Episode 218. Wendy Whelan – Principal Dancer, New York City Ballet

Wendy Whelan spent 30 years with the New York City Ballet, 23 of those years as a principal dancer. She has danced virtually every significant Balanchine role and worked closely with Jerome Robbins on many of his ballets. In addition, she originated leading roles in works by such notable choreographers as William Forsythe, Twyla Tharp, Alexei Ratmansky, and Christopher Wheeldon.

Wendy has been a guest artist with The Royal Ballet and the Kirov Ballet and has performed on nearly every primary stage across the globe. She received the Dance Magazine Award in 2007 and, in 2009, was given a Doctorate of Arts, honoris causa, from Bellarmine University. In 2011, she received both The Jerome Robbins Award and a Bessie Award for her Sustained Achievement in Performance.

Since 2013, Wendy has been developing independent projects, including, Restless Creature and Some Of A Thousand Words, co-produced by The Joyce Theater Productions and Whelan/Watson Other Stories, co-produced by London’s Royal Opera House and Hagoromo, self-produced for the 2015 BAM Next Wave Festival.

A documentary entitled Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan was released during the summer of 2016 in movie theaters across the country.