Yesterday, New York City Ballet Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan announced the promotion of Gilbert Bolden III to Principal Dancer.
This comes just one and a half years after Bolden was promoted to Soloist.
The San Diego native has debuted several leading roles in the company’s current winter season in ballets such as George Balanchine’s Scotch Symphony, Jerome Robbins’ The Cage, Balanchine and Robbins’ Firebird, and Peter Martins’ Swan Lake (Hungarian). He has also created a featured role in the world premiere of Justin Peck’s Mystic Familiar.
Bolden also continues to be cast in lead roles in Balanchine’s Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (Second Movement) and Concerto Barocco, and in Robbins’ In the Night.
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Gilbert Bolden III
Before enrolling at the School of American Ballet (the official school of NYCB), Gilbert Bolden III trained at the Idyllwild Arts Academy in Idyllwild, CA and The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, PA.
Three years after joining SAB, Bolden became an apprentice with New York City Ballet during which time he performed as Mother Ginger in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. One year later, he became a member of the corps de ballet.
Along with the aforementioned casting, Bolden has also danced featured roles in other works by Balanchine, Robbins, and Martins as well as in ballets by Albert Evans, Silas Farley, Amy Hall Garner, Justin Peck, Tiler Peck, Alysa Pires, Caili Quan, Alexei Ratmansky, Gianna Reisen, and Pam Tanowitz, among others.
Featured Photo of New York City Ballet‘s newest Principal Dancer Gilbert Bolden III in George Balanchine’s Scotch Symphony. Photo by Erin Baiano.
