On September 24, 2023, New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Russell Janzen will give his final performance with the company dancing the lead role in George Balanchine‘s Diamonds from the full-length ballet Jewels.
After his retirement from the City Ballet stage, Janzen will pursue a degree in social work.
Janzen was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and began his dance training at the age of six at The Rock School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended summer sessions in 2004 and 2005 at the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet, and enrolled as a full-time student in the winter of 2005.
In October 2007, Janzen became an apprentice with NYCB, and in June 2008, he joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet. He was promoted to soloist in October 2014 and principal in February 2017.
Janzen has performed featured roles in a range of works by:
- George Balanchine
- Mauro Bigonzetti
- August Bournonville
- Edwaard Liang
- Pontus Lidberg
- Peter Martins
- Benjamin Millepied
- Matthew Neenan
- Justin Peck
- Jerome Robbins
- Troy Schumacher
- Pam Tanowitz
- Peter Walker, and
- Christopher Wheeldon
His awards include the 2015 Clive Barnes Foundation Award for excellence in dance, and the School of American Ballet’s 2007 Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise.
Featured Photo of Sara Mearns and Russell Janzen in George Balanchine’s Diamonds. Photo credit: Erin Baiano.
