Kayla Mak surges with energy in George Balanchine’s sprightly Tarantella pas de deux. At a gala for Youth America Grand Prix this spring, the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company dancer brought just the right amount of attack to her performance, showcasing her boundless jump and sharp musicality. A fixture on the competition and convention circuit […]

July 18 marks the end of an era: Gillian Murphy, American Ballet Theatre’s longest-standing current dancer, will give her final performance in Swan Lake after a 29-year career. (She’s been a principal dancer there since 2002.) Known for her bold technical strength, she is also an artist of profound intelligence, bringing nuanced, thoughtful interpretations to ballets like Sylvia, La Bayadère, La […]

In the first episode of Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino’s series “Étoile,” a ballet company director from Paris says to another in New York City: “I propose a swap!” They devise a plan—which becomes the premise for the whole show—to rescue both organizations from their post-COVID fragility: They’ll trade artists for a year, a publicity […]

Jane Vorburger seemed well-qualified to teach dance back in 2008, after dancing with American Ballet Theatre for five years, getting a master’s degree in dance from New York University, and teaching at ABT and top studios like Steps on Broadway. But there was something else she felt she needed: a dance teacher certification. “When I […]

What does the world look like through the eyes of a dance photographer? In this new series, some of the field’s most talented photographers will share images from their archives that are especially compelling or meaningful to them, even if they haven’t been published previously. First up is Rosalie O’Connor, who danced with American Ballet […]

Creative costumes are like moving sculptures, seamlessly blending with sets and lighting to help dancers and choreographers bring another world to life onstage. But they can bring challenges, too. Physical therapist Giovanna Salerno, PT, DPT, OCS, says that she’s worked with several patients whose ailments can be traced to costumes. “You’re having to perform and […]

Where is the dance field headed next? The dancers, choreographers, directors, and companies on our annual “25 to Watch” list offer heartening, imaginative, exciting possible answers to that question. Whether or not you’re already familiar with these up-and-comers, our editors and contributors from across the dance world predict that we’ll be hearing a lot more from these artists on the verge of a breakout in 2025 and beyond.

In the December 1994 issue of Dance Magazine, John Gruen wrote of an 18-year-old American Ballet Theatre soloist named Paloma Herrera, “Here was a prodigy at work.” He was referring to her performances of Balanchine’s demanding Theme and Variations that spring; to have been in the audience, he wrote, “was to be in the presence of a near miracle.”