Jacob's Pillow Dance

Wendy Whelan moved to New York in 1982 to train at the School of American Ballet and the Professional Children's School. She was invited to join the New York City Ballet corps de ballet in 1986, and was promoted to principal dancer in 1991. Whelan has performed a range of Balanchine's repertory including Agon, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and La Sonnambula; as well as full-length classics such as Peter Martins' Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. Leading choreographers such as William Forsythe have created original roles for Whelan; Christopher Wheeldon has cast her in 13 of his ballets to date; and she has worked closely with Jerome Robbins on many of his ballets. Whelan received the 2007 Dance Magazine Award, The Jerome Robbins Award (2011), and a Bessie award (2011). She has also appeared in films including George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, Live From Lincoln Center on PBS, Labyrinth Within by Pontus Lidberg, and has been a guest artist with The Royal Ballet and the Kirov Ballet.