Julie Kent became the Artistic Director of The Washington Ballet in July 2016. She is the longest-serving ballerina in American Ballet Theatre’s 79-year history. She began her dance training with Hortensia Fonseca at the Academy of the Maryland Youth Ballet in Bethesda, MD and attended summer sessions at American Ballet Theatre II and the School of American Ballet before joining American Ballet Theatre as an apprentice in 1985. In that same year, Kent won first place in the regional finals of the National Society of Arts and Letters at the Kennedy Center. In 1986, she was the only American to win a medal at the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition, and she became a member of ABT’s corps de ballet.

Kent starred in the Herbert Ross film “Dancers” in 1987 opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov. She was appointed a Soloist with ABT in 1990 and a Principal Dancer in 1993, the year in which she became the first American to win the Erik Bruhn Prize in Toronto and was named one of People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People.” In April 2000, Kent achieved another triumph, becoming the first American to win the “Prix Benois de la Danse.” Later that year, Kent starred in the motion picture “Center Stage” directed by Nicholas Hytner. In 2012, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Performing Arts from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts as well as a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from Dance Magazine. Since 2014, she has been the Brand Ambassador for HANIA New York, a luxury line of hand-knit cashmere in NYC.

During Kent’s long performing career, she has acquired a vast repertoire dancing over 100 ballets, including all of the major classical, dramatic and neo-classical roles in works by Marius Petipa, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan, John Cranko, Anthony Tudor, Michel Fokine, Agnes DeMille, Merce Cunningham, Jose Limon, Jiri Kylian, Ronald Hynd, Ben Stevenson and Christopher Wheeldon. As well, she has had roles created on her by John Neumeier, Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, Alexei Ratmansky, Nacho Duato, Stanton Welch, James Kudelka, Jorma Elo, David Parsons, Jessica Lang, and Natalie Weir. Her appearances as a guest include invitations from the Mariinsky Theatre, Teatro alla Scala, New York City Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Berlin Staatsballett, Australian Ballet, Bayerisches Staatsballett, Teatro Colon, Ballet de Santiago, and others. In August of 2015, after a 30-year performing career, Kent was named Artistic Director of ABT’s Summer Intensive, a comprehensive summer dance program for 1,400 students at five campuses across the US.

Since Kent arrived at The Washington Ballet, she has brought important classical and contemporary masterworks into the repertoire, including her and Victor Barbee’s own critically acclaimed staging of The Sleeping Beauty, described by New York Times former chief dance critic Alastair Macaulay as “one of the world’s finer Sleeping Beauties.” Kent’s steadfast commitment to the development of artists, rising choreographers, and the creation of arts education initiatives that benefit the community of our Nation’s Capital, showcase her dedication to creativity, expression, and to propelling ballet forward into the 21st century.

Kent is married to The Washington Ballet’s Associate Artistic Director Victor Barbee, and, as a mother of two children, she has helped redefine the image of the American Ballerina.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island and trained at Festival Ballet of Rhode Island and Canada’s National Ballet School, Greta Hodgkinson joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1990, where she has been a Principal Dancer since 1996. Greta retired as a Principal Dancer at the end of the 2019/20 season and assumed the position of Artist-in-Residence for the 2020/21 season, teaching and coaching the National Ballet’s next generation of dancers.

An artist acclaimed for her dazzling technical virtuosity, dramatic intensity and articulate characterization, she is the complete ballerina, par excellence. Greta has performed every leading role in the classical repertoire and her talents extend to the contemporary repertoire as well. She has had numerous roles created for her by world renowned choreographers and has worked closely with such icons as William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Glen Tetley, John Neumeier, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor, James Kudelka and Crystal Pite.  

As a guest artist, Greta has appeared with The Mariinsky Ballet, Teatro alla Scala, The Royal Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Munich Ballet, Teatro Comunale di Firenze, Gala des Étoiles, Stars of the 21st Century and International Ballet Galas in the US, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada. Greta was invited to tour Japan dancing Swan Lake with K-Ballet, partnered by Tetsuya Kumakawa. She also performed at The World Ballet Festival in Tokyo, with frequent partner Roberto Bolle.

Greta has graced the covers of Dance Magazine and Dance International Magazine and has been featured in various fashion publications including Vanity Fair, Lucky, W, GQ Italia, ELLE, NUVO, Flare and FASHION among others.

Greta’s film credits include a collaboration with director Moze Mossanen in the title role in the film Roxana, based on the novel by Daniel Defoe, the role of Margot Fonteyn in the Bravo! TV docudrama, Nureyev, CBC’s Romeos and Juliets and The Rings of Saturn. She also appeared in the title role in The Firebird, The Four Seasons (starring in Summer), A Dancer’s Story-50 Years of The National Ballet of Canada (dancing The Sleeping Beauty pas de deux) and as a guest star on the premiere of the Canadian comedy television series Baxter. In 2013, Gretaperformed Giselle in Emerging Pictures’ film, Ballet’s Greatest Hits, a ballet gala filmed and presented in over 200 cinemas throughout North America.

Greta has received two Citations from the State of Rhode Island. One of the highest honours given by the state, the Citations are in recognition of her extraordinary talents, accomplishments and outstanding contribution to arts and culture in the US. Greta was also appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2017.

Cynthia Harvey is the guest on Episode 6, Season 2 of A Body's Language.

Cynthia Harvey’s style marked her as one of the most versatile and valued artists. Harvey danced nearly every ballerina role with American Ballet Theatre and had the distinction of being invited by Sir Anthony Dowell to be a principal ballerina of The Royal Ballet-the first American dancer to have that honor. Harvey performed as guest artist with Baryshnikov and Company, Nureyev and Friends and numerous internationally renowned ballet companies around the world before retiring from the stage in 1996.

On video, Harvey appears as Kitri opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov in his production of Don Quixote, in a variation from Paquita in Natalia Makarova’s The Ballerina and the “Waltz” variation in Les Sylphides, a variation from Paquita (American Ballet Theatre dances Petipa)and, in the documentary, Tchaikovsky’s Women for Britain’s Channel 4.  She is a featured artist in the Fred Weisman’s documentary Ballet and Darcey Bussell’s Ballerina Heroines, featured on the BBC.

Co-author of Physics of Dance & the Pas de Deux, Harvey has been guest teacher for The Norwegian National Ballet Company, where beyond teaching and coaching, she helped re-stage a production of The Sleeping Beauty in 2008 and staged her own complete production of the ballet Giselle in 2009.

In October 2010, the premiere of her full-length production of The Sleeping Beauty for The Hong Kong Ballet was met with acclaim. She staged the Shades section from La Bayadère for The Royal Ballet of Flanders, and in December 2014, her production of Don Quixote, for Singapore Dance Theatre, was said by Dance Europe to be one of the best premieres of the year worldwide.

As a guest teacher and ballet mistress, Harvey has taught for American Ballet Theatre, The Australian Ballet, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, The Royal Swedish Ballet and The Zürich Ballet, and she is a regular guest ballet mistress at the Semperöper Ballett, Dresden. She has also taught regularly at The Royal Ballet School in London, as well as the School for the Basel Ballet, San Francisco Ballet School and as Principal Guest teacher for the English National Ballet School.

As a sought after teacher and jury member, Harvey has appeared at several competitions, including the Rosetta Mauri, The Tanzolymp, the First International Competition in Sitges, Spain, and in 2013,  for Dance World Cup Spain.  Harvey is a long time attendee of he Prix de Lausanne, where she has taught, served as jury president and in 2016 will be the coach for the ladies.

Harvey has been on the board of DanceEast, the National Agency for Dance in England and was a prominent member of the committee that saw major ballet directors and ballet school directors from around the world gather to discuss issues relating to improving life for ballet companies and schools. She was standards assessor for The Council for Dance Education and Training in the U.K. until 2010.  She is a member of the International Council of Dance. In early 2014, Miss Harvey formed “En Avant Foundation”, a non-profit foundation for mentoring and coaching ballet for prodigious young dancers.

Siphesihle November was born in Zolani, South Africa and trained at Canada’s National Ballet School. Siphesihle joined The National Ballet of Canada as a member of the Corps de Ballet in 2017 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2021.

Siphesihle recently made his debut as Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet. He has danced such roles as Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty, Lewis Carroll/White Rabbit in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Puck in The Dream and in such ballets as The Nutcracker, Giselle, The Winter’s Tale, Nijinsky, Anna Karenina, The Four Seasons, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Chroma, Emergence, Angels’ Atlas, Chaconne, Etudes, Being and Nothingness, Paz de la Jolla, Night, The Dreamers Ever Leave You and Orpheus Alive.

In 2019, Siphesihle won The International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize.

Siphesihle was featured in a documentary, Beyond Moving, which follows his journey from Zolani, South Africa to Canada’s National Ballet School and The National Ballet of Canada.

We speak to Marcelino about how he used the pandemic to reconnect with what is important to him, his early years in Portugal, how it feels to dance alongside Natalia Osipova after so many years learning from and idolizing Russian Ballerinas and the track that he thinks is 'a banger'.....it's from an Ashton ballet!

Portuguese dancer Marcelino Sambé is a Principal of The Royal Ballet. He trained at The Royal Ballet Upper School and graduated into the Company during the 2012/13 Season, promoted to First Artist in 2014, Soloist in 2015, First Soloist in 2017 and Principal in 2019.

Sambé was born in Lisbon and studied at the National Conservatory of Lisbon before joining The Royal Ballet Upper School. Performances at the School included in John Neumeier’s Yonderingand Alastair Marriott’s Simple Symphonyat the School’s annual matinee, and a summer gala in Venice in 2012. His repertory with the Company includes Franz (Coppélia), Colas (La Fille mal gardée), Oberon (The Dream), Hans-Peter/Nutcracker (The Nutcracker), Mercutio and Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Brother Clown (The Winter’s Tale), Beggar Chief and Lescaut (Manon), Lead Hungarian Officer and Bratfisch (Mayerling), Bronze Idol (La Bayadère), Basilio (Don Quixote), Officer (Anastasia), Bluebird and Florestan (The Sleeping Beauty), pas de trois (Swan Lake), lead couple pas de six (Giselle), Footman/Frog (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), Gypsy Boy (The Two Pigeons), Blue Boy (Les Patineurs) and in The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Tarantella, Jewels, The Human Seasons, Obsidian Tear, Aeternum, Requiem, La Valse, Aeternum, Within the Golden Hour, Multiverse, Elite Syncopations, Tchaikovsky pas de deux, Tarantella, Symphony in C, The Human Seasons, Infra, Concerto and Medusa. He has created roles in Crystal Pite’s Flight Pattern, Kim Brandstrup’s Ceremony of Innocence, Marriott’s Connectome, Hofesh Shechter’s Untouchable and Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works.

Sambé is a keen choreographer and was selected as one of the UK’s emerging choreographers by Youth Dance England in 2012. His M’ cã cré sabi won second prize at the 2011 Ursula Morton Choreographic Awards and was performed in the School’s annual matinee that year. Works include Preparations for the Last TV Fake and The Chosen Victim for The Royal Ballet’s Draft Works. Sambé’s dance awards include a silver medal at the Moscow International Ballet Competition in 2008, first prize at the Youth American Grand Prix in 2009, a gold medal and special award at the USA International Ballet Competition in 2010 and the Critics' Cirle National Dance Awards for Outstanding Male Classical Performance (2017) and Best Male Dancer (2019).

We speak to Artistic Director of The Royal Ballet, Kevin O'Hare about guiding one of the largest opera houses in the world through a pandemic, his thoughts on the Netflix series 'The Crown', his film debut at the age of 7 and much more!

Kevin O’Hare is Director of The Royal Ballet. Appointed in July 2012, he is responsible for driving the artistic direction of the Company. He is committed to the promotion of outstanding creativity and artistic excellence, developing talent and widening the Company’s performing platform.

O’Hare was born in Yorkshire and trained at The Royal Ballet School. He began his performing career with The Royal Ballet’s sister company Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, and stayed with that company as a Principal during its transformation into Birmingham Royal Ballet. During this time he performed extensively in the UK and internationally, including as a guest artist with many leading companies. His repertory included all the leading classical roles, such as Prince Siegfried (Swan Lake), Prince Florimund (The Sleeping Beauty), Albrecht (Giselle) and Romeo (Romeo and Juliet). O’Hare worked with many leading figures in the ballet world, including Ninette de Valois, Peter Wright, Frederick Ashton, MacMillan and David Bintley, as well as creating many roles. He also produced many galas and choreographic evenings.

O’Hare retired from the stage in 2000, entering into a traineeship in company management with the Royal Shakespeare Company. This led to the post of Company Manager with BRB in 2001, and in 2004 he joined The Royal Ballet as Company Manager. He was made Administrative Director in 2009 before being appointed to his current role. Under his directorship the Company has been distinguished with numerous honours including the Olivier Awards, Benois de la Danse and Critics' Circle National Dance Awards. His collaborative approach to the industry is demonstrated in such initiatives as World Ballet Day and inviting guest UK ballet companies to share the stage for the 2017 MacMillan celebrations. He is on the board of The Royal Ballet School, Northern Ballet and the Royal Academy of Dance and is a Trustee of the Frederick Ashton Foundation. He was appointed a CBE in 2018.

The guest on episode 2, season 2 of 'A Body's Language', is Hannah O'Neill, Premier Danseur with the Paris Opera Ballet.

From 1998 to 2007, O'Neill studied at the Kishibe Ballet Studio in Tokyo, Japan. When she turned eight, she moved with her family to Aukland, New Zealand. There, she studied ballet at the Mt Eden Ballet Academy and then in 2008, at the age of 15, moved to Melbourne to study at The Australian Ballet School. In 2011 she graduated as dux of the ballet school.

In 2009, O'Neill won the Pros de Lausanne, the world’s most prestigious competition for young dancers. The next year, she won first place in the senior woman's section at the Youth America Grand Prix in New York. Following these achievements, she passed The Paris Opera Ballet's external audition in July 2011 and was accepted into its Corps de Ballet with a seasonal contract. In August 2012 she was offered a second short-term contract with the company.

Succeeding in the external audition in July 2013, O'Neill was offered a life-time contract. Now a regular member of the Paris Opera Ballet, O'Neill moved up through the ranks, being promoted in each Paris Opera Ballet internal promotion contest from 2013 to 2015. On 3 November 2015, she was ranked first in the Paris Opera Ballet internal promotion contest. Consequently, since 1 January 2016 she dances as a premier danseur, the second highest rank in the company.

On the first episode of the second season of 'A Body's Language' we speak to David McAllister. This episode was recorded late last year, in Davids final week as director of The Australian Ballet Company.

David shares stories about his dancing days with The  Australian Ballet, working with the likes of Nureyev and Glen Tetley, speaks about pieces of music still make him feel sick with nerves and provides great insights into his philosophies on directorship- reflecting on how The Australian Ballet chose to prioritize the mental health of their dancers during the pandemic while maintaining their world leading physical healthcare program.

A graduate of The Australian Ballet School, Perth-born David McAllister began his training with Evelyn Hodgkinson and joined The Australian Ballet in 1983. He was promoted to senior artist in 1986 and to principal artist in January 1989.

During his time with the company, he danced many principal roles, including those in The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Coppélia, Manon, La Sylphide, John Cranko's Onegin and Romeo and Juliet, and Jiří Kylián's Stepping Stones; in 1985 he won Bronze at the Fifth International Ballet Competition in Moscow.

Throughout his career, David made numerous guest appearances worldwide, dancing with Bolshoi Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, the Georgian State Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre and, in 1992, as part of a Royal Gala performance in London in the presence of the Princess of Wales. In 2000, he completed a Graduate Diploma in Arts and Entertainment Management and in 2001, took his final bow as a dancer after a performance of Albrecht in Giselle at the Sydney Opera House, partnering Miranda Coney. In July of that year, David became artistic director of The Australian Ballet. He was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2004 Australia Day Honours List.

Over the next two decades, on his way to becoming The Australian Ballet's longest-serving artistic director, David invigorated the company's repertoire with a series of new commissions from the world's foremost choreographers, including Alexei Ratmansky, Graeme Murphy and Wayne McGregor. He appointed two new resident choreographers, Tim Harbour and Alice Topp, and, through co-productions with leading international companies, secured major works such as Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland© and Yuri Possokhov's Anna Karenina. As a director/choreographer, he gifted the company with a lavish and widely acclaimed new production of The Sleeping Beauty, funded largely through donations from philanthropic supporters, and three works in the Storytime Ballet series, made especially for young children.

Since stepping down as director in January of 2021, David has created a new 'Swan Lake' for Finnish National Ballet, is currently staging Lucas Jervies 'Spartacus', created for The Australian Ballet in 2018 and is in high demand as a guest teacher and choreographer in Australia and abroad.

The guest on episode 7 of 'A Body's Language" is Guillaume Côté.

Guillaume Côté was born in Lac-Saint-Jean, Québec and trained at Canada’s National Ballet School. He joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1998 and became a Principal Dancer in 2004. In 2013, Guillaume was also appointed Choreographic Associate.

With The National Ballet of Canada, Guillaume has danced most of the principal roles in both the classical and contemporary repertoire. He has created a number of lead roles in ballets by James Kudelka including Ferdinand in An Italian Straw Hat, Prince Charming in Cinderella and Will in The Contract (The Pied Piper). He also created the role of Romeo in Alexei Ratmansky’s Romeo and Juliet and performed the role as a guest artist with The Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow.

Guillaume is in great demand as a guest artist at major ballet companies around the world, such as Teatro alla Scala, English National Ballet, The Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Mikhailovsky Theatre, The Hamburg Ballet and Stuttgart Ballet. He also performed in Kings of the Dance, Gala des Étoiles, Stars of the 21st Century, The Vision of Manuel Legris, Roberto Bolle and Friends, The Hamburg Ballet’s 40th Anniversary Gala and the 44th Annual Nijinsky Gala for Hamburg Ballet Days as well as many other international galas. With English National Ballet, he created the role of Gene Kelly in Derek Deane's Strictly Gershwin.

Guillaume is an accomplished choreographer, musician and composer. His choreographic works for The National Ballet of Canada include Venom, Enkeli, Dance Me To The End of Love, Body of Work and Being and Nothingness. Awards for his choreography include the Audience Choice Award for Best Choreography at The International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize for Enkeli and third prize at Ballet Society Hanover’s 25th International Competition for #24. He debuted his first full-length ballet, Le Petit Prince, during the National Ballet’s 2015/16 season and created Dark Angels in 2017 for the National Arts Centre. Most recently in 2018, he created Frame by Frame, in collaboration with Robert Lepage.

In 2012, Guillaume choreographed and starred in the short film Lost in Motion which was presented at Toronto’s International Film Festival. The sequel, Lost in Motion II, was released in 2013 and was featured at the Dance on Camera Festival in New York City in 2014. He won a Gemini Award in 2007 and the Galileo 2000 A Life for Music Prize in 2008 for Moving to His Music: The Two Muses of Guillaume Côté. In 2012, Guillaume was awarded La médaille de l’Assemblée nationale du Québec, a prestigious award from the province of Québec for his work in the arts. 

Mr. Côté is also the Artistic Director of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur, one of the largest summer dance festivals in the country.

The guest on episode 6 of 'A Body's Language' is Tanya Howard. Tanya speaks about growing up in South Africa, moving away from home, to Canada to train at Canada's National Ballet School, her career so far and how she has processed the last 12 months.

Tanya Howard was born in Uitenhage, South Africa and trained at The National School of the Arts in South Africa and Canada’s National Ballet School. She joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1998 and was promoted to First Soloist in 2007.

Most recently, Tanya created the role of Eurydice's Mother in the world premiere of Orpheus Alive. Her repertoire also includes Alice and the Queen of Hearts in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, Stepsister in Cinderella, Paulina in The Winter’s Tale, Summer and Autumn in The Four Seasons, La Rose in the world premiere of Le Petit Prince, Snow Queen in The Nutcrackerand the female lead in Voluntaries. Her repertoire also includes feature roles inSwan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, Anna Karenina, The Merry Widow, Don Quixote, The Taming of the Shrew, Frame by Frame, Les Sylphides, Opus 19/The Dreamer, Elite Syncopations, Serenade, Jewels, Symphony in C, Monotones II, Désir, The Four Temperaments, Glass Pieces, Etudes, Paquita, Petite Mort, The Second Detail, Approximate Sonata 2016, Chroma, Genus, Angels' Atlas, Being and Nothingness and Night.

In 2016, Tanya was awarded the David Tory Award and was awarded the William Marrié Award for Dramatic Excellence for her role as the Queen of Hearts in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 2011.