There’s a serenity and ease to every one of Miranda Silveira’s movements. Even in a lightning-fast classical variation, her port de bras is effortlessly liquid. Growing up in Barcelona, Spain, Silveira excelled at everything from hip hop to tap to contemporary. She moved to Madrid at 14 to start getting serious about ballet at the […]
With her endless limbs and regal bearing, Amanda Morgan is an arresting presence onstage. Born in Tacoma, WA, Morgan studied at Dance Theatre Northwest and Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and attended summer courses at Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Boston Ballet School, and the School of American Ballet. In 2016, Morgan was offered an apprenticeship with […]
Alexandra Terry didn’t always dream about pointe shoes and tutus. Though she took dance class as a child, it was competitive gymnastics that originally captured her interest. (She credits the powerful strength that undergirds her ballet technique to years of repetitive routines on beams and mats.) At 13, Terry started commuting an hour and a […]
The answer to Canton, MI, native Precious Adams’ ballet dreams lay abroad. Adams studied at the National Ballet School of Canada (relatively near her home in Michigan), and eventually her desire to seek out the best possible training led her even further afield, to the Monte Carlo Ballet’s Princess Grace Academy, and the Bolshoi Ballet […]
In 2011, after dancing with American Repertory Ballet and Nashville Ballet, Rachael Parini had decided to retire her ballet shoes. At that point, she was a sophomore at Florida State University, planning to major in political science and international affairs and to work for the State Department when she graduated. But then another black ballerina […]
As a student at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy, American Ballet Theatre corps member Erica Lall saw iconic former Houston Ballet principal Lauren Anderson on a regular basis. “I think I assumed her position as an African-American principal dancer was a one-time thing,” Lall says. “Lauren became a principal in 1990. Why aren’t there dozens […]
“I had a unique path to dance,” says Nardia Boodoo, a luminous, elegant dancer with The Washington Ballet. She briefly studied ballet as a child, but didn’t start serious training until she was 14 years old, attending Baltimore School for the Arts. “I didn’t know what a pirouette was,” she says. “I would wake up […]
Misty Copeland. Her name is synonymous with exquisite artistry and outspoken advocacy. And her visibility has made a huge impact on the ballet world. Ballet’s relationship with race has always been strained at best, hostile at worst. But Copeland’s persistent message and star quality have finally forced the ballet industry to start talking about racial […]