Your September Roster Roundup: Dancers and Directors on the Move
It’s the start of a new season, and the past few weeks have brought another exciting round of ballet career news. Check out the latest farewells, appointments, promotions, and more in your September 2025 roster roundup.
Promotions and Appointments
American Ballet Theatre has named its Fall 2025 apprentice program dancers: Max Barker, Elijah Geolina, Daniel Guzmán, Paloma Livellara, and Kayla Mak.
Hugo Mestres, Maya Milić, Alexander Perone, and Kylie Takeno Williams have all been promoted to New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet.
At the Stuttgart Ballet, Matteo Miccini and Daiana Ruiz have moved up to principal; and Priscylla Gallo, Satchel Tanner, and Abigail Willson-Heisel are now soloists.
Joel Calstar-Fisher has been promoted to principal at Estonian National Ballet.
Colorado Ballet has announced a slew of promotions: Bryce Lee, Ariel McCarty, and Jeremy Studinski to soloist; Christopher Mitchell to demi-soloist; Mylie Buck, Leopold Foster, and Lili Travaglia to the corps; and Alexander Holms and Rheana Montesantos to apprentice.
At Oklahoma City Ballet, Paige Russell has moved up to soloist. Kesler Colton and Leah Reiter have been promoted to the corps, and John Aguirre, Annabelle Gourley, Aylani Guajardo, Isabella Saclolo, and Sarah Beth Wriston have become apprentices.
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens’ Aurora De Mori and Marcel Gutiérrez have been promoted to soloist. Bernard Dubois II and Flemming Puthenpurayil are now demi-soloists, and former apprentices Éliane Jacques and Benjamin Poirier have joined the corps.
Carolina Ballet has announced the following promotions: Ayla O’Day, Luke Potgieter, Madeline Rogers, and Deirdre Scanlon to principal; Elye Bailey, Emily Fretz, Pierson Hall, Anna Ingold, and Sofia Rose Peetoom to soloist; and Daphne Little and Fiona McKiernan to the corps.
The Sarasota Ballet’s Sierra Abelardo and Ze Ellis have been promoted to junior principal and coryphée, respectively.
At Eugene Ballet, Joshua Downard has been promoted to principal, and Siobhan Nickell has moved up from aspirant to company dancer.
At Miami City Ballet, Chloe Humphrey has been promoted to the corps.
Clay Houston has been promoted from Charlotte Ballet II to the main company.
Natalia Garcia has moved up from apprentice to company dancer at Grand Rapids Ballet.
Roman Aldrete will dance with The Washington Ballet’s main company after a year in its studio company.
Ballet BC has promoted Imani Frazier, Joziah German, and Kelsey Lewis to company member.
Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Felix Jinga and Rafe Perry are now corps members.
At Indianapolis Ballet, Grace Mullins has been promoted to company artist.
Former Grand Rapids Ballet apprentice Wade Mesecar is now a full company dancer.
Jackson Mitchell has been promoted to Milwaukee Ballet’s main company from MBII.
Madeline Colesano, Sophia Davis, and Ruiko Jacobs have moved up to company dancer at Avant Chamber Ballet.
At Canyon Concert Ballet, Naomi Langill, Samantha Sherry, and Emily Thompson have been promoted to soloist. Conner Horak-Flood has been appointed the company’s new rehearsal director and CCB2 director for the 2025–26 season.
Madeline Diehl has moved from apprentice to company artist at Nevada Ballet Theatre, and Carmen Rossi and Mallory Sweeney have been promoted from NBTII to apprentice.
City Ballet of San Diego’s Leah Andersen and Katelyn Cecil have moved up to company artist.
At St. Louis Ballet, Magnolia Chesney, Amelia Erich, and Ava Schandlbauer have moved up to company artist.
Jayda Hazelett has moved up to the corps at Ballet Hartford.
Hanha Stephenson and Augusta Vining have been promoted from apprentice to artist in residence at Ballet Frontier of Texas.
Louisville Ballet has announced the appointment of Anthony Krutzkamp to artistic director, effective October 1, 2025.
Starting in January 2026, Leanne Stojmenov will become West Australian Ballet’s new artistic director. Stojmenov has served as a rehearsal director for WAB since 2024.
Philip Neal will join Boston Ballet as artistic assistant director in October 2025, following the departure of Russell Kaiser. Antonio Douthit-Boyd, current artistic director of dance at St. Louis’ Center of Creative Arts (COCA),will succeed Neal as chair of Florida’s Patel Conservatory Dance Department and artistic director of Next Generation Ballet.
At Texas Ballet Theater, Kathy Warakomsky-Li has been appointed principal rehearsal director. Warakomsky-Li most recently directed the TBT Studio Training Company.
Eglevsky Ballet has announced that Peter LeBreton Merz has succeeded Maurice Brandon Curry as the organization’s new artistic director.
Farewells, New Arrivals, and Guestings
The new 2025–26 American Ballet Theatre Studio Company dancers are Matteo Curley Bynoe, Ptolemy Gidney, Delfina Nelson-Todd, Viktoria Papakalodouka, Geonhee Park, Younjae Park, Audrey Tovar-Dunster, and Xavier Xué.
Alexei Orohovsky and Yana Peneva have been hired as soloists with the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia.
New York City Ballet welcomes Ryan Tomash, from the Royal Danish Ballet, as a soloist for the 2026–26 season.
Macarena Giménez has joined Miami City Ballet as a principal from Sarasota Ballet, and Shimon Ito has returned to MCB as a principal soloist after dancing at Carolina Ballet for two seasons. Lorenzo Dunton joins as a new corps member.
Boston Ballet has announced five new dancers joining the company: Madoka Sugai (from Hamburg Ballet) and WanTing Zhao (from San Francisco Ballet) as principals; Francisco Schilereff as a second soloist; and Katie Cerny and Spencer Wetherington as artists. The following dancers have joined Boston Ballet II: Zoe Cartier, Ethan Collins, Aubrey Daniels, Bogyeong Kim, Louis Millard, Alexander Mockrish, and Alberto Gil Vicente,.
Former Philadelphia Ballet principal Nayara Lopes has joined Finnish National Ballet as a first soloist.
After 11 years with Scottish Ballet, soloist Javier Andreu left the company after his final performance in Mary, Queen of Scots on August 17.
Former Sarasota Ballet soloist Lauren Ostrander McArdle took her last bow this summer after an 11-year performance career.
Eugene Ballet’s Ethan Boresow, Erin Johnson, and Antonio Lopez have retired from the stage.
Deos Contemporary Ballet’s Leah Haggard took her final bow on August 3. The company welcomes new artist Veronica Jaspers.
Dance Theatre of Harlem welcomes new dancers Renan Cerdeiro, Jhaelin McQuay, and Sean Miller for the 2025–26 season.
Kylie Miller has moved to Ballet BC as a company artist. Nathan Bear and Emma Kuusela have returned as emerging artists, joined by Stan Tonin and Kailey Worontsoff.
At Oklahoma City Ballet, Callum Findlay-White and Tessa Hogge have joined as corps members, and Eichi Fujita and Yeva-Mariia Skorenka as apprentices.
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens welcomes Maeva Marcolini-Bowes to the corps.
Charlotte Ballet says hello to new artist Joseph Hetzer.
Natalia Garcia and Rheya Shano have joined Grand Rapids Ballet.
Three former Sarasota Ballet dancers have joined Milwaukee Ballet: Jennifer Hackbarth, as a leading artist, and Mihai Costache and Ivan Spitale, as artists.
Ballet Arizona welcomes Veronica Hanson, Madison Penney, Braden Pollack, and McKenzie Thomas to the company.
João Pedro Silva has moved to BalletX from Collage Dance Collective.
At Alberta Ballet, Sean Rollofson has joined as a soloist; Andrea Arbasino, Paloma Bonnin, Grace Campbell, Zoe Horn, Isabel Johnson-Darby, and Yi-Min Tsung have joined the corps.
Sumin Lee has joined Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s corps.
Ballet Memphis says hello to new dancers Anna Leong, Sean Sessions, and Cassandra Thoms.
Ian Anderson-Conlon, Christopher Balbuena, and Kayleigh Western have joined Louisville Ballet.
Four new dancers will begin in Carolina Ballet’s corps: Tristan Blaquiere, Luis Pauletta, Isaiah Salas, and Noah Sanchez.
At Nevada Ballet Theatre, Sarah Knutson, Jessica Ousterhout, and Bailey Roberts have joined as company artists.
Isabella Franco has joined Richmond Ballet as a company dancer.
Pasha Levy will dance in The Sarasota Ballet’s corps this season.
New York Theatre Ballet welcomes six new dancers: Julia Felippi, Isaac Garcia, Nicholas Myers, Omar Rodriguez, Samantha Sacks, and Sarah Wolff.
Abigail Jacobs and Thomas Montgomery have joined Rochester City Ballet.
Carolyn Ansinn, Sadie May Beebe, Caitlin Federer, Alexa Pierce, and Tyler Trussell have joined Canyon Concert Ballet.
Jared Brouillette will dance with St. Louis Ballet as a company artist.
Ballet San Antonio says hello to new dancers Emilie Geib, Sofia Marquez, and Luciano Perotto.
Maya Adams, Jacqueline Bertault, Emelia Perkins, Sanford Placide, and Alex Schooling are Zikr Dance Ensemble’s newest company dancers.
At Boulder Ballet, Rhys Hudson, Lucia Lorenzo, Julia Meister, and Benjamin Rabe have joined as company artists.
Lauren Fiddes has joined Avant Chamber Ballet.
Ballet Fantastique’s newest company members are Jacob Amey, Brianne Falanga, and Jasmine Gilbert.
Ballet Hartford welcomes Daniel Cooke as a principal and Eduardo Varas-Heiss as a corps member.
Tessa Castellano, Skyler Newcom, Sarah Price, PJ Spags, and Nathaniel Urie have joined Chicago Repertory Ballet.
Awards and Recognitions
The University of Birmingham has presented Birmingham Royal Ballet artistic director Carlos Acosta with an honorary degree, the highest honor awarded by the university. Acosta has also been selected by the UK Theatre board to receive the Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre Award.
BalletX artistic and executive director Christine Cox has been named Innovator of the Year at The Philadelphia Citizen’s Rad Awards.
Staatsballett Berlin was recognized as a “Highlight of 2025” in tanz magazine’s annual Yearbook awards. Artist in residence Marcos Morau was named “Choreographer of the Year.”
