A ''danseur noble'' traditionally was a male ballet dancer who projected great nobility of character. Over the last century the term has been used to define a male principal dancer who performs at the highest theatrical level combining grace with ability. Some use ''danseur noble'' as the masculine equivalent to a ''Prima Ballerina''.

Notable examples

Historical and retired

* Gaétan Vestris * Charles Le Picq * Vaslav Nijinsky *

Léonide Massine Leonid Fyodorovich Myasin (russian: Леони́д Фёдорович Мя́син), better known in the West by the French transliteration as Léonide Massine (15 March 1979), was a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer. Massine created the w ...

* Serge Lifar *

Adolph Bolm Adolph Rudolphovich Bolm (russian: Адольф Рудольфович Больм; September 25, 1884 – April 16, 1951) was a Russian-born American ballet dancer and choreographer, of German descent. Biography Bolm graduated from the Russi ...

Mikhail Mordkin __NOTOC__ Mikhail Mordkin (russian: Михаил Михайлович Мордкин; December 9, 1880, Moscow, Russian Empire - July 15, 1944, New York) graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet School in 1899, and in the same year was appointed ballet ...

* Anton Dolin * Theodore Kosloff * Pavel Gerdt *

Vakhtang Chabukiani Vakhtang Mikheilis dze Chabukiani (Russian: Вахта́нг Миха́йлович Чабукиа́ни, ka, ვახტანგ ჭაბუკიანი) (March 12, 1910 – April 6, 1992) was a Soviet and Georgian ballet dancer, choreograp ...

Pyotr Gusev Pyotr Andreyevich Gusev (russian: Пётр Андреевич Гусев) was a ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. He was born on 29 December, 1904 in St. Petersburg. He studied at the St. Petersburg School of Choreography under . He was a ...

Asaf Messerer Asaf Mikhailovich Messerer (Russian: Асаф Михайлович Мессерер, November 19, 1903 - March 7, 1992) was a highly influential Soviet ballet dancer and ballet teacher. He was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. From 1919 until 1921 he tra ...

* Roman Jasiński * Igor Youskevitch *

Vasily Tikhomirov Vasiliy Dmitriyevich Tikhomirov (1876–1956) was a dancer (from 1895) and a choreographer (from 1913) with the Bolshoi Ballet of Moscow, Russia. His most distinguished production was ''The Red Poppy'' (1927), with his wife Yekaterina Geltzer in ...

Aleksey Yermolayev Aleksey Nikolayevich Yermolayev (Russian: Алексе́й Никола́евич Ермола́ев; 12 December 1975) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher. He played an important role in the development of Russian ba ...

Nikolai Fadeyechev Nikolai Borisovich Fadeyechev (russian: Николай Борисович Фадеечев, 27 January 1933 – 23 June 2020) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer and teacher. He was awarded People's Artist of the USSR in 1976. Biography Fa ...

* Sergei Filin *

Askold Makarov Askold Anatolievich Makarov (russian: Аско́льд Анато́льевич Мака́ров; 3 May 1925 – 25 December 2000) was a Russian ballet dancer and ballet professor, leading soloist at the Kirov Ballet during the 1960s and early 197 ...

Konstantin Sergeyev Konstantin Mikhaylovich Sergeyev (russian: Константин Михайлович Сергеев; 5 March 1910 (20 February Old Style) – 1 April 1992) was a Russian danseur, artistic director and choreographer for the Kirov Theatre. When the ...

Erik Bruhn Erik Belton Evers Bruhn (3 October 1928 – 1 April 1986) was a Danish danseur, choreographer, artistic director, actor, and author. Early life Erik Bruhn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the fourth child and first son of Ellen (née Evers), ...

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

Edward Villella Edward Villella (born October 1, 1936) is an American ballet dancer and choreographer. He is frequently cited as America's most celebrated male dancer of ballet at the time. He has won numerous awards, including the Daytime Emmy Award for Out ...

Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux (born 9 April 1943, in Bourg en Bresse, France) is a French ballet dancer and instructor. He is the former artistic director of the Charlotte Ballet and the Chautauqua Institution. At 14, Bonnefoux joined the Paris Opera ...

Nicolas Le Riche Nicolas Le Riche (born 29 January 1972, in Sartrouville, Yvelines) is a French ballet dancer, choreographer and ballet director. Biography Le Riche entered the Paris Opera Ballet school at age ten and joined the corps de ballet six years later; hi ...

Carlos Acosta Carlos Yunior Acosta Quesada (born 2 June 1973) is a Cuban-British ballet director and retired dancer who is director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He danced with many companies including the English National Ballet, National Ballet of Cu ...

Jean Guizerix Jean Guizerix (born 27 October 1945) is a French ballet dancer and choreographer. Biography Born in Paris in 1945, Guizerix is described as "tall and muscular, with a brooding Basque face". He studied dance privately before he joined the Paris Op ...

* Vladimir Vasiliev *

Cyril Atanassoff Cyril Atanassoff ( bg, Кирил Атанасов; born June 30, 1941) is a French dancer of Bulgarian descent. Career Atanassoff was born in Puteaux to a Bulgarian father and French mother. He joined the '' École de danse de l'Opéra national ...

Mikhail Baryshnikov Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; lv, Mihails Barišņikovs; born January 28, 1948) is a Soviet Latvian-born Russian-American dancer, choreograp ...

Henning Kronstam Henning Kronstam (June 29, 1934 – May 28, 1995) was a famous Danish ballet dancer, ballet master and company director. Life and career Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, he began training with the Royal Danish Ballet at the age of nine. He later j ...

* Jacques d'Amboise *

Fernando Bujones Fernando Bujones (March 9, 1955 – November 10, 2005) was an American dancer. Born in Miami, Florida to Cuban parents, Bujones is regarded as one of the finest male dancers of the 20th century and hailed as one of the greatest American male dan ...

Robert Helpmann Sir Robert Murray Helpmann CBE ( Helpman, 9 April 1909 – 28 September 1986) was an Australian ballet dancer, actor, director, and choreographer. After early work in Australia he moved to Britain in 1932, where he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet ( ...

Michael Somes Michael George Somes CBE (28 September 191718 November 1994), was an English ballet dancer. He was a principal dancer of The Royal Ballet, London, and the frequent partner of Margot Fonteyn. Early years Somes was born in Horsley, Gloucester ...

* Reid Anderson *

Anthony Dowell Sir Anthony James Dowell (born 16 February 1943) is a retired British ballet dancer and a former artistic director of the Royal Ballet. He is widely recognized as one of the great ''danseurs nobles'' of the twentieth century. Early life and tra ...

* Wayne Eagling * José Martinez * Ivan Nagy * Peter Martins * Laurent Hilaire * Julio Bocca *

Nikolay Tsiskaridze Nikolay Maximovich Tsiskaridze PAR (russian: Николай Максимович Цискаридзе; ka, ნიკოლოზ ცისკარიძე, ''Nik'oloz Cisk'aridze'') is a Georgian-Russian ballet dancer who had been a member of ...

Manuel Legris Manuel Legris is a French ballet dancer, born in Paris on October 10, 1964. He was an '' étoile'' (star dancer) of the Paris Opera Ballet for 23 years. On September 1, 2010, he began direction of the Vienna State Ballet. He was appointed artis ...

Johan Kobborg Johan Kobborg (born 5 June 1972) is a Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, director and visual artist. He is most noted as a ballet dancer, having been a principal dancer with both the Royal Danish Ballet and the Royal Ballet in London, as well a ...

* Ethan Stiefel * Tamas Detrich * Maris Liepa * Yuri Soloviev * Alexander Godunov *

Irek Mukhamedov Irek Dzhavdatovich Mukhamedov OBE (russian: Ирек Джавдатович Мухамедов: tt-Cyrl, Ирек Җәүдәт улы Мөхәммәтев; born 8 March 1960), is a Soviet-born British ballet dancer of Tatar origin who has danced ...

* Farukh Ruzimatov * Vladimir Malakhov

Current

* Roberto Bolle *

José Manuel Carreño José Manuel Carreño (born 25 May 1968) is a retired Cuban ballet dancer, who performed as a principal dancer with the English National Ballet, Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. Carreño started dancing at the age of ten and received ...

* David Hallberg * Marcelo Gomes * Vladimir Yaroshenko * Federico Bonelli * Sergei Polunin *

Thiago Soares Thiago Soares (born 18 May 1981) is a Brazilian ballet dancer and choreographer. He is a former principal dancer with The Royal Ballet in London, and guest principal in other theatres around the world. Early life Born in 1981 in Rio de Janeir ...

Rupert Pennefather Rupert Pennefather is a former principal dancer of the Royal Ballet Company. He joined the company in 1999 and was promoted to principal status alongside his pas-de-deux partner Lauren Cuthbertson in June 2008, following well-received performance ...

* Igor Zelensky *

Mathieu Ganio Mathieu Ganio (born 16 March 1984) is a French ''Danseur Étoile, danseur étoile'' of the Paris Opera Ballet. Mathieu Ganio was born in Marseille, France, the son of Ballet National de Marseille principal dancers Dominique Khalfouni and Denys Ga ...

Stéphane Bullion Stéphane Bullion (born in 1980) is a French ''Etoile'' dancer of the Paris Opera Ballet. Stéphane Bullion started dance at age eleven and entered the Paris Opera Ballet school at age fourteen (1994). He joined the corps de ballet in 1997. During ...

* Evan McKie * Matthew Golding * Igor Kolb *

Leonid Sarafanov Leonid Sarafanov (born 28 June 1982 in Kyiv, Ukraine) is a principal ballet dancer with the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Russia. Biography Leonid Sarafanov studied at the Kyiv State School of Choreography and graduated in 2000, joining ...

* Vladimir Shklyarov * Friedemann Vogel {{Ballet Ballet occupations