Watching Dance with Heather Watts

Olivia Bell

Olivia Bell is a corps de ballet member with New York City Ballet. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, she trained locally before being accepted to the School of American Ballet in 2018. While a student, Olivia originated a featured role in Gianna Reisen’s Signs. In 2022 Olivia became an apprentice with New York City Ballet and was then promoted to corps de ballet in 2023. As a corps member Olivia has performed featured roles in Kyle Abraham’s Love Letter on Shuffle, George Balanchine’s Swan Lake, Tiler Peck’s Concerto for Two Pianos, and Jerome Robbins Interplay.

Philip Duclos

Philip Duclos is a soloist with The Royal Danish Ballet. He joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet in 2022, and was promoted to soloist in 2025. He has danced roles such as Prince Desiré in the Sleeping Beauty, Albrecht in Giselle, one of the principal men in Harald Lander’s Études, Melancholic in George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, the Sugarplum Cavalier in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Benno in Swan Lake, and the Premier Danseur in August Bournonville’s Kermesse in Bruges. He has also danced featured roles in Raymonda, Don Quixote, Wayne McGregor’s Dante Project, John Neumeier’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Alexei Ratmansky’s The Art of the Fugue. He was also awarded the Ballettens Venner Talent Prize in the spring of 2025. 

Savannah Green

Savannah Green studied at Manhattan Youth Ballet and LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts. She graduated with a BFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2017. She danced with Buglisi Dance Theater from 2017 to 2019 in New York City. Savannah joined BalletX in 2020, where she has performed works by Matthew Neenan, Jamar Roberts, and Justin Peck, among others. 

Kayla Mak

Kayla Mak is an apprentice member of American Ballet Theatre, joining in the fall of 2025 shortly after graduating from Juilliard with a BFA in Dance. At Juilliard, she performed works by today’s leading choreographers, including Justin Peck, Caili Quan, Jamar Roberts, and Shen Wei, in addition to receiving a grounding in the techniques of José Limón, Martha Graham, and other foundational dance figures. Before joining the main company, Mak danced with the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, performing a wide range of ballet repertory, from Twyla Tharp to Balanchine, along with works by contemporary ballet voices. Kayla reached a global audience through appearances on NBC’s World of Dance, at the Vail Dance Festival, and through other professional performance opportunities. Mak recently became a recipient of the 2025 Princess Grace Award for dance performance.

Mayfield Myers

India Bradley

India Bradley was born in Detroit, Michigan and began her dance training at the age of four at The Link School of the Arts in Troy, Michigan. At the age of eleven, she attended the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet in Novi, Michigan, under the direction of Sergey Rayevitskey.

Ms. Bradley attended the summer program at Dance Theatre of Harlem in 2012, and entered DTH’s Professional Training Program under the direction of Andrea Long that fall.

She attended the 2014 summer session at the School of American Ballet, NYCB’s official school, and enrolled as a full-time student later that year.

Ms. Bradley was named an apprentice in August 2017 and joined the Company as a member of the Corps de Ballet in August 2018. As an apprentice, she performed a featured role in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®.

Ms. Bradley was promoted to the rank of soloist in October 2025.

Gilbert Bolden III

Gilbert Bolden III is a Soloist with New York City Ballet. He was born in San Diego, California and began dancing at the age of nine in Las Vegas, Nevada. His ballet training began in 2011 at Idyllwild Arts Academy in Idyllwild, CA, and he continued his studies at The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, PA in 2013. In 2014, Mr. Bolden enrolled at the School of American Ballet, NYCB’s official school. 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. Since joining the company Mr. Bolden has originated featured roles in ballets by Justin Peck, Silas Farley, and Gianna Reisen. He has also been featured in many works by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. 

Jules Mabie

Jules Mabie is a soloist with the New York City Ballet. He was born in West Palm Beach, Florida and began his dance training at the age of 8 at the Academy of Dance, Music & Theatre in West Palm Beach. In 2011, he began training under Chelsea Nasby at Ballet East, formerly Susan Lyle Studio. In 2016 Mr. Mabie joined the school of American ballet as a full time student and later joined the company in 2018. He was promoted to the rank of soloist in 2024.

Spencer Lenain

Born in San Diego, California, Spencer Lenain began his dance training at age 7 at Ballet Arte where he was instructed by Erlends Zieminch and Sara Viale. He also attended nine summer intensives at American Ballet Theater, earning the National Training Scholar scholarship three times. He graduated from the California Institute of the Arts in 2024 with a BFA in dance. He has performed at the Vail Dance Festival each of the last two years, and in the fall of 2024, he performed as Tybalt in LA Dance Project’s Romeo and Juliet. Spencer is also very active on social media where his ballet videos are featured on TikTok @spencerdancerrr and Instagram @spencerdancer. 

KJ Takahashi

Mira Nadon

MIRA NADON was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and began her ballet training at the age of six at the Inland Pacific Ballet Academy in Montclair, California. She attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of NYCB, in 2014 and 2015, before entering SAB full-time for the 2015 winter term. In November 2017, Ms. Nadon became an apprentice with NYCB and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in November 2018. Ms. Nadon was promoted to the rank of soloist in January 2022, and to principal in February 2023. Nadon has performed featured roles in ballets by Kyle Abraham, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Sidra Bell, Ulysses Dove, Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Peter Martins, Justin Peck, Tiler Peck, Alysa Pires, Alexei Ratmansky, Pam Tanowitz, and Christopher Wheeldon. Her awards include the 2021 Clive Barnes Award in Dance, the 2022 Princess Grace Award, and the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

Chun Wai Chan

Chun Wai Chan is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, where he became the company’s first Chinese principal dancer since its founding in 1948. Chan is also the founder of Chunner Studio, a creative platform dedicated to artistic production, education, and cross-cultural collaboration through dance and the arts.

Before joining New York City Ballet in 2021, Chan spent nearly a decade with the Houston Ballet, where he rose from the corps de ballet to principal dancer in 2017. Born in Guangdong, China, Chan trained at the Guangzhou Art School before becoming a finalist at the Prix de Lausanne in 2010, where he received nine offers from leading ballet companies and schools and accepted a full scholarship to study at Houston Ballet Academy. In 2020, he also gained national acclaim as a finalist on “Dance Smash” one of China’s most popular television shows.

Chan has performed internationally across the United States, Europe, and Asia, appearing at major theaters and festivals worldwide. He was named to Forbes China “30 Under 30,” featured on the cover of Dance Magazine, and is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Global Leadership Network.