Ballet Dancers You Don’t Want To Miss

By Move Dance on 8th Nov 2019

As there are thousands of dancers around the world, we are giving you a selection of our favourite Ballet dancers that you really don’t want to miss! From The Royal Ballet to Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, all these dancers have dazzled in prestigious roles and are continuing to do so in upcoming works. Here are 7 of our favourites:

Francesca Hayward

As a principal dancer of The Royal Ballet, Francesca Hayward was spotted as a star from a young age, immediately standing out in classes when she attended The Royal Ballet School’s White Lodge. Hayward was then given the role as first artist in 2013, leading to principal in 2016! Taking a break from performing, you can next see Francesca starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s live action remake of CATS, which you can see in cinemas on the 20th December - You don’t want to miss this!

Here is Hayward starring in The Nutcracker - Dance of the Mirlitons, where she plays ‘Clara’:

Alexander Campbell

As a recurring partner (Pas de deux) of Ballerina Francesca Hayward, and another principal of the Royal Ballet, Australian ballet dancer, Alexander Campbell, dances with many companies including Birmingham Royal Ballet, The Royal Ballet and making guest appearances with the Australian Ballet. Alexander’s most popular roles are when dueting with Francesca Hayward, especially when they stunned audiences with their partnering in the Royal Ballet’s ‘Giselle’ and ‘The Nutcracker’.

You can watch a solo clip of Alexander performing in ‘The Nutcracker’ here:

Lauren Cuthbertson

Being promoted to Principal Ballet Dancer of the Royal Ballet in 2002, Lauren Cuthbertson is no stranger to a leading role, having performed in many performances, a famous one being Alice in Wonderland, where she danced the role of Alice.

Here is a very famous scene of the Nutcracker, where Lauren dances the ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ along with the very famous music of Tchaikovsky:

Misty Copeland

As an American dancer, Misty Copeland is the first African American Female Principal Ballet Dancer with the American Ballet Theatre in their 75-year-history! This broke dance conventions, and the dancer still stuns in her popular performances such as ‘Firebird’ where she even created a picture book on this performance!

You can see a clip of Misty performing a Pas De Deux here:

Ashley Shaw

With Matthew Bourne being so popular in the Contemporary Ballet world, Australian dancer Ashley Shaw became a principal of the company in 2010, rising to fame with her leading roles as Victoria Page in ‘The Red Shoes’ where she stunned audiences with her elegant long lines. The dancer’s other roles include Cinderella, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), and she even won The Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Female Performance in 2018.

Here is a short documentary of the making of ‘Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella’:

Clifton Brown

Since joining Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Company in 1999, Clifton Brown is still a member to this day. He is well-known for perfectly performing the very famous ‘Sinnerman’ in Alvin Ailey’s ‘Revelations’. This piece is extremely popular now within the Dance GCSE and A-LEVEL courses present in the UK.

Here is a video of this particular performance:

Matthew Ball

Born in Liverpool, Matthew Ball is no stranger to a Principal role, starring in many Royal Ballet performances and even being cast as the Swan/Stranger in the prestigious ‘Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake’. From being cast as Principal dancer of the Royal Ballet in 2018, as well as Ballet, the dancer has been spotted by many contemporary choreographers across the world including Wayne McGregor and even Hofesh Scechter.

For an insight into a rehearsal with Matthew Ball for the Carlos Acosta’s ‘Carmen’, watch this video:

So there they are, a round up of some of our current favourites. We would also like to know who your favourites are too, so why not head over to our Instagram page @movedancewear as we would love to add to our selection!