As the start of the new dance season will soon be upon us, we inevitably reflect on the young talent that proved irresistible last season and what opportunities await them in the coming months. It’s nearly impossible to narrow it down to just a handful of artists, but here are a few of the names we look forward to watching in the 24/25 season.
Ivana Bueno, First Soloist, English National Ballet
Mexican born Ivana Bueno started her dance training at the Fomento Artístico Cordobés in Córdoba, furthering her studies at the Princess Grace Academy in Monte Carlo. She joined English National Ballet in 2018 and a steady, upward trajectory has culminated last month in a promotion to First Soloist. Apart from her obvious talent, she possesses a great work ethic. She was the winner of ENB’s Emerging Dancer in 2020 and was already proving herself in principal roles when she danced her first Clara/Sugar Plum in Wayne Eagling’s Nutcracker in 2022. In June 2023, she stepped in to do Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella in-the-round at the Royal Albert Hall, with great success. In June this year, with a week’s notice, she made a spectacular debut as Odette/Odile in Derek Deane’s Swan Lake in-the-round. She makes her debut in the title role in Mary Skeaping’s Giselle at the Liverpool Empire on October 26th.
Daniel Mateo, Bangarra Dance Theatre
Daniel Mateo is a descendant of the Gamilaroi people of north east New South Wales and the Tongan people from the Pacifika region. His early training was at Catapult Dance in Newcastle and he completed it at NAISDA Dance College in 2020. He created his first choreography as part of Catapult Dance’s Propel program in 2019, Boy, cries. He joined Bangarra in 2021 and has already made a deep impression. Our Sydney based writer, Katie Lawrence, describes him as being “truly a force. He's one of those tall, perfectly proportioned male dancers that balances masculine strength with tenderness and silky technique with developed artistry. When he performs with Bangarra, I find it difficult to look away. He's charismatic with that ‘bottled lightening’ quality, but also grounded and humble enough to partner beautifully and embrace stillness.”
Kyra Coco, Corps de Ballet, American Ballet Theatre
Kyra Coco was born in Chesapeake, Virginia and started dancing at the age of three at Ballet Virginia, where she remained until she was 15. She has twice been to the Youth America Grand Prix, at 9 and again at 14, being placed in the top twelve in both her contemporary and classical work. She attended the Houston Ballet Academy on a full scholarship from 2018 to 2020. Coco joined ABT Studio Company in 2020 where she had the opportunity to dance many solo roles including the pas de deux from Anthony Tudor's The Leaves are Fading and MacMillan’s Concerto pas de deux, displaying her exceptional grace, poise and beautiful lines. She joined the main Company in 2023.
Marco Masciari, First Artist, The Royal Ballet
Marco Masciari was born in Catanzaro, Italy and began dancing at the age of seven. From the age of thirteen he trained at the Académie de danse Princesse Grace in Monaco. He won first prize and contemporary prize at the Prix de Lausanne in 2020 and joined The Royal Ballet as a Prix de Lausanne Apprentice. He was an Artist for the 2022/23 season and was promoted to First Artist in 2023. His solo roles include Puck (The Dream), Beggar Chief (Manon), Jester (Cinderella) and Russian Dance (The Nutcracker). Bachtrack's Amanda Jennings recalls, “I first saw him in Monte Carlo, the year before his graduation from the Académie de danse Princesse Grace. One could not help but notice him: his natural facility in a perfect ballet body is astounding. Since then I have watched him develop from prodigy to emerging artist. He is committed on stage and thrilling to watch.”
Lilla Harvey, Coryphée, The Australian Ballet
Lilla Harvey grew up in Subiaco, Perth, beginning her dance studies at the age of four. Her training included the Silhouette Dance School and the Australian Ballet School. She joined The Australian Ballet in 2021. In 2023, still in the corps de ballet, she received the TBDA (Telstra Ballet Dancer Award) Rising Star Award and was promoted to coryphée. During the following season she danced a number of soloist roles, most significantly The Boy in Johan Inger's Carmen, quickly followed by the title role. Bachtrack's Katie Lawrence says, “She's an elegant dancer but most of all, has a lovely stage presence, theatrical depth and a sense of refinement.”
Victor Abreu, Corps de Ballet, New York City Ballet
Victor Abreu was born in New York and began training at the age of ten at New York Theatre Ballet. After attending summer schools at the School of American Ballet, he entered the school full-time in 2015. At the start of 2019, he was named an apprentice with NYCB and within five months became a member of the corps de ballet. He has danced many featured roles in a varied repertoire including a number of Balanchine ballets and Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering. Bachtrack's Carla Escoda describes him as a major talent who, “gets thrown into everything, usually with great results!”
Aishwarya Raut, Rambert
Hailing from Mumbai, India, Aishwarya Raut trained at the Shiamak Davar Institute for Performing Arts and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. She started her professional life at the Shiamak Davar International and joined Rambert2 in 2018; a year later she joined Rambert. She has her own teaching platform with Rambert Plus and choreographed a piece for Rambert’s dancers which premiered in July at River Stage, National Theatre. She was nominated in the Best Dancer category in the most recent National Dance Awards for her performances in 2023. She claims highlights of her career include Eye Candy, Aisha and Abhaya and Rooms but whatever she dances, she has a presence that is entirely magnetic. As she steps onto the stage, the audience is instantly mesmerised, as was shown at Stone Nest in Jill Johnson's Analogue.
Joshua Junker, Soloist, The Royal Ballet
Born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, Joshua Junker started his dance journey aged 8, learning breakdance and contemporary at Boys Action. At 14 he entered the Royal Conservatoire The Hague. After two years, he went to the Royal Ballet School in London. In 2017, he joined The Royal Ballet's Aud Jebsen Young Dancers Programme and was promoted to Artist one year later. In 2022 he became a First Artist and has just been promoted to Soloist. His featured roles include Bottom (The Dream), Hans Peter/The Nutcracker (The Nutcracker) as well as The Statement, Light of Passage and creating the leading role in Kyle Abraham's The Weathering. In spite of his burgeoning career as a dancer, he has shown that he is an exceptionally gifted choreographer, consistently creating interesting works for The Royal Ballet's Draft Works and International Draft Works. This year he had his main stage debut with the premiere of Never Known for the Festival of New Choreography.
Viola Pantuso, First Artist, The Royal Ballet
Recently promoted to First Artist, Chicago born Viola Pantuso joined the Aud Jebsen Programme for the 2021/22 season and the Company as an Artist the following season. In spite of the brevity of her professional life, she has already made memorable impressions as Clara in The Nutcracker, Perdita in The Winter’s Tale and in created roles such as Jessica Lang’s Twinkle. Her training began at the Joffrey Academy of Dance and The Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program in New York. She was awarded a silver medal at the Youth America Grand Prix and in 2017 she joined the The Royal Ballet School, attending both White Lodge and the Upper School. She possesses all the qualities to go right to the top with a formidable technique but a fragility, charm and grace that belies a steely strength.
Pett / Clausen-Knight, PCK
Pett / Clausen-Knight is the dynamic choreographic duo who made a huge impression last season, partly due to the successful Ballets Nights series. James Pett was a competitive gymnast for ten years before graduating from the Laban Dance Centre. He began his professional life in the Richard Alston Dance Company in 2011 and then joined Company Wayne McGregor in 2013. Travis Clausen-Knight was born in South Africa and has had an accomplished career in dance working with Michael Clark, Matthew Bourne, Tim Podesta and Alexander Whitley. However, it was while working with Company Wayne McGregor that he met Pett and they decided to form their own company in order to further their creative talents in choreography. Their first significant creation was Splinter the Noise for The Royal Ballet's Draft Works which came to the attention of Dame Monica Mason. They have since become increasingly in-demand, receiving critical and public acclaim (including a nomination for Best Independent Company at this year's National Dance Awards) for works such as IMAGO, Nerve Wire, After Echoes and In the Absence. They have been invited to international destinations to both create and perform and recently choreographed Programmed to Collapse for English National Ballet School’s Professional Trainee graduation performance.