Skylar Brandt

Skylar Paley Brandt (born January 8, 1993) is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the leading ballet companies in the United States. After joining the ABT Studio Company in 2009, she worked through the ranks and was appointed a soloist in August 2015.[1]

Skylar Brandt
Skylar Brandt dances for Swans for Relief in May 2020
Born (1993-01-08) January 8, 1993
Purchase, New York, U.S.
OccupationBallet dancer
Years active2009-present
Current groupAmerican Ballet Theatre
DancesBallet

Early life

Skylar Brandt was born and raised in Purchase, New York. Brandt began her training at the age of six, at the Scarsdale Ballet Studio[2] under the instruction of Diana White[3] and Christian Claessens. Brandt also studied with Susan Jaffe, Valentina Kozlova and Fabrice Herrault as part of her earlier training.

In 2004 and again in 2008, Brandt participated in the Youth America Grand Prix[4] and was awarded a silver medal both times. The following year she began attending the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at ABT and was there for four years before joining the ABT Studio Company in 2009. While at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, Brandt was a National Training Scholar[5] from 2006 to 2009, and in 2009 she became the recipient of the Bender Foundation scholarship. During her years of training prior to joining the American Ballet Theatre, Brandt spent five summers attending ABT’s Summer Intensives[6]

Career

Studio company

Following her four years at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, Skylar Brandt joined the ABT Studio Company in 2009. During her time in the Studio Company, her repertoire included Medora in Le Corsaire, and Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. Brandt also had leading roles in works by Jodie Gates, Jessica Lang, Aszure Barton and Edwaard Lang. She also performed in George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, and Jerome Robbins’ Interplay.[1]

Main company

In November 2010, Brandt joined the main company as an apprentice and by June 2011 was in the Corps de Ballet. In August 2015, she worked her way up and was appointed a soloist in the company. She was assigned to fill in for lead roles such as Medora in Le Corsaire Princess Praline in Whipped Cream and Columbine in Harlequinade. Her repertoire also include roles in La Bayadère, Cinderella, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, The Firebird, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. In February 2020, Brandt made her debut as the title role in Giselle, which she was not an understudy. Though set to dance with Joo Won Ahn, she danced the role earlier than expected with Herman Cornejo, after one rehearsal, in order to replace an injured Misty Copeland.[1][7][8]

She created a Consort in Ghost Catcher, The Swallow in The Seasons, the Fairy Canari qui chante (Canary) in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, a leading role in Her Notes and featured roles in AfterEffect, After You and Praedicere.[1]

Brandt has performed in several international galas.[1]She appeared in Ballet’s Greatest Hits, a documentary film, and Big Ballet, a Russian television show. Brandt received a Special Jury Award for her performances on ”Big Ballet” in 2018. She was awarded a Princess Grace Foundation-USA Fellowship in 2013.[9]

In 2020, in response of the impacts of the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic on the dance community, Brandt participated in Misty Copeland's fundraiser, Swans for Relief, by dancing The Swan. The fund will go to participating dancers' companies and other related relief funds.[10] Brandt also participated in Swan Lake Bath Ballet, choreographed by Corey Baker for the BBC, in which dancers performed Swan Lake in their bath tubs and filmed themselves on their phones.[11]

Selected repertoire

Brandt's repertoire with the American Ballet Theatre includes:[1]

Created roles

  • After You
  • AfterEffect
  • Ghost Catcher - Consort
  • Praedicere
  • The Seasons - The Swallow*
  • The Sleeping Beauty - The Fairy Canari qui chante (Canary)
gollark: The solution is simple: rebranding.
gollark: Which reminds me, I should initiate metagollarious semicontingency 113τ.
gollark: He has done 0 (zero (no)) Macron.
gollark: He's wrong then.
gollark: I should prepare some bagels for lunch so I can consume a tasty meal when watching LyricLy be apiformed.

References
  1. "Skylar Brandt". American Ballet Theatre. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  2. "Top Premier Dance School for Study of Authentic Ballet Westchester NY". Scarsdale Ballet Studio. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  3. 377dh. "#1 Classical Ballet Training Faculty and Staff Westchester County NY". Scarsdale Ballet Studio. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  4. "History and Mission | YAGP - International Ballet Competition". Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  5. "National Training Scholarship". American Ballet Theatre. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  6. "Summer Intensives | American Ballet Theatre (ABT)". American Ballet Theatre. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  7. Kourlas, Gia (6 February 2020). "Skylar Brandt: A Ballerina Invests in Herself". New York Times. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  8. "In ballet, conductors are the dancers' guardian angels". The Washington Post. 29 April 2020.
  9. "About Us". Princess Grace Foundation-USA. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  10. "32 Ballerinas From Around the World Perform "The Dying Swan" for COVID-19 Relief". Dance Magazine. May 6, 2020.
  11. "Please Enjoy the Quarantine Genius of "Swan Lake Bath Ballet"". Dance Magazine. July 8, 2020.
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