Ashley Bouder (; born December 10, 1983) is an American

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

who is currently a

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be male or female. The position is similar to that of '' soloist''; however, p ...

at the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

. She also founded and currently runs her own project, The Ashley Bouder Project.

Early life

Ashley Bouder was born in

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

. She started ballet when she was six, at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. In 1999, she attended the

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the most renowned ballet school in the United States. School of American Ballet is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New ...

, and was invited to stay and train at the winter session.

Career

New York City Ballet

Bouder joined the

as an apprentice in June 2000, and was promoted to the corps de ballet four months later. She was named a soloist in 2004 and a principal dancer the following year. She has danced

Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

works such as ''The Nutcracker'' and ''Serenade'', and new works such as

Alexei Ratmansky Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky (russian: Алексей Осипович Ратманский, born August 27, 1968) is a Russian-American choreographer and former ballet dancer. From 2004 to 2008 he was the director of the Bolshoi Ballet. He left Rus ...

's '' Concerto DSCH'' and

Justin Peck Justin Peck (born September 8, 1987) is an American choreographer, director, and dancer associated with New York City Ballet, of which he was appointed Resident Choreographer in July 2014, being the second person in the history of the instituti ...

's ''Pulcinella Variations''. In 2019, she won the

Prix Benois de la Danse The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this jury change every year and ...

for dancing the role of Swanida in ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...

''.

The Ashley Bouder Project

Bouder helms her own small company, The Ashley Bouder Project, that has mounted several innovative ballet productions in New York over the years, primarily centered on commissioning new works by women choreographers and composers, including her own. Dancers involved with the project include Bouder's NYCB colleagues, such as

Sara Mearns Sara Ann Mearns (born 19 January 1986) is an American ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer at New York City Ballet. Early life Mearns was born in Columbia, South Carolina. Her mother is a nurse. At age three, she began dancing with Ann Brodi ...

, Taylor Stanley and

Andrew Veyette This is a list of New York City Ballet dancers. Principal dancers Soloists This is a list of New York City Ballet soloists. Corps de ballet The following is a list of the current members of the corps de ballet. * Victor Abreu * Devin Albe ...

. Notable appearances have been at the Joyce Theater in 2015. and at The Symphony Space in 2017, in collaboration with The New York Jazzharmonic. This was the first time that an entire evening of ballet in varied styles was set solely to the accompaniment of a jazz orchestra.

Other ventures

Bouder has called upon ballet to embrace

Feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

. She is a resident fellow at the Center for Ballet and the Arts at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Awards

* Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise, 2000 * Janice Levin Dancer Honoree, 2002-2003 *

, 2019

Personal life

She is married to financier Peter de Florio and gave birth to their daughter, Violet Storm de Florio, on May 4, 2016. As of 2018, she is studying political science at

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

part-time.

Selected repertoire

Bouder's repertoire with the New York City Ballet includes:

References

External links

The Ashley Bouder Project websiteAshley Bouder
- New York City Ballet profile
NYC Ballet Screen Test: Ashley BouderAshley Bouder and Daniel Ulbricht in ''Flame of Paris''Ashley Bouder on ''Serenade''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouder, Ashley American ballerinas New York City Ballet principal dancers School of American Ballet alumni Mae L. Wien Award recipients Janice Levin Award dancers Living people 1983 births Dancers from Pennsylvania People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania 21st-century American ballet dancers Prix Benois de la Danse winners Prima ballerinas 21st-century American women