Trying to choose ten dance talents to watch out for next season is a nigh-on impossible task – a Top 50 would be equally tough. But I’m pretty sure that the following artists will be on the rise in September, and you will not be disappointed if you manage to see them in performance.
Arthur Wille, London City Ballet
Brazilian born Arthur Wille only began his ballet training in 2017 at the CEFART Palácio das arts in Belo Horizonte. Once he had moved to the ATM Centro Cultural de Danças, he made the decision to pursue a professional career. Winner of a number of awards and competitions, he was first spotted in the UK when he joined London City Ballet for its revival season in 2024. He is extraordinarily gifted physically, with a massive jump, stunning lines and beautiful footwork. Most importantly he has a stage presence and charisma that is positively hypnotic. In LCB’s varied repertoire he has already proved his versatility and his career path looks set to soar on an upward trajectory.
Cyrie Topete, Hubbard Street Dance
Born in Peoria, Arizona, it is Bachtrack’s Carla Escoda who insists that Cyrie Topete is one to watch after seeing their explosive performance in Johan Inger’s Impasse with Hubbard Street Dance earlier this year. Described as ‘supremely cocky as the control-freak cult leader, a revelation’, Escoda believes Topete’s dynamic and powerful personality has the potential to make a deep impression on audiences. In Aszure Barton’s A Duo, Escoda writes ‘Shota Miyoshi and Cyrie Topete were a triumph, grappling with a quixotic melange of Shaolin kung fu, the head movements of classical Indian dance, popping, undulating torsos and erotic gymnastic partnering’. A graduate of Juilliard, Topete has also been recognised for numerous choreographies.
Caspar Lench, artist, The Royal Ballet
It’s hard to forget Caspar Lench in Robert Battle’s Takademe at the Royal Ballet School Summer Performance in 2023 or for that matter, in the male duet from Christopher Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour. Last year he drew the eye in Pam Tanowitz’s Or Forever as Amanda Jennings reported: ‘we did get the chance to see Caspar Lench executing a stunningly good series of relevés passés sautés with astounding ballon’. Born in Bristol, he is Royal Ballet School trained and joined The Royal Ballet as an Aud Jebsen Young Dancer for the 2023/24 season, promoted to artist in 2024. Earlier this year he won Emerging Artist at the National Dance Awards. Notable for his speed, his every appearance on stage is described as vibrant, exhilarating, thrilling.
Ashley Krauhaus, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
While she was born and brought up in the UK, Ashley Krauhaus finished her training (2017–21) at L’Académie Princesse Grace in Monaco. The school has a track record of producing truly outstanding graduates and it was no surprise that Krauhaus was offered a contract with Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo in 2021. As with most international companies, dancers are required to perform a very rich and diverse repertoire and Krauhaus appears to be particularly adept at grasping choreographers’ wishes. Whether it’s Sharon Eyal’s Autodance, Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Vers un Pays Sage or Alexei Ratmansky’s Wartime Elegy, she equips herself with the know-how and absolute commitment that ensures she is a standout dancer. With perfect proportions, fragility, superb ballon and a charming, expressive face, there is much more to come from her.
Jaime Almaraz Baizán, Paris Opera Junior Ballet
Spanish dancer Jaime Almaraz Baizán grew up in Oviedo and, inspired by watching his sister practising ballet, his parents enrolled him in dance activities at the age of three. At 15, he went to Real Conservatorio Profesional De Danza Mariemma in Madrid and from there finished his training at the Vaganova Academy in St Petersburg. His first professional appointment was with the Finnish National Ballet Youth Company but in 2024 joined the Paris Opera Junior Ballet. On a recent tour to London, audiences were able to see him in Maurice Béjart’s Cantata 51 in the role of the Angel. His silky smooth technique is greatly enhanced by a jump that is notable not only for its height but also for the feline quality of his landings, soft and silent. One would expect him to join the main company imminently.
Yoon Jung Seo, corps de ballet, American Ballet Theatre
Carla Escoda describes Yoon Jung Seo as a dancer who she cannot stop watching as soon as she steps on stage, “a dancer with a lovely, assured presence”. Born in Gwangmyeong, South Korea, she started studying ballet at age six. She attended Yewon School from the age of twelve and joined Seoul Arts High School at 15. After winning a scholarship at the Prix de Lausanne in 2019 Seo joined American Ballet Theatre Studio Company. She was made an apprentice with the main company in 2021 and became a member of the corps de ballet in 2022. Her technique has a polished precision, her jump is light and airy and she turns with speedy control. She will undoubtedly have more opportunities next season to show that she is capable of delivering soloist and leading roles.
Sofia Liñares, soloist, Birmingham Royal Ballet
Born in A Coruña, Spain, Sofia Liñares has been on my radar ever since she joined BRB in 2020. She was trained at the Conservatorio de Danza de A Coruña and the Royal Ballet School, making a big impression on Carlos Acosta when he began his tenure as artistic director. 2020 was not an easy year to be starting out on a professional career but Liñares quickly proved that she was supremely talented. In February 2023 she was cast in the Act 1 Pas de Trois in Swan Lake and I wrote ‘I have rarely seen the first variation danced with such good ballon, crisp batterie and easy port de bras’. She has done a few principal roles including Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella (title role) and Lise in La Fille mal gardée but it seems the role she most wants to dance, Kitri in Don Quixote, has so far eluded her. Promoted to soloist in 2024, perhaps a shot at Kitri will soon be a reality.
Darius Drooh and Nahum McLean, BlacBrik
BlacBrik was founded by Darius Drooh and Nahum McLean in June 2023. They first met when they were training at the Ailey School in New York. Drooh returned to his native California and McLean came back to the UK and worked with Richard Alston. When Drooh was offered work in The Lion King in London's West End they quickly reconnected and decided to work on new creations together. My first sighting was at a Ballet Nights programme at Cadogan Hall in April this year and I was instantly blown away by the dancing and the choreography. While the Ailey training must have helped, there is no denying the natural talents they possess both physically and in the way they engage their audiences with humour and panache. While they look set to be regular guests with Ballet Nights, they have also appeared at The Place in Resolution.
Mia Williams, corps de ballet, New York City Ballet
Born in Yuma, Arizona Mia Williams only began her ballet training at age 11. Having attended a summer school at the School of American Ballet in 2021, she enrolled in SAB full-time that same year. In 2023 she became an apprentice in NYCB and a year later joined the corps de ballet. While still an apprentice, she created a featured role in Amy Hall Garner’s Underneath, There Is Light. Carla Escoda mentions her in glowing terms in her debut solo in a Balanchine programme and describes her as having “an eye-catching freedom and breadth of movement in her upper back with beautiful port de bras, as well as a warm stage presence”. Williams also shone in Justin Peck’s Belles-Lettres dancing a pas de deux with Alec Knight.
See our picks for rising stars in music in 2025–26.
