New York City Ballet (NYCB)’s Gilbert Bolden III has been promoted to Principal Dancer. The promotion was made on February 28, by NYCB Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan.
During the Company’s 2025 Winter Season, Bolden debuted in leading roles in George Balanchine’s Scotch Symphony, Jerome 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, the official school of NYCB. 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.
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