Wendy Whelan

Wendy Whelan is the Associate Artistic Director of New York City Ballet. Widely regarded as one of the most acclaimed dancers of her generation, she followed a storied 30-year career at NYCB with a range of multidisciplinary collaborations across the globe. She was appointed Associate Artistic Director in February 2019. During her tenure at NYCB, Whelan performed principal roles in over 125 ballets, including nearly all of Balanchine’s major works and many by Jerome Robbins. She holds the distinction of being the most choreographed-on dancer in NYCB history, originating leading roles in more than 50 new works by choreographers such as William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Jorma Elo, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Wayne McGregor, and Peter Martins. After retiring from NYCB in 2014, Whelan launched a series of collaborative performance projects with artists including Kyle Abraham, Joshua Beamish, Brian Brooks, Alejandro Cerrudo, Lucinda Childs, Daniele Désnoyers, Javier De Frutos, David Neumann, Annie-B Parson, and Arthur Pita.vBorn in Louisville, Kentucky, Whelan began her training with Virginia Wooton and at the Louisville Ballet Academy. She earned a scholarship to the School of American Ballet in 1981 and joined NYCB as an apprentice in 1984, rising to Soloist in 1989 and Principal Dancer in 1991. Her honors include the Dance Magazine Award (2007), a Doctorate of Arts from Bellarmine University (2009), the Jerome Robbins Award, and a Bessie Award for Sustained Achievement in Performance (2011).