NYCB promotes Taylor Stanley to Principal

New York City Ballet (NYCB) announced on May 18 that Taylor Stanley has been promoted to Principal Dancer, effective immediately. Peter Martins, NYCB’s Ballet Master in Chief, made the promotion on Tuesday, May 17 before the evening performance of Martins’ work Hallelujah Junction, during which Stanley made his New York debut in the leading male role alongside NYCB Principal Dancers Lauren Lovette and Daniel Ulbricht.

Stanley was not originally scheduled to perform in the ballet this season, until a dancer injury occurred late in the rehearsal day and Martins cast Stanley to fill in. Stanley also performed the principal male role in the first movement of Balanchine’s Western Symphony, as scheduled, which closed the Tuesday evening performance.

Stanley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and began his dance training at the age of three at The Rock School in Pennsylvania. He attended summer programs at Miami City Ballet in 2006 and 2007 and at the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet, during the summer of 2008 before enrolling full-time in the fall of that same year. In September 2009, Stanley became an apprentice with NYCB, and joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet in September 2010. He was promoted to soloist in 2013.

Since joining NYCB, Stanley has originated featured roles in Peter Martins’ Mes Oiseaux; Justin Peck’s Belles-Lettres, Capricious Maneuvers, Everywhere We Go, In Creases, New Blood, The Most Incredible Thing (The Creator) and ‘Rōdē,ō: Four Dance Episodes; and Myles Thatcher’s Polaris. He also originated corps roles in Peter Martins’ Ocean’s Kingdom, Benjamin Millepied’s Why am I not where you are, Peck’s Paz de la Jolla and Year of the Rabbit, and Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s The Seven Deadly Sins.

Stanley has also performed featured roles in many George Balanchine works, as well as ballets by August Bournonville, Angelin Preljocaj, Alexei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins and Christopher Wheeldon. He was a recipient of the Mae L. Wien Award in 2009 and the 2011-2012 recipient of the Janice Levin Award.

Congratulations, Taylor Stanley!

Photo: Taylor Stanley in George Balanchine’s Square Dance. Photo by Paul Kolnik.