Natalia Osipova Brings Her Force of Nature Program to California’s Central Coast
Natalia Osipova is typically found selling out famous opera houses around the world. But this month, The Royal Ballet principal is headed to the Sunset Center in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, to make her Central Coast debut. On Friday, February 27, at 7:30 pm, Osipova will star in her one-night-only Force of Nature program, a curated evening […]
The Remarkable Career of Myrna Kamara
There is something soothing about Myrna Kamara’s voice as she teaches. Earlier this month, surrounded by dozens of pre-professional dancers at the 2026 Prix de Lausanne, she led daily warm-ups, encouraging dancers to breathe and lean into the music. In such a high-pressure, nerve-racking environment, she exuded warmth and positivity. The competition’s livestream, viewed by […]
How Ballet West’s Allison DeBona Coached Team USA’s Olympic Freestyle Skiers
Over weeks of training in Park City, Utah, far from the sound of ski edges carving snow, three Olympic hopefuls regularly stepped into Ballet West’s dance studio. Elizabeth Lemley, Rell Harwood, and Grace Henderson, freestyle skiers representing Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics, are there to work on balance, control, and precision. Guiding them […]
Next Generation Ballet’s New Director Maximizes Success with Versatile Program
As the new artistic director of Tampa’s Next Generation Ballet (NGB), Antonio Douthit-Boyd says he brings a “smorgasbord of all the things”—Vaganova and Balanchine training, a prestigious career with Dance Theatre of Harlem and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and over a decade of American Ballet Theatre–certified teaching experience. For NGB students, this means Douthit-Boyd […]
Kevin Thomas’ The Cotillion, for Collage Dance, Honors a Black Coming-of-Age Tradition
Kevin Thomas, artistic director of Collage Dance, feels driven to create movement about subjects to which he is culturally connected. Inspired by Southern Black cotillion culture, his The Cotillion will make its world premiere this month in the company’s signature winter program, Rise. It will run February 20–22 at the Cannon Center for the Performing […]
Meet Stephan Azulay, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Principal Creating Art in the Kitchen
When Royal Winnipeg Ballet principal Stephan Azulay was a child, his parents brought him into two of the family businesses: flamenco and food. His father was a flamenco dancer who also owned several restaurants. “Food is more integrated into flamenco culture than other styles of dance,” Azulay says. “Flamenco is the performances, but it’s also […]
The Australian Ballet’s Sam Akins Shares His Daily Routine
American-born dancer Sam Akins is already a world-traveler. Born in Alabama, he graduated from the School of American Ballet before joining the Los Angeles Ballet and then Alabama Ballet. In 2021, he became the first African American to dance with the Paris Opéra Ballet. “The whole point of me traveling and moving to different countries […]
Friend or Foe?: What to Do When Your Peers’ Behavior Changes Around Auditions
Mary* once carpooled to a professional audition with a friend. They each had their own day to take company class, and her classmate went first. “But the next day, when it was my turn, she said she was coming along ‘just to take class,’ ” says Mary. Her friend said she had asked permission the day […]
Iain Mackay on Changes at The Royal Ballet School, Plus Its First U.S.-Based Summer Intensive
This year, The Royal Ballet School is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Founded in 1926 by Dame Ninette de Valois, the school has since grown into a major international ballet academy producing world-class dancers. “When we look at where we started and where we are today, in some ways it’s like night and day,” says Iain […]
Congratulations to the 2026 Prix de Lausanne Winners
The Winter Olympics may have gotten underway in Milan and Cortina this weekend, but just a few hours north in Switzerland, the ballet world was holding its own elite international competition: the 2026 Prix de Lausanne. Seventy-eight candidates between the ages of 15 and 18, and representing 18 countries, took part in the weeklong scholarship […]