The Mariinsky Ballet is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The Paris Opera Ballet is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded as one of the four most prominent ballet companies in the world, together with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, the Mariinsky Ballet in Saint Petersburg and the Royal Ballet in London.
Violette Verdy was a French ballerina, choreographer, teacher, and writer who worked as a dance company director with the Paris Opera Ballet in France and the Boston Ballet in the United States. From 1958 to 1977 she was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet where she performed in the world premieres of several works created specifically for her by choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. She was Distinguished Professor of Music (Ballet) at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, in Bloomington, and the recipient of two medals from the French government.
Katherine Healy is an American former principal ballerina and actress who also had a professional performing career in figure skating.
The Cincinnati Ballet is a professional ballet company founded as Cincinnati Civic Ballet in 1958, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. After being registered as a company, it had its first performance in 1964.
The Cape Town City Ballet Company, formerly known as the CAPAB Ballet Company, is a dance company based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Helgi Tomasson is an Icelandic choreographer, and a former professional ballet dancer. He served as artistic director and principal choreographer for San Francisco Ballet.
Patricia McBride is a ballerina who spent nearly 30 years dancing with the New York City Ballet. McBride joined the New York City Ballet in 1959. She became a principal in 1961, becoming the company's youngest principal. She danced with the company for 30 years, including roles created for her by choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.
Sara Ann Mearns is an American ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer at New York City Ballet.
Rebecca Krohn is an American retired ballet dancer. She danced with the New York City Ballet as a principal dancer until her retirement in 2017, then became a ballet master and served as one of the interim leaders between late 2017 and early 2019.
Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux is a French ballet dancer and instructor. He is the former artistic director of the Charlotte Ballet and the Chautauqua Institution.
Raymonda Variations, formerly titled Valses et Variations, is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to excepts from Alexander Glazunov's score for the 1898 ballet Raymonda. Instead of following the plot of the 1898 ballet, the Balanchine ballet is plotless. It premiered on December 7, 1961, at the City Center of Music and Drama. Raymonda Variations was made for the New York City Ballet, with the two lead roles originated by Patricia Wilde and Jacques d'Amboise.
Who Cares? is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to songs by George Gershwin that were orchestrated by Hershy Kay. The ballet is split in two parts, the first danced by an ensemble, and the second focuses on four principal dancers. Who Cares? premiered on February 5, 1970, at the New York State Theater, danced by the New York City Ballet.
Alfonso Catá was a Cuban ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, and company director, active in the United States, Switzerland, Germany, and France.
Manuel Legris is a French ballet dancer. He was an étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet for 23 years. On September 1, 2010, he began direction of the Vienna State Ballet. He was appointed artistic director of La Scala Theatre Ballet in December 2020.
The National Ballet of Washington, D.C. was an American national ballet company founded in 1962 by Jean Riddell, granddaughter of the founder of PET Evaporated Milk and artistic director Frederic Franklin, with financial support from the Ford Foundation. Its studios were located at 2801 Connecticut Avenue, NW, in Washington, D.C.
Silas Farley is an American ballet dancer, choreographer and educator. He danced at the New York City Ballet between 2013 and 2020, and choreographed outside the company. Between 2021 and 2023, he was the dean of Colburn School's Trudl Zipper Dance Institute.
Viktoria Valerievna Tereshkina is a Russian ballet dancer, who performs as a principal dancer with the Mariinsky Ballet in Saint Petersburg. People's Artist of Russia (2018). Laureate of the highest theater award of St. Petersburg "Golden Soffit", and Laureate of the IX International Ballet Competition "Arabesque".
Patricia Wilde was a Canadian-born ballerina and dance instructor. She was a principal ballerina of New York City Ballet, where she danced every major role in the repertoire, many of them created especially for her by George Balanchine. Following her retirement from NYCB, she became a famed ballet mistress and teacher. In 1982, she was appointed artistic director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre where she served until 1997. She is a recipient of the Dance Magazine Award and the 56th Inductee into the National Museum of Dance Hall of Fame. Her biography Wilde Times: Patricia Wilde, George Balanchine and the Rise of New York City Ballet, by Joel Lobenthal was published in 2015 by the University Press of New England.
Hope Muir is a Canadian dancer, rehearsal director, teacher and the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada. She danced professionally in the UK and US for seventeen years, until her retirement from performing in 2006. Then, she began working as a rehearsal director and teacher. In 2009, she joined Scottish Ballet as a rehearsal director, and became its associate artistic director in 2015. In 2017, she became the artistic director of Charlotte Ballet. In 2022, she assumed her position at the National Ballet of Canada, officially titled Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director.
