Ballet Bulletin: The Three Month Edition
A juicy round-up of the ballet news of 2025 so far...
This year has had a slow and sleepy start, so the first edition of my ballet news round-up is going to be generously sized… We have a lot to catch up on, so grab a cup of tea and get comfy. And no, you do not have to be sitting in the splits right now to be ‘ballet enough’ to read this.
These bulletins are a little love letter to the joy of dancing, and the small-but-mighty pockets of industry change that I find dotted around the world. I hope they might convert some ballet newbies into ballet nerds, and if you’re already a ballet nerd? You’re welcome. Keep reading for some old news, new news, and everything-in-between news.
The year began with principal dancer of the Royal Ballet, Marianela Nuñez, being awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to dance. With a dazzling rise through the ranks to the title of principal in just 4 years, she has spent a further 20 dancing across all the repertoire that the Royal Ballet has to offer. She’s particularly famous as Kitri in Don Quixote, where her genuine warmth sets her apart from fiery caricatures of this Spanish character. Acclaimed for her extraordinary control, she exudes ease while suspending balances longer than it should be physically possible. Here’s a video commentary of Marianela Nuñez in Swan Lake by soloist and dance educator Kathryn Morgan, for a detailed exploration of that magical technique. While the accolade is well-deserved, it’s interesting to see the ways in which the echoes of ballet’s origins, the royal courts of Italy and France, play out today.
Principal dancer at New York City Ballet has been all over my socials after announcing her retirement. After 25 years with New York City ballet, for me she has immortalised the role of the Dewdrop fairy in George Balanchine’s Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker. Her sparkling footwork and musicality is inimitable. She took her final bow on 12/02/25 in the role of Firebird.
The Whitney Museum of American Art held a multi-media exhibition: “Edges of Ailey explores the groundbreaking artist’s creative process, featuring his archives, art influenced by his legacy, and live performances showcasing his visionary choreography”. Choreographer Okwui Okpokwasili was commissioned for a new work that would incorporate live dance into the exhibition space. Read more about her piece ‘Let Slip, Hold Sway’ here. Dance heritage is a huge area of interest for me, and I’d love to see this exhibition tour around the world. Preferably a bit closer to the UK… For more conversation on this exhibition, you might want to read this interview between Substack account ‘exhibits in new york’ and writer-historian Juliana DeVaan.
Alexei Ratmansky restaged Paquita Grand Pas in a double bill contrasted with George Balanchine’s Minkus Pas de Trois for New York City Ballet. This rehearsal photo is stunning in its own right, but I also loved this review by Marina Harss who paints an evocative picture of this stylish, Spanish-influenced choreography. It’s wonderful to connect with other writers within this small ballet niche on Substack. Ratmansky, with both Ukrainian and Russian root has tirelessly raised awareness of the Russian war on Ukraine. What I discovered recently was his archive of Ukrainian ballet history.
Ashton Edwards, a non-binary dancer of Pacific Northwest Ballet, debuted as Aurora in the company’s latest production of Sleeping Beauty. I loved the energy and charm they brought to this clip from rehearsals of the first act variation. Edwards is developing an varied list of danced repertoire, and in The Nutcracker alone has danced in female roles as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Dew Drop Fairy, and Marzipan lead, as well as male roles including Green Tea Cricket, and Candy-Cane. I’m excited to see what Edwards does next. Pacific Northwest Ballet redesigned all their costumes for this ballet, with graphic lines contrasting delicate tulle. It’s fresh, but, do I love it? I’m not sure.
Embraced Body announced their 2025 HOW WE MOVE artists in residency. Centring lived experience of disability, the selected artists applied before Christmas, and now have the opportunity to generate new work, in an innovatively structured intensive detailed in this interview with Dance Magazine. Working to increase accessibility within the dance industry, you can download their free accessibility workbook here.
But for a choreography intensive opportunity for disabled artists that you can still (just about) apply for, check out the 2025 AXIS applications, due March 9th. This choreo-lab takes place in California.
This striking image of two successful ballerinas has been shared over and over my socials. Featuring Maria Kotchetkova at 152cm, and Sangeun Lee at 182cm, both have turned their stature into their strength. Maria Kotchetkova performs principal roles internationally as a freelance artist and mother. Sangeun Lee is currently Lead Principal at English National Ballet- you might have seen here in the BBC’s Christmas screening of Swan Lake: In The Round, which remains available to watch for a year online. For the ‘short kings’ out there: be inspired by the prize-winning Prix de Lausanne 2025 candidate Shinnosuke Yasuumi’s Prince Désiré performance. This is surely the start of a fabulous career. Reflecting on his career, see Wayne Sleep in conversation with The Royal Ballet and Opera, following the publication of his memoir Just Different in 2024, made available on their Youtube channel. At just 158 centimetres, Wayne Sleep still holds the world record for the fastest entrechat douze that he set in 1973. In this step, the dancer jumps upwards, crossing and uncrossing the legs five times. Sleep performed this feat in 0.71 seconds!
Celebrating 10 years of work, Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet have been republishing posts from their archives. You might have known that Dance Theatre Harlem were the first to debut complexion-matched dancewear for Black dancers, but did you know that this work was done by wardrobe mistress Zelda Wynn? Far more than an Instagram account, you can explore their interactive digital timeline of Black artists’ contributions to ballet from 1846-present day.
Ballet Arizona staged Frida by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, which centres the life and art of Frida Kahlo. This ballet was originally conceptualised as a one act piece named Broken Wings for a triple-bill commissioned by Tamara Rojo, then director of the English National Ballet. Annabelle Lopez Ochoa worked with the Dutch National Ballet in 2020 to further develop this work into a two act ballet. Watch her summarise this experience interviewed by San Francisco Ballet here.
For discussion on documenting dance and dance research, ResDance have released new episodes of their podcast.
Currently touring their production of Hansel and Gretel, Northern Ballet have produced selected Audio Described performances, including a Touch Tour before performances in which audience members can experience costumes and props. More information on booking tickets to these performances in both written and audio formats is available here.
Always at the forefront of choreographic innovation, Northern Ballet are also preparing to dance on home turf in Leeds, Mariposa, a queer reimagining of the opera Madame Butterfly. Choreographed by Carlos Pons Guerra, this piece reworks “Puccini’s Orientalist libretto to post-revolution Cuba, to a dockland world of faded showgirls, troubled sailors and santería spirits, this production is a passionate exploration of what we are ready to surrender in order to be loved and accepted”
The Royal Academy of Dance has received funding to catalogue Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s personal archive, donated the previous year by his Lady Deborah MacMillan. The renowned choreographer of dramatic narrative works including Manon, Mayerling, and Romeo and Juliet, this archive includes “photographs, diaries, and letters – paints a rich picture of MacMillan’s life covering his personal, artistic and business contributions to ballet throughout the 20th century”.
And finally, Houston Ballet have announced the promotion of Harper Watters, who becomes their newest principal dancer. Congratulations!