Isabella Boylston

Hildur Isabella Boylston (born October 13, 1986) is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre (ABT).

Isabella Boylston
Isabella dances for Swans for Relief in May 2020
Born
Hildur Isabella Boylston

(1986-10-13) October 13, 1986
Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S.
EducationAcademy of Colorado Ballet
Harid Conservatory
OccupationBallet dancer
Years active2005–present
Spouse(s)
Daniel Shin
​
(m. 2014)​
Current groupAmerican Ballet Theatre
WebsiteIsabellaBoylston.com

Early life

Boylston was born Hildur Isabella Boylston, after an Icelandic great-grandmother in Sun Valley, Idaho. Her father was a country-blues drummer and "ski bum" while her mother was a Swedish engineer.[1][2]

When she was seven, her family moved to Boulder, Colorado, where she started training at the Boulder Ballet. By the age of 12, she had started studies at the academy of the Colorado Ballet.[3] During that time, she won a gold medal at the 2001 Youth America Grand Prix Finals in New York City.

In 2002, she received a full scholarship to train at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida. During her time there she worked with choreographer Mark Godden and danced leading roles such as Medora in Le Corsaire, the Paquita pas de trois, Lise in La fille mal gardée and the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker. In 2004, she received the Reuger Scholarship for excellence in dance. She participated in summer programs at the School of American Ballet, the Boston Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre.

Career

In 2005, Boylston joined the ABT Studio Company and became an apprentice with the main company in May 2006. She joined the corps de ballet in March 2007, was promoted to soloist in June 2011 and principal in August 2014. Lead roles she danced include Nikiya in La Bayadère, Kitri in Don Quixote and Columbine in Harlequinade. Boylston won the Princess Grace Award in 2009 and was nominated for the 2010 Prix Benois de la Danse.[4]

Outside of ABT, She also designed costumes for the Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2010 production of Benjamin Millepied's 3 Movements, a ballet set to Steve Reich's Three Movements for Orchestra.[5] She has appeared as a guest artist with the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg and the Royal Danish Ballet.[4] Boylston also served as Jennifer Lawrence's dance double in 2018 film Red Sparrow, choreographed by Justin Peck.[6] In 2019, she helped breaking the Guinness World Record for the most dancers ever to go on pointe at the same time, alongside James Whiteside on Live with Kelly and Ryan.[7]

Alastair Macaulay of the New York Times noted Boylston portrayal of Lise in La Fille mal gardée is "intimate, heartfelt, rapturous."[8] On Swan Lake, Macaulay praised Boylston's musicality and phrasing.[9]

In 2020, Boylston participated in Misty Copeland's fundraiser, Swans for Relief, by dancing The Swan, in light of the impacts of the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic on the dance community. The fund will go to participating dancers' companies and other related relief funds.[10]

Selected repertoire

Boylston's repertory with the American Ballet Theatre includes:

Created roles

  • Columbine in Alexei Ratmansky’s Harlequinade
  • The Spirit of the Corn in Ratmansky’s The Seasons
  • The Diamond Fairy in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty
  • Ratmansky’s Chamber Symphony
  • Christopher Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions
  • Gemma Bond’s A Time There Was
  • Lauri Stallings’ Citizen
  • Ratmansky’s Dumbarton
  • Demis Volpi’s Private Light

Personal life

Boylston is married to financier Daniel Shin.[11] They live in Brooklyn, New York.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Becoming Isabella Boylston". Dance Magazine. March 16, 2017.
  2. Kourlas, Gia (May 8, 2015). "Isabella Boylston on Treasuring 'Giselle' and Trusting Herself". New York Times. New York City, United States. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  3. Kourlas, Gia (May 8, 2011). "Isabella Boylston: ABT's real swan speaks up". Time Out New York.
  4. "Isabella Boylston". American Ballet Theatre. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  5. Jowitt, Deborah (January 19, 2010). "A Breeze From the Pacific Northwest Ballet: Seattle leaps saucily onto the Joyce Theater stage". The Village Voice.
  6. Kourlas, Gia (February 27, 2018). "How a Dance Dream Team Turned Jennifer Lawrence Into a Ballerina". New York Times. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  7. "James Whiteside and Isabella Boylston Want You to Help Them Set a Guinness World Record". Dance Magazine. August 13, 2019.
  8. Macaulay, Alastair (May 25, 2016). "Review: Dancing Chickens and a Real Pony in American Ballet Theater's Comic Pastoral". New York Times. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  9. Macaulay, Alastair (June 13, 2017). "Review: Two True Artists, One Dramatically Limp 'Swan Lake'". New York Times. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  10. "32 Ballerinas From Around the World Perform "The Dying Swan" for COVID-19 Relief". Dance Magazine. May 6, 2020.
  11. Isherwood, Charles (May 16, 2018). "Isabella Boylston Is the Dancer Bringing Realism to American Ballet". Observer. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  12. Sessums, Zoë (February 25, 2020). "Isabella Boylston's Brooklyn Apartment Is an Art-Filled Oasis". Architectural Digest. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
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