Rebecca Krohn (born 1981/1982) is an American retired ballet dancer. She 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 principal dancer until her retirement in 2017, then became a ballet master and served as one of the interim leaders between late 2017 and early 2019.

Early life

Krohn was born and raised in

Vestal, New York Vestal is a Town (New York), town within Broome County, New York, Broome County in the Southern Tier of New York (state), New York, United States, and lies between the Susquehanna River and the Pennsylvania border. As of the 2020 census, the popu ...

. She started ballet at age four after seeing ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

''. Starting from age 10, she attended summer programs at the Chautauqua Ballet, which was run by

Patricia McBride Patricia McBride (born August 23, 1942 in Teaneck, New Jersey) is a ballerina who spent nearly 30 years dancing with the New York City Ballet. McBride joined the New York City Ballet in 1959. She became a principal in 1961, becoming the company's ...

and

Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux (born 9 April 1943, in Bourg en Bresse, France) is a French ballet dancer and instructor. He is the former artistic director of the Charlotte Ballet and the Chautauqua Institution. At 14, Bonnefoux joined the Paris Opera Ba ...

. In 1995, when Krohn was 14, encouraged by McBride and Bonnefoux, she entered 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 ...

in New York City.

Career

In 1998, at age 17, Krohn became an apprentice with the

. Krohn joined the corps de ballet the following year, and appeared in the 2000 '' Center Stage'' as a background dancer. She became a soloist in 2006, danced in the film version of Robbins' '' N.Y. Export: Op. Jazz'' in 2010, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2012. She learned Balanchine repertory from ballet masters who worked with him, and had worked with choreographers such as

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 ...

and

Benjamin Millepied Benjamin Millepied (; born 10 June 1977) is a French dancer and choreographer, who has lived and worked in the United States since joining the New York City Ballet in 1995, where he became a soloist in 1998 and a principal in 2002. He has also ...

. On October 7, 2017, Krohn retired from performing after a performance of in Balanchine's ''Stravinsky Violin Concerto'', for which she danced the Aria I role. Following her retirement, she remains in the company as a ballet master, a move inspired by her mentors, especially

Karin von Aroldingen Karin Anny Hannelore Reinbold von Aroldingen (9 September 1941 – 5 January 2018) was a German ballet dancer. She danced as a soloist at the Frankfurt Opera Ballet before joining the New York City Ballet in 1962 after receiving a personal i ...

. In December, following ballet master in chief

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 ...

's departure due to sexual assault allegations, Krohn was appointed 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 consists of

and Craig Hall. The team brought back other Balanchine veterans to coach the dancers, and Krohn also worked with them as she had never worked with Balanchine himself. In February 2019, a permanent management with Stafford as Artistic Director and

Wendy Whelan Wendy Whelan (; born May 7, 1967) is an American ballet dancer. She was principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and performed with the company for 30 years, and toured in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Whelan has also been an influential gue ...

as Associate Artistic Director respectively was established.

Personal life

In 2011, Krohn married Adam Hendrickson, a fellow New York City Ballet dancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krohn, Rebecca Living people 1980s births Year of birth uncertain People from Vestal, New York American ballerinas New York City Ballet principal dancers New York City Ballet balletmasters School of American Ballet alumni Prima ballerinas 21st-century American ballet dancers Dancers from New York (state) 21st-century American women