhat elevated
Liza Voll, Courtesy Boston Ballet
Like Mkrtchyan, Chisako Oga joined the company just last season. She’d previously danced for Cincinnati Ballet, where she quickly rose to the rank of principal. Born in Dallas, Texas, Oga trained at the San Francisco Ballet School, and then danced with San Francisco Ballet as a trainee and an apprentice. Oga was named one of Dance Magazine‘s 2019 25 to Watch.
Soo-bin Lee – Second Soloist
Soo-bin Lee in Helen Pickett’s Tsukiyo
Liza Voll, Courtesy Boston Ballet
A native of Seoul, South Korea, Soo-bin Lee, trained at the Korea National Ballet Academy, Sunhwa Arts School and the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts before graduating from the Korea National University of Arts. Before joining Boston Ballet as an artist of the company in 2019, Lee’s resumé featured a number of competition wins, including first place at the Vaganova-Prix International Competition and Seoul International Dance Competition.
Sun Woo Lee – Second Soloist
Sun Woo Lee in Mikko Nissenen’s The Nutcracker
Liza Voll, Courtesy Boston Ballet
Sun Woo Lee, also from Seuol, South Korea, joined Boston Ballet as an artist of the company in 2018. Lee trained at the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts, Yewon School, Seoul Arts High School and Korea National University of Arts. After placing at the Varna International Ballet Competition in 2016, he performed as a guest principal dancer with Russia’s Primorsky Ballet Theatre.
Haley Schwan – Second Soloist
Brooke Trisolini, Courtesy Boston Ballet
In 2018, we covered Haley Schwan‘s untraditional career path: Before joining Boston Ballet in 2017, she worked in New York City as a choreographer, including for the MTV Video Music Awards. Originally from Dearborn, Michigan, the newly promoted second soloist trained at the Kirov Academy of Ballet and Russia’s Vaganova Ballet Academy. Starting in 2010, she spent five years as a member of Staatsballett Berlin’s corps de ballet. Schwan has continued her choreographic career in Boston; in 2018, she participated in Boston Ballet’s BB@home: ChoregrapHER.
Molly Novak – Artist of the Company
Igor Burlak, Courtesy Boston Ballet
Santa Monica, California-native Molly Novak trained at Westside School of Ballet and attended summer intensives at the School of American Ballet, San Francisco Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School and Boston Ballet School. In 2017, she joined Boston Ballet School’s trainee program, and in 2019 became a member of Boston Ballet II.
Nations Wilkes-Davis – Artist of the Company
Nation Wilkes-Davis in Raymonda
Rosalie O’Connor, Courtesy Boston Ballet
Nations Wilkes-Davis has been dancing with Boston Ballet II since 2018. Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, Wilkes-Davis trained at Kelly/Creek Dance Studio and Pavlovich Ballet School/Columbia Classical Ballet. In 2017, he entered Boston Ballet School’s pre-professional program, where he had the chance to dance as an exchange guest apprentice with Dresden Semperoper Ballet.
