Your October Roster Roundup: Dancers and Directors on the Move
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 ballet roster roundup.
Promotions and Appointments
At Stuttgart Ballet, Henrik Erikson and Gabriel Figueredo have been promoted to principal; Mizuki Amemiya to soloist; and Aiara Iturrioz Rico, Edoardo Sartori, Aoi Sawano, and Irene Yang to demi-soloist.
Staatsballett Berlin’s Weronika Frodyma, Haruka Sassa, and Martin ten Kortenaar have been promoted to principal; Danielle Muir and Kalle Wigle to soloist; and Marina Duarte, Gregor Glocke, Leroy Mokgatle, and Clotilde Tran to demi-soloist.
Sarasota Ballet’s Sierra Abelardo has risen to first soloist.
At Pacific Northwest Ballet, Luther DeMyer has been promoted to soloist. Former PNB School professional-division dancers Morgan Barton, Sofia Bidne, Lucas Galvan, and Drew Lybolt will join the company as apprentices in November.
American Ballet Theatre Studio Company members Kayke Carvalho, Brady Farrar, Arisu Hirata, Vince Pelegrin, and Trinity Santoro have been promoted to apprentice.
Santiago Bedoya, Gianna Horton-Sibble, Mayu Nakayama, and Paxton Speight have moved up to the main company from Atlanta Ballet II.
Kansas City Ballet’s Olivia Jacobus and Elliott Rogers have been promoted from apprentice to company artist. Former KCBII dancer Gillian Yoder has been promoted to apprentice.
Alexandra Owens has been promoted to the Ballet Austin main company from BAII.
Ballet Arizona Studio Company members Brooke Bendick, Marco Giuriato, and Jordan Islas have moved up to the main company.
Ballet RI’s Stephen Gunter has been promoted from apprentice to company artist.
Former apprentices Emma Greenawalt, Jessica Lynn, Hannah Smith, and Lauren Vogel have joined the corps at Ballet Tucson.
Kyleigh Johnson has been promoted to Philadelphia Ballet as an apprentice from Philadelphia Ballet II.
The Royal Ballet has announced the appointment of Stuart Cassidy as répétiteur to the principal artists.
Laura Bowman Goldstein has been appointed rehearsal director at Philadelphia Ballet.
American Repertory Ballet company dancer Nanako Yamamoto has been appointed assistant rehearsal director.
Utah Metropolitan Ballet has announced Johnny Zhong as its new assistant artistic director.
Former San Francisco Ballet soloist Hansuke Yamamoto has been named a new SFB School faculty member.
Dutch choreographer Kalpana Raghuraman has been appointed Dutch National Ballet’s new creative associate. Raghuraman’s association will last two years; she will present her first work as creative associate in the spring of 2025.
Farewells, New Arrivals, and Guestings
After 10 years at the National Ballet of Canada, principal Jurgita Dronina will depart the company at the end of the 2024–25 season. She will go on to pursue international performance opportunities.
Lauren Cuthbertson has transitioned from principal to principal guest artist with The Royal Ballet, after two decades with the company.
Paris Opéra Ballet premier danseur Audric Bezard has taken his final bow after 30 years with the company. Jasmine Atrous, Rémi Hairy-Araujo, Natalie Henry, Yeeun Lee, Martin Paul, Indira Sas, and Shale Wagman have joined the POB corps.
In addition, POB has announced its inaugural junior-company cohort: Jaime Almaraz Baizán, Davide Alphandery, Ève Belguet, Grace Boyd, Angélique Brosse, Typhaine Gervais, Junsu Lee, Yoon Seo Lee, Mei Matsunaga, Sergio Napodano, Shani Obadia, Isaac Petit, Laure Ravera, Santiago Sales Manzanera, Emryck Sanchez-Raffy, India Shackel, Jackson Smith–Leishman, and Natalie Vikner.
American Ballet Theatre has announced its new Studio Company members: Maximilian Catazaro, Daniel Guzmán, Paloma Livellara, Kayla Mak, Aaron Marquez, Nicholas Mihlar, Sooha Park, and Natalie Steele.
Staatsballett Berlin welcomes the following new dancers: soloist Riho Sakamoto; demi-soloist Andrea Marino; and corps members Bárbara Andrade, Paulina Rosa Blum, Olmo Verbeeck Martínez, and Inara Wheeler.
Danila Marzili, Claire Tjoe-Fat, Elizabeth Williams, and Seira Winning have joined Scottish Ballet as artists.
Alberta Ballet says hello to new corps artists Zara Bailey, Tess Browning, Jolie Rose Lombardo, Mirko Melandri, Federico Vitali, Macyn Vogt, and Alfonso Maria Guerriero; and apprentices Teodora Dvoretski and Hinata Takahara.
Khulan Burenjargal, Sophie Poulain, Emanuel Tavares, and Nicholas Yurkevich have joined Atlanta Ballet.
Michaela Martin-Mason, Luis Fernando Rego, Kira Robinson, and Joshuan Vazquez have joined Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Mikal Gilbert and Amanda Smith have joined Alonzo King LINES Ballet.
At Ballet Memphis, Cayce Cavett, Nicolas Gongora, Noah Long, and Harry Warshaw have joined as company dancers.
Charlotte Ballet welcomes new company dancers Maia Lee, Fuki Takahashi, and Adriana Wagenveld.
At Ballet RI, Styles Dykes has joined as a company dancer, and Maya Sprague and Jackson Calhoun as apprentices.
Jakobe Geddes and Diyah have joined Collage Dance Collective as company dancers.
New Jersey Ballet says hello to new dancers Julian Goodwin-Ferris, Aram Hengen, and Michael Paradiso.
At Ballet Hispánico, Francesca Levita has joined as a company dancer.
Dayton Ballet welcomes new dancers Connor Barak, Tomasin Corrente, Tarique Logan, and Catherine Voorhees.
Emmakate Franz, William Heide,and Benjamin Piner have joined Ballet Arkansas as company members.
Jared Cordova, Miguel Guevara, and Logan McIntosh have joined Saint Louis Ballet’s main company.
Gavin Hounslow has joined American Repertory Ballet as a company dancer.
Joseph Boswell and Keaton Linzau have joined Kansas City Ballet as apprentices.
At New York Theatre Ballet, Mitchell Walsh and Kristina Shaw have joined as company dancers.
Fort Wayne Ballet’s Katherine Cackovic has retired from the stage. The company welcomes new dancers Chloe Dockendorff and Max Lippman.
Canyon Concert Ballet says hello to new company dancers Sophia Asta, Kendra Carroll, Loren Khan, Eliza Moore, Mana Nozaki, Luma Nunes, Savannah Rasmussen, Kelsey Smith, Seth Walley, and Adalyn MacDonald.
Claire Duritza, Madeline Duritza, Juliette McLaughlin, and Parker Brenden Niksich have joined Utah Metropolitan Ballet’s company; Sydney Lee joins as an apprentice.
Zoe Brown has joined Northwest Arkansas Ballet Theatre as a company dancer.
Royal Ballet principal Reece Clarke will join American Ballet Theatre as a guest artist for its 2024 fall season in New York City.
Awards and Recognitions
Dutch National Ballet principal Olga Smirnova is the winner of the 2024 Alexandra Radius Prize, an annual award presented by the Friends of Dutch National Ballet foundation that honors a company dancer of distinction from the past season.
Ballet Black’s Ebony Thomas has been nominated for Best Performer at the upcoming Black British Theatre Awards for his performance in Mthuthuzeli November’s The Waiting Game. November has been nominated for Best Choreography for the same ballet.
National Ballet of Canada principal Christopher Gerty has won the 2024 Dancers First Award, for his performances in the title role of John Cranko’s Onegin and as Espada in Carlos Acosta’s Don Quixote. The Dancers First Award recognizes outstanding performances in the previous season and is overseen by members of NBoC’s artistic staff.
Wiener Staatsballett demi-soloist Duccio Tariello has received the 2024 sponsorship award from the Friends of the Vienna State Ballet.
Fini Dance Festival and Italian International Dance Awards has announced Francesco Messina, an apprentice with The Washington Ballet, as the recipient of its Rising Star Award.
