From flocks of swans to festive court peasants, the corps de ballet simultaneously acts as the backdrop and backbone of the Company. Each year, American Ballet Theatre awards one member of the corps de ballet with the title of Jennifer Alexander Dancer, identifying a dancer who stands out for their professionalism, dedication, and perseverance. In 2007 when Jennifer Alexander was a member of the corps, she tragically passed away in an automobile incident. The Jennifer Alexander Memorial Fund was established in 2008 to honor her memory. 

This year ABT honors Nathan Vendt as the 2026 Jennifer Alexander Dancer, making him the first male recipient of the award.

In the corps de ballet, the level of talent and amount of hard work that Nathan’s fellow dancers dedicate to ABT motivates him every day. “It’s a real treasure just to work with these people, and they are the greatest dancers in the country all in one company,” said Nathan. 

Nathan didn’t begin dancing until the age of 14, a bit later than most ballet dancers perusing a professional career. Both of Nathan’s sisters were ballet dancers, so he frequently attended their competitions to support them. One year at dinner after watching his sisters perform in YAGP, “I had made light of how easy it looked to do. So, they both dared me and my brother to take a class,” Nathan said. 

Only taking one class a week for roughly two years, Nathan began with a relaxed approach to ballet. “I wasn’t really pushing for it as a profession, more as a fun hobby to pursue, or potentially for scholarships in college,” he said. Then, when Nathan was 16 years old his family moved to Dallas, Texas, so his sister could attend a more professional school, Ballet Academy of Texas, where Nathan also trained.  

At 19 years old, after finishing high school, Nathan and his sister both auditioned for and received trainee positions with Cincinnati Ballet for their 2012-2013 season. After gaining exposure to the professional ballet environment and the level of dedication that dancers commit to the artform, he felt encouraged to pursue a professional career. So, Nathan attended ABT’s 2013 Summer Intensive and was invited to join ABT Studio Company the following September. He became an apprentice with the Company in December 2013, before being promoted to a corps de ballet member in June 2014.  

“Because I started so late, I never considered it even as a possibility,” Nathan shares when reflecting on his journey to ABT. “I still to this day can’t believe how lucky I was to receive that.” 

Developing a robust repertoire from having danced in the corps for over a decade, Nathan’s previous roles range from the Russian Dance in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker to a Fairy Cavalier in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty and many more. He especially enjoyed dancing Pirates in Le Corsaire, because he grew up watching the ABT performance on YouTube. “Finally getting to go on stage and do that with the Company, that was amazing,” Nathan said.  

Nathan feels incredibly grateful to be recognized as this year’s Jennifer Alexander Dancer but also acknowledges the other corps de ballet members who he feels are equally deserving. “This year in particular, for the women in the corps, they’ve performed shades in Giselle, and they’re going to be doing two weeks of Swan Lake. They, in my opinion, put a lot more work in than the male corps does,” he said. 

Reflecting on his career, Nathan shares that corps de ballet dancers can easily experience burnout if opportunities are never given, so it is essential to find balance and motivation to continue each day. Nathan said, “you enter with sort of an optimistic hope of rising through the ranks and achieving your dreams. And I think it’s important to keep that dream alive as long as possible.”