Rising stars in dance and choreography: 10 to watch in 2024/25
With the start of the new dance season almost upon us, we can’t help but reflect on the young talents who proved irresistible last season and what opportunities await them in the coming months. It’s almost impossible to narrow the choices down to just a handful of artists, but here are some of the names we’re excited to see in season 24/25.
Ivana Bueno, Principal Dancer, English National Ballet
© Laurent Liotardo
IVana Bueno, Principal Dancer, English National Ballet
Mexican-born Ivana Bueno began her dance training at the Fomento Artístico Cordobés in Córdoba and continued her studies at the Princess Grace Academy in Monte Carlo. She joined English National Ballet in 2018 and her steady upward progression culminated in a promotion to Principal Dancer last month. Aside from her obvious talent, she has a great work ethic. She was the winner of the ENB Emerging Dancer Award in 2020 and was already proving herself in leading roles, dancing her first Clara/Sugar Plum in Wayne Eaglings nutcracker in 2022. In June 2023, she stepped in to replace Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella in a circle at the Royal Albert Hall, with great success. In June of this year, with one week’s notice, she made her spectacular debut as Odette/Odile in Derek Deane’s Swan Lake ReviewShe makes her debut in the title role in Mary Skeaping’s Giselle at the Liverpool Empire on October 26th.
Daniel Mateo in Horizon – The Light Within by Moss Te Ururangi Patterson and Deborah Brown
© Daniel Boud
Daniel Mateo, Bangarra Dance Theatre
Daniel Mateo is a descendant of the Gamilaroi people of north-eastern New South Wales and the Tongan people of the Pacific region. He received his first training at Catapult Dance in Newcastle and graduated from NAISDA Dance College in 2020. He created his first choreography in 2019 as part of Catapult Dance’s Propel program. Boy, crying. He joined Bangarra in 2021 and has already made a deep impression. Our Sydney-based writer Katie Lawrence describes him as a “true force. He is one of those tall, perfectly proportioned male dancers who balance masculine strength with tenderness and silky technique with mature artistry. When he performs with Bangarra, I find it hard to look away. He is charismatic with that ‘bottled flash’ quality, but also grounded and humble enough to collaborate beautifully and embrace the silence.”
Kyra Coco in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Seasons Pas de Deux with ABT Studio Company
© Kyle Froman
Kyra Coco, Corps de Ballet, American Ballet Theater
Born in Chesapeake, Virginia, Kyra Coco began dancing with Ballet Virginia at age three, where she remained until age 15. She has been to the Youth America Grand Prix twice, at age 9 and again at age 14, placing in the top 12 in both her contemporary and classical work. From 2018 to 2020, she attended the Houston Ballet Academy on a full scholarship. Coco joined the 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 wither and MacMillan’s concert Pas de deux, showcasing her exceptional grace, poise and beautiful lines. She joined the main company in 2023.
Marco Masciari, principal artist at the Royal Ballet, in The Dante Project
© Andrey Uspensky
Marco Masciari, Principal 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 2020 Prix de Lausanne and joined the Royal Ballet as an apprentice at the Prix de Lausanne. He was an artist for the 2022/23 season and was promoted to principal artist in 2023. His solo roles include Puck (The dream), Beggar Chief (Manon), Fool (Cinderella) and Russian Dance (The Nutcracker). Amanda Jennings of Bachtrack recalls: “I first saw him in Monte Carlo, a year before he graduated from the Académie de danse Princesse Grace. He just stood out: his natural lightness in a perfect ballet body is astonishing. Since then, I have witnessed his development from child prodigy to emerging artist. He is engaging on stage and exciting to watch.”
Lilla Harvey, The Australian Ballet
© Pierre Toussaint
Lilla Harvey, Coryphée, The Australian Ballet
Lilla Harvey grew up in Subiaco, Perth and began dance lessons at the age of four. Her training included the Silhouette Dance School and the Australian Ballet School. In 2021 she joined the Australian Ballet. In 2023, still in the corps de ballet, she received the TBDA (Telstra Ballet Dancer Award) Rising Star Award and was promoted to luminary. The following season she danced a number of solo roles, most notably the boy in Johan Inger’s Carmenthe title role followed shortly thereafter. Katie Lawrence of Bachtrack says: “She is an elegant dancer, but above all she has a wonderful stage presence, theatrical depth and a sense of sophistication.”
Victor Abreu in George Balanchine’s Haieff DivertimentoNew York City Ballet
© Erin Baiano
Victor Abreu, Corps de Ballet, New York City Ballet
Victor Abreu was born in New York and began training with the New York Theatre Ballet at the age of ten. After attending summer schools at the School of American Ballet, he joined the school in 2015. In early 2019, he was appointed an apprentice with the NYCB and within five months became a member of the corps de ballet. He has danced many leading roles in a varied repertoire, including a number of Balanchine ballets and Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a gatheringCarla Escoda of Bachtrack describes him as a great talent who “gets thrown into anything, usually with great results!”
Aishwarya Raut, Rambert
© Mariano Vivanco
Aishwarya Raut, Rambert
Aishwarya Raut hails from Mumbai, India and was trained at the Shiamak Davar Institute for Performing Arts and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. She started her career at Shiamak Davar International and joined Rambert2 in 2018, moving to Rambert a year later. She has her own teaching platform with Rambert Plus and choreographed a piece for Rambert’s dancers which premiered at the River Stage, National Theatre in July. At the recent National Dance Awards, she was nominated in the Best Dancer category for her performances in 2023. Career highlights, she says, include Feast for the eyes, Aisha and Abhaya And Room but whatever she dances, she has a presence that is completely magnetic. When she steps on stage, the audience is immediately captivated, as one would at the Stone Nest in Jill Johnson’s Analog.
Joshua Junker rehearsing for Ashton’s CinderellaThe Royal Ballet
© Camilla Greenwell
Joshua Junker, soloist, The Royal Ballet
Born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, Joshua Junker began his dance career at the age of 8, learning breakdance and contemporary at Boys Action. At 14, he joined the Royal Conservatory of 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 a year later. In 2022, he became Principal Artist and has just been promoted to Soloist. His main roles include Bottom (The dream), Hans Peter/The Nutcracker (The Nutcracker) as well as The statement, Light of Passage and the lead role in Kyle Abrahams WeatheringDespite his emerging career as a dancer, he has proven to be an exceptionally gifted choreographer, consistently creating interesting works for the Royal Ballet. Design work And International design workThis year he made his main stage debut with the premiere of Never known to the Festival of New Choreography.
Viola Pantuso, The Royal Ballet, in Christopher Wheeldon’s “A Winter’s Tale”
© Alice Pennefather
Viola Pantuso, Principal Artist, The Royal Ballet
Chicago-born Viola Pantuso was recently promoted to Principal Artist and joined the Aud Jebsen program for the 2021/22 season. She joined the company as an artist the following season. Despite the brevity of her professional life, she has already made a lasting impression as Clara in The NutcrackerPerdita in The Winter Fairytale and in roles like Jessica Lang’s Sparkle. She began her training at the Joffrey Academy of Dance and the Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program in New York. She won a silver medal at the Youth America Grand Prix and moved to the Royal Ballet School in 2017, where she attended both the White Lodge and the Upper School. She has all the qualities to make it to the top: she has an impressive technique, but also a fragility, a charm and a grace that hides a steely strength.
James Pett and Travis Clausen-Knight in IMAGO
© Alessandro Botticelli
Pett / Clausen-Knight, PCK
Pett / Clausen-Knight is the dynamic choreographic duo that made a big impression last season, partly due to the successful Ballet nights Series. James Pett was a competitive gymnast for ten years before graduating from Laban Dance Centre. He began his career with the Richard Alston Dance Company in 2011 and joined the Wayne McGregor Company in 2013. Travis Clausen-Knight was born in South Africa and has had a successful career as a dancer, working with Michael Clark, Matthew Bourne, Tim Podesta and Alexander Whitley. However, while working with the Wayne McGregor Company, he met Pett and they decided to form their own company to further develop their creative talents in choreography. Their first significant creation was Shatter the noise for the Royal Ballet Design work which caught the attention of Dame Monica Mason. Since then they have been in increasing demand, receiving critical and audience 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 absenceThey have been invited to create and perform at international destinations and have recently Programmed for collapse for the final performance of the Professional Trainee class of the English National Ballet School.
