Craig Hall (born 1979) is an American ballet dancer. He danced with 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' ...
as a soloist until 2016 then became a repertory director, and was one of the company interim leaders between late 2017 and early 2019.
Early life
Hall was born in
Maywood, Illinois
Maywood is a village in Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States in the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded on April 6, 1869, and organized October 22, 1881. The population was 23,512 at the 2020 United States Census.
Histor ...
, and started dance training at age 4. At age 14, he entered the
Chicago Academy for the Arts. When he was 18, in 1997, he moved to New York City to train at the
School of American Ballet full-time, having previously attended two summer intensives there. In 1999, prior to his graduation, he originated a featured role in
Christopher Wheeldon's ''
Scènes de ballet''.
He also received the
Mae L. Wien Awards for Outstanding Promise that year.
Career
In October 1999, Hall became an apprentice 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' ...
, and became a member of the corps de ballet 4 months later. In 2007, he was promoted to soloist. Throughout his career, he had danced works by
George Balanchine and
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television.
Among his nu ...
, and originated roles in works by Wheeldon,
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 ...
,
Wayne McGregor
Wayne McGregor, CBE (born 12 March 1970) is a multi award-winning British choreographer and director. He is the Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor and Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet. McGregor was appointed Commander of the ...
and
Jorma Elo
Jorma Elo is a contemporary choreographer.
Early life
He was born 30 August 1961 in Helsinki, Finland. His father, Jaakko Elo, is a urological surgeon, mother Ruth Elo née Carlstedt, a dentist. Jorma Elo's partner since 1994 is Nancy Euverin ...
.
In 2011, Hall was chosen by his colleagues to dance the title role in ''
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...
'', as a part of the company's Dancers' Choice, and is the first African American dancer in the company to dance this role, though he did not reprise the role again.
[ He is also a frequent partner of principal dancer Wendy Whelan. In her farewell performance, he danced with her in the '']After the Rain pas de deux
''After the Rain'' is a ballet choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon on New York City Ballet to music of Arvo Pärt, including ''Tabula Rasa'' (first movement, ''Ludus'') and '' Spiegel im Spiegel''. The ballet premiered on January 22, 2005, a ...
'', as well as in a new work by Wheeldon and 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 ...
, titled ''By 2 With & From''. Hall had performed with Wheeldon's company, Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company.
In 2016, following a performance of the ''After the Rain pas de deux'' at the Lincoln Center and some tour engagements, Hall stepped down as a dancer, but he planned to accept some dance engagements afterwards. Initially, he was not planning to be involved with ballet following his retirement, but he was invited to be one of Peck's ''répétiteur
A (from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. A feminine form, , also appears but is comparatively rare.
Opera
In opera, a is the perso ...
s''. Hall then became a ballet master at NYCB and staged Peck's works for both NYCB and other companies. Hall joined School of American Ballet's faculty in 2018, after staging Peck's '' In Creases'' for the school's workshop performances.[ He also coached ]Taylor Stanley
Taylor G. Stanley (born May 30, 1991) is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet.
Early life
Stanley was born in Philadelphia to a mixed-race family, and was raised in West Chester, Pennsylvan ...
, another dancer of color, for his debut in ''Apollo''.
In December 2017, Peter Martins
Peter Martins (born 27 October 1946) is a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and with the New York City Ballet, where he joined George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and John Taras as ...
, then ballet master in chief of NYCB, took a leave of absence and later left after he was accused of sexual abuse. That month, Hall was chosen to be in the four-person interim leadership team, led by ballet master Jonathan Stafford
Jonathan Stafford is an American ballet dancer and artistic director. He danced with the New York City Ballet (NYCB) as a principal dancer until his retirement in 2014, then he served as a ballet master. He became the artistic director of NYCB in ...
, and also consisted of Peck and fellow ballet master Rebecca Krohn
Rebecca Krohn (born 1981/1982) is an American retired ballet dancer. She danced with the New York City Ballet as a principal dancer until her retirement in 2017, then became a ballet master and served as one of the interim leaders between late 2 ...
. The team managed the company until February 2019, when Stafford and Whelan were appointed Artistic Director and Associate Artistic Director respectively.
In November 2019, Hall performed at the American Music Awards
The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Pro ...
. Hall danced with American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Misty Copeland
Misty Danielle Copeland (born September 10, 1982) is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African Amer ...
during Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
's performance of " Lover" in a medley, on the occasion of Swift receiving the Artist of the Decade award.
Personal life
Hall is married to Frank Wildermann, a yoga instructor. They live in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Carroll Gardens is a neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Taking up around 40 city blocks, it is bounded by Degraw and Warren Streets (north), Hoyt and Smith Streets (east), Ninth Street or the Gowan ...
. Outside of ballet, Hall is a photographer.[
]
Awards and honors
*1999: Mae L. Wien Awards[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Craig
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
American male ballet dancers
African-American ballet dancers
African-American male dancers
School of American Ballet alumni
New York City Ballet soloists
New York City Ballet balletmasters
People from Maywood, Illinois
Dancers from Illinois
21st-century American ballet dancers
LGBT dancers
LGBT people from Illinois
LGBT African Americans
Mae L. Wien Award recipients
School of American Ballet faculty