Aran Bell

Last updated

Aran Bell
Born (1998-10-07) October 7, 1998 (age 23)
Bethesda, Maryland, US
OccupationBallet dancer
Years active2014–present
Current group American Ballet Theatre

Aran Bell (born October 7, 1998) is an American ballet dancer. He was featured in the 2011 documentary First Position , and became a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre at age 21.

Contents

Early life and training

Bell was born on October 7, 1998, in Bethesda, Maryland. [1] [2] As his father was a U.S. Navy doctor, Bell was homeschooled and lived in different parts of the country and in Naples, Italy. [3] Bell, who started ballet at age 4, trained at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet for three years as well as with private teachers. [4] [3] He studied a variety of styles including the Vaganova method and Balanchine technique. [3] During the four and a half years Bell's father was stationed in Naples, Bell and his mother travelled to Rome six times a week to train with Denys Ganio, who had danced with Roland Petit's company. [3] He also studied under Fabrice Herrault in New York City, and was enrolled in American Ballet Theatre's summer intensive for several years. [4]

At age 11, Bell competed at the Youth America Grand Prix, where he won the overall prize in the junior division. [1] [5] He was one of six competitors profiled in the 2011 documentary First Position . [5] [1]

Career

In 2014, at age 16, Bell joined the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, and stayed for a second year as a result of a growth spurt. He became an apprentice with the main company in 2016 and joined the corps de ballet the following year. [6] [7] In 2018, at age 19, Bell danced Romeo in Romeo and Juliet with principal dancer Devon Teuscher as Juliet, when the dancer scheduled to dance the role was injured. [7] The New York Times called his performance "an astonishingly impressive debut." [8] The following year, he represented ABT at the Erik Bruhn Prize with colleague Catherine Hurlin, [9] made his debut as Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake and Prince Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty , and was promoted to soloist. [6] In 2020, though some of his major debuts were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Bell was promoted to principal dancer at age 21, which was unusually young. [10]

Related Research Articles

Julie Kent (dancer) American ballet dancer

Julie Kent is an American ballet dancer; she was a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre from 1993 to June 2015. In 2016, she was named the artistic director of The Washington Ballet.

Sascha Radetsky is a former ballet dancer and actor. He was a soloist with the American Ballet Theatre and a principal with Dutch National Ballet. He is known for having starred as Charlie in the motion picture Center Stage and as Ross in the Starz miniseries Flesh and Bone. In 2018 he was named artistic director of American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company.

Gonzalo Garcia is a Spanish American ballet dancer. He joined the San Francisco Ballet in 1998, and was promoted to principal in 2002, at age 22. In 2007, he left the company and joined the New York City Ballet. He retired from performing in 2022 and remains in the company as a repertory director.

Hee Seo South Korean ballet dancer

Hee Seo is a South Korean ballet dancer who is a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. She became the company's first Korean ballerina to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT's 75-year history. She is also one of the youngest dancers in ABT history to be promoted to principal at the age of twenty-six. The New York Times has described her style and dancing to "exude an unhurried purity that sums up all that is lovely about ballet" and by Vogue as "unspeakably lissome". Several critics have noted her style as "lyrical and open" and she has been critically acclaimed for her "humility" and "unique feminine strength".

Paul Cornell "Cory" Stearns is an American ballet dancer who is a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. Stearns is also a high fashion model.

Carlo Di Lanno is an Italian ballet dancer. He is a former Principal Dancer with the San Francisco Ballet and Dresden Semperoper Ballett. He trained and graduated at Accademia Teatro alla Scala, and danced with Teatro alla Scala and Staatsballett Berlin.

Herman Cornejo

Herman Cornejo is an Argentine-born ballet dancer and a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre. He has had leading roles created for him by Alexei Ratmansky and Twyla Tharp; his signature roles include Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, and the leading male role in Ratmansky's Symphony No. 9.

Stella Abrera Filipina-American ballet dancer

Stella Abrera is a Filipina-American ballet dancer. She danced as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre until her retirement in 2020, and is the company's first Filipina principal ballerina. She is now the artistic director of the dance cultural park Kaatsbaan.

Ida Praetorius Danish ballet dancer

Ida Praetorius is a Danish ballet dancer. She joined the Royal Danish Ballet in 2010, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2016. In 2021, she joined the Hamburg Ballet as a principal dancer.

Devon Teuscher is an American ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.

Caroline Baldwin is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen.

Calvin Royal III is an American ballet dancer. He is the third black dancer to be a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.

Cassandra Trenary is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.

Joo Won Ahn is a South Korean ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.

Thomas Forster is an English ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.

Catherine Hurlin is an American ballet dancer. She joined the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in 2014 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2022.

Tina Pereira Trinidadian-Canadian ballet dancer and designer

Tina Pereira is a Trinidadian-Canadian ballet dancer and designer. She joined the National Ballet of Canada in 2001, then the Dutch National Ballet in 2004. She returned to the Canadian company in 2006, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2021.

Siphesihle November is a South African ballet dancer. He joined the National Ballet of Canada in 2017 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2021, at age 22.

Indiana Woodward is a French ballet dancer. She joined the New York City Ballet in 2012, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2021.

Daniel Camargo is a Brazilian ballet dancer. He joined the Stuttgart Ballet in 2009, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2013. In 2016, he left to join the Dutch National Ballet, before leaving in 2019 to pursue a freelance career. In 2022, he joined the American Ballet Theatre.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Aran Bell". Dance Magazine . November 15, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Aran Bell". American Ballet Theatre. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Harss, Marina (December 21, 2019). "American Ballet Theatre's Catherine Hurlin and Aran Bell Are on the Fast Track Towards Stardom". Pointe Magazine.
  4. 1 2 "The Boys of Ballet: Meet 8 Up-and-Coming Danseurs". Dance Magazine. March 1, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Dargis, Manohla (May 3, 2012). "Tracking Ballet's Pull on Youth Worldwide". New York Times.
  6. 1 2 Lansky, Chava (July 5, 2019). "ABT's Aran Bell and Joo Won Ahn Have Been Promoted to Soloist". Pointe Magazine.
  7. 1 2 Kourlas, Gia (June 11, 2018). "A Corps Dancer Leaps Into His Romeo Debut". New York Times.
  8. ↑ Macaulay, Alastair (June 15, 2018). "4 Buzzy 'Romeo and Juliet' Debuts, 1 Fainthearted Production". New York Times.
  9. ↑ Lansky, Chava (March 25, 2019). "Congrats to 2019 Erik Bruhn Prize Winners Siphesihle November and Catherine Hurlin". Pointe Magazine.
  10. ↑ Jacobs, Julia (September 10, 2020). "American Ballet Theater Promotes Dancers Despite Pandemic Slump". New York Times.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.