Listed below are the newest promotions, appointments, and departures, in addition to notable awards and accomplishments, from January 2026.
Comings & Goings
Troy Schumacher has change into the full-time creative and govt director of BalletCollective, which he based.
Michael Vernon has been named interim creative director of Indianapolis Ballet for the rest of the 2025–26 season, following the departure of founder Victoria Lyras in late 2025.
Naomi Goldberg Haas will transition from creative director to creative director emerita of Dances for a Variable Inhabitants in June. The seek for the corporate’s subsequent creative director is underway.
At Georgia Ballet, Ashleyanne Hensley has been appointed interim govt director. She succeeded govt director Alexa DeStefano on January 1.
Raquel Du Toit joined Dance/NYC as its new govt director on January 26.
Kiera Anderson has been appointed govt director of Sacramento Ballet.
Deborah Warner has been appointed creative director of Park Avenue Armory.
Lucinda Childs has been named resident choreographer of Gibney Firm from 2026–30.
At Houston Ballet, Tyler Donatelli has been promoted to principal.
At Philadelphia Ballet, Thays Golz has been promoted to principal.
At Scottish Ballet, Yuri Marques has been promoted to principal.
At The Australian Ballet, Isobelle Dashwood, Cameron Holmes, and Maxim Zenin have been promoted to senior artist, Grace Carroll and Samara Merrick to soloist.
At Royal New Zealand Ballet, Dane Head and Gretchen Steimle have been promoted to soloist.
Patricio Revé will be a part of The Royal Ballet as a principal at the beginning of the 2026–27 season.
Awards & Honors
Jason Samuels Smith, Mame Diarra Speis-Biaye, Parul Shah, Shamel Pitts, and Thaddeus Davis and Tanya Wideman-Davis (Wideman Davis Dance) are among the many recipients of 2026 United States Artist Fellowships, which embrace a $50,000 unrestricted grant.
2024 NY Dance and Efficiency Awards (the “Bessies”) included: Excellent Choreographer/Creator for Shamel Pitts (Contact of RED), Nia Love (UNDERcurrents), Hyejin Jeong, Sung Hoon Kim, and Jaeduk Kim (One Dance), and Wanjiru Kamuyu (A Disguised Welcome…aka An Immigrant’s Story); Excellent Breakout Choreographer for Baye & Asa; Excellent Performer for the ensemble of Pina Bausch’s The Ceremony of Spring at Park Avenue Armory (which additionally received Excellent Revival), Edisa Weeks, Paul Hamilton, and Abdiel. 2025 awards included: Excellent Choreographer/Creator for Fredrick Earl Mosley (Unleashed), Lar Lubovitch (Many Angels), Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons (Cats: The Jellicle Ball), and Yoko Murakami (Blink); Excellent Breakout Choreographer for Amy Corridor Garner; Excellent Performer for Jacquelin Harris, the forged of Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Jake Roxander, and Home of Juicy + Home of Telfar; and Excellent Revival for Ronald Ok. Brown (for Grace at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater).
On the 2026 Martha Hill Awards in February, Joan Finkelstein and Phyllis Lamhut will obtain Lifetime Achievement Awards, and Dante Puleio and David Hamilton Thomson the Mid-Profession Awards.
English Nationwide Ballet first soloist Katja Khaniukova was awarded Ukraine’s Order of Princess Olha.
Malorie Lundgren obtained New York Metropolis Ballet’s 2026 Janice Levin Award.