Famous Ballet Dancers: Lives & Works
Biographies of notable ballet dancers, ordered by how extensively their careers are documented.
By nationality
Goyo Montero
Spanish ballet dancer, ballet director and choreographer
Tadeusz Olsza
film and stage actor (1895–1975)
Alexandra Denisova
Canadian ballet dancer
Manola Asensio
Swiss ballet dancer
Mario Nugara
American ballet director
Beryl Goldwyn
ballerina
Maya Plisetskaya
Russian ballet dancer (1925-2015)
Margot Fonteyn
British ballerina
Veronica Tennant
Canadian ballet dancer, author, director, film producer (born 1946)
Vasili Vainonen
Russian choreographer (1901–1964)
Henriette Darricarrère
French dancer and actress, Henri Matisse's female model (1901–1991)
Deborah Kerr
British actress (1921–2007)
Audrey Hepburn
British actress (1929–1993)
Bronislava Nijinska
Russian ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer (1891–1972)
Marietta Baderna
Italian dancer (1828–1892)
José Carlos Martínez
ballet dancer, choreographer, and artistic director of the CND
David Howard
English ballet dancer and teacher
Timofei Stukolkin
Russian ballet dancer (1829-1894)
Bruce Sansom
British ballet dancer
Crystal Pite
Canadian ballet dancer and choreographer
Enrico Cecchetti
Italian ballet dancer (1850–1928)
Mansur Kamaletdinov
Russian ballet dancer (1926–2012)
Julia Farron
British ballet dancer
Inna Zubkovskaya
Russian ballerina (1923-2001)
Catherine Zeta-Jones
British actress (born 1969)
Ruth Carse
Canadian dancer, educator and choreographer
Mari Bicknell
British ballet dancer and choreographer
Emery LeCrone
American dancer
Nicole Scherzinger
American singer and actress (born 1978)
Odette Valery
Italian dancer of Greek origin
John Jasperse
American choreographer
Maria Westberg
ballet dancer
Marius Petipa
French-Russian ballet dancer and choreographer (1818–1910)
Jean-Georges Noverre
French dancer (1727-1810)
Ellen Price
Danish actor and ballerina (1878-1968)
Gemze de Lappe
American ballet dancer, Broadway theatre choreographer, and 're-creator'
Paloma Herrera
ballet dancer
Janee Michelle
American actress
Marie-Renée Frossard
French ballerina
Pauline Leroux
French ballet dancer
June Brae
British ballet dancer
José Manuel Carreño
Cuban ballet dancer
Irina Golub
ballet dancer
Marie Barch
Danish ballerina
Paula Abdul
American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality
Lucile Grahn
Danish ballet dancer (1819–1907)
Misty Copeland
American ballet dancer
Genia Melikova
French ballet dancer
Robert Helpmann
Australian-born British dancer, actor, theatre director and choreographer
Donald Britton
British ballet dancer (1929-1983)
Jeanne Devereaux
Françoise Prévost
French ballet dancer (1680-1741)
Jessica Iwanson
Swedish choreographer
Simone Orlando
Canadian ballet dancer and choreographer
Beryl de Zoete
English ballerina (1879–1962)
Annabel Farjeon
British ballerina (1919-2004)
Bob Fosse
American choreographer, dancer, and director (1927–1987)
Friedemann Vogel
German ballet dancer (1979-)
Carolina Brunström
Swedish ballet dancer
Tero Saarinen
Finnish dancer and choreographer
Nathalie Fitzjames
19th century ballet dancer
Ariel López Padilla
Mexican actor
Key
South Korean singer, dance, actor and model
Zoe Saldaña
American actress (born 1978)
Paloma Faith
British singer
Mavis Staines
Canadian dancer
Angel Corella
Spanish ballet dancer (born 1975)
Merce Cunningham
American dancer and choreographer (1919–2009)
Neve Campbell
Canadian actress
Tatiana Semenova
Russian ballerina (1920–1996)
Bebe Neuwirth
American actress
Lydia Diaz Cruz
Cuban ballet dancer
August Bournonville
Danish ballet master and choreographer (1805–1879)
Hee Seo
South Korean ballet dancer
James Starbuck
American ballet dancer and choreographer (1912-1997)
Carolina Granberg
Swedish ballerina (1818-1884)
Stijn Celis
choreographer, set designer
Irina Laurenova
Edra Toth
Hungarian-American ballet dancer
Magali Messac
French ballet dancer
Penney de Jager
Dutch choreographer
Auguste Vestris
French dancer (1760-1842)
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Latvian-American dancer, choreographer and actor
Giuseppina Bozzacchi
Italian ballet dancer (1853–1870)
Martine van Hamel
Dutch choreographer, teacher, and former principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre and the National Ballet of Canada
Vera Trefilova
Russian dancer (1875–1943)
Leslie Caron
French and American actress and dancer (born 1931)
Rupert Pennefather
British ballet dancer
Mukarram Turgunbaeva
Soviet ballet dancer, ballet master and actor (1913-1978)
Wilhelm Pettersson
Swedish actor
Adolfina Fägerstedt
Swedish ballerina
Natalya Sedykh
Russian skater
Annabelle Lyon
ballet dancer
Yekaterina Geltzer
Russian ballet dancer (1876-1962)
Gaetano Saracco
Italian ballet dancer and choreographer
Peggy Sager
New Zealand ballet dancer
Vladimir Stepanov
Russian ballet dancer
Mademoiselle Ambroisine
French actress and ballet dancer (1811-1882)
Annette av Paul
Swedish-Canadian ballerina
Vassilie Trunoff
Australian ballet dancer (1929–1985)
Therese Elssler
Austrian ballet dancer (1808-1878)
Pirmin Treku
basque-born ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer (1930–2006)
Vicente Nebrada
Venezuelan choreographer and ballet dancer (1930–2002)
Rostislav Zakharov
ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, ballet and opera director (1907–1984)
Widowmaker
fictional character in the 2016 video game Overwatch
Rudolf Laban
Austrian choreographer (1879-1958)
Maria Karnilova
American actress (1920-2001)
Margaret Hill
British ballerina
Mikhail Mordkin
Russian-American ballet dancer (1880–1944)
Marguerite Derricks
choreographer
Kenneth MacMillan
British ballet dancer and choreographer (1929–1992)
Iro Tembeck
Canadian dancer
Vera Volkova
Russian ballet dancer (1904-1975)
Patricia Bowman
American ballet dancer (1904-1999)
Lupe Serrano
American ballet dancer (1930–2023)
Simone Forti
American dancer and choreographer (1935–2026)
Alison Roper
ballet dancer
Elisabeth Sladen
British actress
Hans Snoek
Dutch dancer (1910-2001)
Suzanne Farrell
American ballerina