New York City Ballet Promotes Chun Wai Chan to Principal Dancer

New York City Ballet announced today the promotion of Chun Wai Chan to Principal Dancer. Following a series of debuts throughout the Company's 2021-22 Repertory Season, Chan will make his final debut this season in the role of Titania's Cavalier in George Balanchine's beloved full-length classic, A Midsummer Night's Dream, which closes out NYCB's 2022 Spring Season with ten performances from May 21 to 29, 2022 at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. Chun Wai Chan joined New York City Ballet as a Soloist in August 2021.

Born in Guangdong, China, Chan trained at the Guangzhou Art School from 2004 to 2010. In 2010 he was a finalist at the Prix de Lausanne, which earned him a full scholarship to study with Houston Ballet's second company, Houston Ballet II. In 2012 Chan joined Houston Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet and he was promoted to Principal in 2017.

Since joining NYCB in 2021, Chan has originated featured roles in Andrea Miller's sky to hold and Justin Peck's Partita, and performed featured roles in Balanchine's The Four Temperaments, La Valse, and George Balanchine's The Nutcracker (Cavalier); Robbins' The Cage, The Four Seasons (Spring), The Goldberg Variations, Moves, and Piano Pieces; Peck's Pulcinella Variations, Silas Farley's Architects of Time; the Black Swan pas de deux from Peter Martins' Swan Lake; and Christopher Wheeldon's DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse. His repertory with Houston Ballet included leading roles in ballets by Stanton Welch, Ben Stevenson, Balanchine, Robbins, John Cranko, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Edwaard Liang, Wayne McGregor, Trey McIntyre, and Peck, among others.

Chan was featured in Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" in 2016 and Pointe Magazine's "Standouts of 2017." He has also appeared as a contestant on the Chinese television show Dance Smash, as well as at the Nijinsky Gala XLI in Hamburg, Germany (2015), New York City Center's Fall for Dance Festival (2015), and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival (2018). Chan was also a Guest Principal with Hong Kong Ballet in 2018 and 2019. Tickets for the remainder of NYCB's 2021-22 season are available online at www.nycballet.com or by phone at 212-496-0600. For complete programming information for New York City Ballet's 2021-22 repertory season visit nycballet.com.

See Chan performing in the pictures below!

The Goldberg Variations

The Four Temperaments

The Four Seasons

Pulcinella Variations

Black Swan Pas de Deux

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