Pennsylvania Ballet has announced the promotion of ten dancers for the 2018-2019 season. Corps de Ballet members Aleksey Babayev, Albert Gordon, Yuka Iseda, Zecheng Liang, Nayara Lopes, and Jack Thomas have been promoted to Soloists. Apprentices Sydney Dolan, Federico D’Ortenzi, and Erin O’Dea have been promoted to Corps de Ballet. From Pennsylvania Ballet II, Flavia Morante joins the Company as an Apprentice.

For years, there have been only two Soloists in the company, James Ihde, who will retire May 13, and Alexandra Hughes. The six new soloists will join Ms. Hughes for next season.

The 2018-2019 season will include Sir Kenneth Macmillan’s Romeo and Juliet, followed by a mixed bill featuring Jiri Kylian’s Petite Mort and world premieres by Russell Drucker and Andrea Miller. George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker will return for the holidays. The season continues with a new Giselle, followed by a mixed bill of dances set to the music of Igor Stravinsky: George Balanchine’s Apollo, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Jerome Robbins’ The Cage, and a world premiere by Matthew Neenan. The season concludes with another mixed bill, DGV (Danse à grande vitesse), a world premiere by Jorma Elo, and Glass Pieces by Jerome Robbins, set to the music of Philip Glass.