Aran Bell (born October 7, 1998) is an American ballet dancer. He was featured in the 2011 documentary ''

First Position ''First Position'' is a 2011 American documentary film. It follows six young dancers preparing for the Youth America Grand Prix in New York City, an annual competition for dancers ages 9–19 to earn a place at an elite ballet company or school. Di ...

'', and became a principal dancer with the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

at age 21.

Early life and training

Bell was born on October 7, 1998, in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

. As his father was a U.S. Navy doctor, Bell was homeschooled and lived in different parts of the country and in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy. Bell, who started ballet at age 4, trained at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet for three years as well as with private teachers. He studied a variety of styles including the

Vaganova method The Vaganova method is a ballet technique and training system devised by the Russian dancer and pedagogue Agrippina Vaganova (1879–1951). It was derived from the teachings of the ''Premier Maître de Ballet'' Marius Petipa, throughout the late ...

and

Balanchine technique Balanchine technique or Balanchine method is the ballet performance style invented by dancer, choreographer, and teacher George Balanchine (1904–1983), and a trademark of the George Balanchine Foundation. It is used widely today in many of Bala ...

. During the four and a half years Bell's father was stationed in Naples, Bell and his mother travelled to Rome six times a week to train with Denys Ganio, who had danced with

Roland Petit Roland Petit (13 January 192410 July 2011) was a French ballet company director, choreographer and dancer. He trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets. Life and work The son of shoe designer Ros ...

's company. He also studied under Fabrice Herrault in New York City, and was enrolled in

's summer intensive for several years. At age 11, Bell competed at the

Youth America Grand Prix Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) is the world's largest non-profit international student ballet competition and scholarship program, open to dance students of all nationalities, 9–19 years old. YAGP annually conducts regional auditions in the Unit ...

, where he won the overall prize in the junior division. He was one of six competitors profiled in the 2011 documentary ''

''.

Career

In 2014, at age 16, Bell joined the

Studio Company, and stayed for a second year as a result of a growth spurt. He became an apprentice with the main company in 2016 and joined the

corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French for "body of the ballet") is the group of dancers who are not principal dancers or soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and often work as a backdrop for the principal dancers. ...

the following year. In 2018, at age 19, Bell danced Romeo in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' with principal dancer

Devon Teuscher Devon Teuscher (born 1989) is an American ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre. Early life Teuscher began her dance training at the age of nine. As a student, Teuscher attended The Kirov Academy of Ballet, ...

as Juliet, when the dancer scheduled to dance the role was injured. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called his performance "an astonishingly impressive debut." The following year, he represented ABT at the Erik Bruhn Prize with colleague Catherine Hurlin, made his debut as Prince Siegfried in ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

'' and Prince Désiré in '' The Sleeping Beauty'', and was promoted to soloist. In 2020, though some of his major debuts were delayed due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, Bell was promoted to principal dancer at age 21, which was unusually young.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Aran 1998 births Living people People from Bethesda, Maryland American male ballet dancers American Ballet Theatre principal dancers 21st-century American ballet dancers Dancers from Maryland American expatriates in Italy