Gilbert Bolden III Promoted To Principal Dancer At New York City Ballet

New York City Ballet has announced that Gilbert Bolden III has been promoted to Principal Dancer. The promotion was made on Friday, February 28 by NYCB Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan.    

During the Company's 2025 Winter Season, Bolden has debuted in leading roles in Balanchine's Scotch Symphony, Robbins' The Cage, Balanchine and Robbins' Firebird, Peter Martins' Swan Lake (Hungarian), and created a featured role in the world premiere of Justin Peck's Mystic Familiar.  In addition, Bolden has reprised roles in Balanchine's Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (Second Movement) and Concerto Barocco, as well as Robbins' In the Night.

Bolden was born in San Diego, California and began dancing at the age of nine in Las Vegas, Nevada. He continued his dance training at the Idyllwild Arts Academy in Idyllwild, CA and The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, PA.  In 2014, Bolden enrolled at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet.  He became an apprentice with the Company in August 2017, joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in August 2018, and was promoted to Soloist in October 2023.  

While still an apprentice with NYCB, Bolden performed a featured role in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker (Mother Ginger) and originated a featured role in Gianna Reisen's Composer's Holiday.

Since joining NYCB, he has performed featured roles in a range of other works by Balanchine, Albert Evans, Martins, Justin Peck, Tiler Peck, Alysa Pires, Alexei Ratmansky, Robbins, and Pam Tanowitz, among others.  He has also originated featured roles in work by Silas Farley, Amy Hall Garner, Justin Peck, and Caili Quan, among others.