In August, American Ballet Theatre Soloist Jake Roxander was awarded the prestigious 2024 Princess Grace Award Honoraria, a recognition of his remarkable talent and unwavering commitment to his craft. The Princess Grace Foundation-USA, dedicated to promoting the legacy of Princess Grace of Monaco (née Grace Kelly), elevates extraordinary emerging artists in theater, dance, and film through career-advancing grants.

American Ballet Theatre shares a rich history with the Princess Grace Foundation, having nominated several dancers for the award since its inception, approximately one per year.

Roxander began his dance training at the age of eight, studying with his parents at their school, Studio Roxander in his hometown of Medford, Oregon. He participated in YAGP during this time, receiving the Grand Prix Award four consecutive years from 2016-2019 as well as numerous full scholarships. Roxander joined Pennsylvania Ballet II in 2019 and joined ABT Studio Company in September 2020. He became an apprentice with ABT’s main Company in May 2022, joined the corps de ballet in September 2022, and was promoted to soloist in March 2024.

In 2023, he was recognized as one of The New York Times’ “8 Breakout Stars of 2023” as well as Dance Magazine’s “Top 25 to Watch.” He was also awarded the Clive Barnes Award for dance in 2024.

His repertoire with ABT is vast and varied, including roles as Puck (The Dream), peasant pas de deux (Giselle), Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet), Lensky (Onegin), Juan Alejándrez (Like Water for Chocolate), Benno and the Neapolitan Dance (Swan Lake), and leading roles in Études, Piano Concerto No. 1, and Woolf Works.

A Legacy of Excellence

Current ABT Dancers 

To be honored with a Princess Grace Award is an impressive achievement, and we are proud to have so many dancers from this respected group at ABT.

Current ABT dancers who have received the Princess Grace Award include corps de ballet member Andrew Robare (2023), Principal Dancer Catherine Hurlin (2018), Principal Dancer Skylar Brandt (2013), and Principal Dancer Isabella Boylston (2009).

In 1998, Principal Dancer Gillian Murphy was honored with the Princess Grace Award. Later, in 2009, Gillian was awarded the Princess Grace Foundation’s highest honor, the Statue Award.

Former ABT Dancers

Although no longer dancing with ABT, our former dancers contribute to the rich history of ABT dancers honored by the Princess Grace Foundation—a list of past ABT honorees includes:

Former Soloists Joseph Gorak and Blaine Hoven were honored in 2011 and 2008, respectively.

Former Principal Dancer Jeffrey Cirio was recognized in 2009.

Ricardo Torres, a former member of the corps de ballet, received the award in 2001.

Roxander’s recognition as a 2024 Princess Grace Award honoree marks a significant milestone in his incredible journey. As he joins the distinguished ranks of ABT dancers who have made significant contributions both to our Company and the world of ballet, this award solidifies his growing impact on the art form.

The writer, Madi Schaaf, is an ABT Press Intern for Fall 2024.

As part of ABT’s Pride Month initiatives, the ABT RISE Legacy Committee is honored to feature Leopold Samuel Allen (1945-1989), the first resident Hair and Makeup Artist for American Ballet Theatre and a cornerstone of the Company from 1978 to 1988.

From tying satin ribbons to wearing dazzling sequined tutus, what a dancer wears on stage captivates the audience’s attention as much as their flawless pirouette or stunning penché. As the world of ballet enters a contemporary era of storytelling, costuming is living beyond the tulle tutus of Swan Lake to a statement of inclusivity with Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works.

Before the creation of modern tutus and pointe shoes in the seventeenth century, male dancers wore tonnelets or fabric wired skirts, while female dancers wore costumes that resembled court dresses. No matter the gender, both males and females danced in heeled shoes. By the eighteenth century, costuming began to shift with everyday fashion trends. Male dancers wore vests and breeches while female dancers began to shorten their court style dresses for more flexibility to dance.

In 1832, there was a substantial change in costuming with Marie Taglioni debuting the Romantic tutu and the first version of pointe shoes at the Paris Opera. In the ballet La Sylphide, Taglioni’s multilayer below the knee-above the midcalf tutu caught the attention of other dancers who wanted to dress in the same style on stage, thus creating a future for costuming in ballet. Today, versions of the Romantic tutu are worn by current ABT corps de ballet members in Giselle.

During the1880s, the Romantic tutu was shortened as footwork became more intricate. From the cut of the Romantic tutu, the Classic tutu that is seen in Swan Lake was created. There are four versions of the Classic tutu that vary in different framing, netting, hoops, and pleats, with all tutus protruding from the hip and shorter in length. The pancake tutu is short, has a wired hoop, pleated, and has layers of tulle. The platter tutu is like the pancake tutu but has a flat top layer that is decorated instead of pleats. On the other hand, the bell tutu has layers of netting and does not have a wired hoop allowing for the tutu to fall into a bell shape. Finally, the powder-puff tutu does not have a wired hoop and has layers of netting allowing it to be more free forming. These tutus are seen in majority of classical ballets worn by female dancers.

Both the Romantic and Classic tutus have become a universal symbol to represent ballerinas. Along with their stunning designs and the ability to display complex footwork, their original intent was for female dancers to look weightless to connect with the femineity of the characters they portrayed on stage. When male dancers switched from tonnelets to vest and breeches in the hopes of matching fashion trends, they were trying to distance themselves from the connotation between long skirts and womanhood. Once this distinction was made, using gender fluid costuming became a storytelling element, as it is used in Woolf Works to focus on versality of character.

Inspired by the life and work of Virigina Woolf, Wayne McGregor’s full-length ballet, Woolf Works, does not limit costuming by gender when paying homage to the novel Orlando. Written in honor of the romance of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West, Orlando is the story of discovering one’s identity across centuries and gender.

From Orlando, McGregor created “Becomings,” during which costume designer Moritz Junge uses costuming inspired by the seventeenth century to remind the audience of internal identity being genderless. One example of this being: in the act, both male and female cast members are draped in a solid gold dress that has similar properties as the classic tutu by protruding from the hip but with a skirt that extends to the floor level further than a romantic tutu. To allow for movement the costume’s seam is backed with elastic fabric.

Additionally, as “Becomings” is performed, the cast is seen in gender androgynous costuming that includes calf level leggings and miniature tutus in solid gold fabric. The fabric of the tutu is folded on top of itself, creating its own structural support. Both types of costumes include Elizabethan style collar that are tributed to the seventeenth century. Additionally, some of the female characters in the scene wear black, platter tutus that have an addition of black sheer like fabric that is in between the length of the gold dress and a Romantic tutu.

The costume’s color gold is used as a reflective element for dancers to stand out on stage against the dark background. Ninety percent of the fabric is metal and is from a fabric manufacture based in Switzerland. This fabric stylistically complements the use of lasers throughout the ballet. These lasers are used during Woolf Works to show a change in time.

Woolf Works’s innovative costuming makes a statement on character and casting in the ballet industry. The beautiful collaboration between choreographer Wayne McGregor, costume designer Mortiz Junge, and lighting designer Lucy Carter shows how the future of ballet can explore gender identity.

The evolution of court dresses to Romantic tutus to Classic tutus for female dancers and from tonnelets to vest and breeches for male dancers is disregarded as “Becomings” in Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works highlights the styles of the seventeenth century while using Virigina Woolf’s influence of gender androgyny.

The writer, Camron Wright, was the ABT Press Intern for Spring 2024.

2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Prix de Lausanne. An international ballet competition for young dancers, the Prix de Lausanne provides participants the opportunity to develop their skills and showcase their potential to leading ballet companies around the world.

Dancers perform and compete in front of the Prix de Lausanne Jury of renown dance personalities for scholarship opportunities, apprenticeships, medals, and cash prizes.

American Ballet Theatre has been a close partner of the Prix de Lausanne, sending a number of dancers, faculty, and staff to the competition over the years. The ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School is a Partner School of the Prix de Lausanne, while ABT Studio Company is a Partner Company.

2023 Competition 

ABT sent three members of the ABT family to Lausanne this year: Aleisha Walker, Madison Brown, and Lilia Greyeyes.

As friends, colleagues, and a stellar choreographic-dancer duo, ABT apprentice Aleisha Walker and ABT Studio Company member Madison Brown competed in the Young Creation Award competition for which Aleisha’s Do You Care? was one of five worldwide finalists out of over 80 entrants. Madison performed Aleisha’s solo in front of the Prix de Lausanne Jury and a live-streamed audience on Wednesday, February 1. Later that evening, Aleisha was honored with one of two coveted Young Creation Awards.

Aleisha’s solo Do You Care? set to “Nocturnal Waltz” by Johannes Bornlöf will now become part of the competition’s contemporary repertoire.

Representing the ABT JKO School in the Partner School Choreographic Project at the 2023 Prix de Lausanne, Lilia Greyeyes was part of a new work by Goyo Montero and performed with other representative students from Prix de Lausanne Partner Schools around the world. Lilia was recently promoted from the ABT JKO School to ABT Studio Company – congratulations!