Alexander Campbell (born 1986) is an Australian

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

and educator. He is the artistic director of the

Royal Academy of Dance The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is a UK-based examination board specialising in dance education and training, with an emphasis on classical ballet. The RAD was founded in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Teachers of Operatic Danci ...

, and formerly a

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...

with the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

. As well as a ballet dancer, he has become a spokesperson for men in ballet, regularly appearing as a guest speaker on

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

programs, and has been an advisor to the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) training programs. In June of 2017, Campbell was appointed an ambassador for the Royal Academy of Dance and Marylebone Cricket Club joint project to encourage and normalize more boys to take up ballet and more girls to take up cricket.

Early life

Alexander Campbell was born in Sydney, Australia in 1986. His father is Alan Campbell, who was a selector and manager for Cricket New South Wales, and State Director of Coaching for 20 years. Alexander was attracted to ballet at the age of five after seeing the work of his grandmother who was a ballet teacher at the time. Both his maternal grandmother and grandfather, Valma Briggs and Mario Desva, had been professional dancers with

Ballet Rambert Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingd ...

in London. Campbell, although training under Nicholina Kuner at th
Academy Ballet
school on the east side of Sydney, at first viewed ballet as a hobby alongside his participation in the sport of cricket. By the age of 14, both ballet and cricket were his passions. Realizing that progress to a professional career in either discipline meant he had to concentrate on just one, he later said, ‘I struggled with the decision for a long time but my love for ballet and the opportunity to do something that seemed unusual for a kid from Sydney was enticing.’ As his training progressed, Campbell was influenced by the performance style of

Mikhail Baryshnikov Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; ; born January 27, 1948) is a Latvian and American dancer, choreographer, and actor. He was the preeminent male ...

and described him as "a massive inspiration."

Awards

In 2002, Campbell won the McDonald's Ballet Scholarship at the

Sydney Eisteddfod Sydney Eisteddfod is an independent, community-based, not-for-profit organisation in Sydney, Australia. It aims to promote the performing arts through competitions and public performances. About The Sydney Eisteddfod is an annual musical compet ...

enabling him to approach the Royal Ballet Upper School in London. In 2003, he auditioned for the school and was offered a place. In that same year, he was a finalist in the

Prix de Lausanne The Prix de Lausanne () is an international dance competition held annually in Lausanne, Switzerland. The competition is for young dancers seeking to pursue a professional career in classical ballet, and many former prize winners of the competition ...

and won the Genee International Ballet Competition.

Professional career

In 2005, at the age of 18, he started his professional career graduating into the

Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the co ...

and was promoted to the position of the first artist followed by promotion to soloist (2007) and first soloist in 2009. During his time with

, his repertory included: both Romeo and Mercutio (''Romeo and Juliet''), Franz (''Coppelia''), Prince (''The Sleeping Beauty'', ''Cinderella'' and ''The Nutcracker'',) Sam and Will Moffit (''Hobson’s Choice'').Cyrano (''Cyrano'') and Petrusha. He created the roles of Young Man in Michael Corder's ''La Baiser de la fée'' and Celeritas² in David Bintley's ''E=mc²''. In 2009 Campbell danced Puck in ''The Dream''. In 2011 he joined the Royal Ballet as a soloist at Covent Garden and was promoted to first soloist in 2012 and principal in June 2016. As first soloist at The Royal Ballet, Alexander performed many principal and non principal roles. During his career at Covent Garden he has danced Lescaut (''Manon''), Basilio (''Don Quixote''), Franz (''Coppelia''), Bratfisch and Hungarian Officer (''Mayerling''),Lewis Carroll/White Rabbit, Jack/Knave of Hearts and Magician/Mad Hatter (''Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland''), Bluebird and Florestan (''Sleeping Beauty''), Bronze Idol (''La Bayadère''), Jack (''Sweet Violets''), Emble (''The Age of Anxiety''), Texan Kangaroo Rat (‘''Still Life’ at the Penguin Café''), Principal (''In the Night''), Officer (''Anastasia''), Florizel (''The Winter's Tale''), Victor Frankenstein (''Frankenstein''), Troyte (''Enigma Variations'') and roles in ‘Emeralds’(''Jewels''), ''Voices of Spring, Concerto, In the Night,

Polyphonia ''Polyphonia'' is a one-act ballet choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon to music by György Ligeti, costumes designed by Holly Hynes, and was created for the New York City Ballet. It premiered on January 4, 2001 at the New York State Theater. ...

, Birthday Offering, Requiem, Raven Girl, Connectome,

Woolf Works ''Woolf Works'' is a full-length contemporary ballet choreographed by Wayne McGregor, composed by Max Richter, and inspired by Virginia Woolf's novels, letters, essays and diaries. The premiere took place on 11 May 2015 at the Royal Opera Hou ...

, Swan Lake, Giselle, Viscera, Within the Golden Hour, Carbon Life'' and ''Obsidian Tear.'' Over several years he has danced the roles of both Hans-Peter and the Prince in ''The Nutcracker'' at the Royal Opera House. He also frequently performed the role of Mercutio (''Romeo and Juliet'') at Covent Garden. Campbell danced with distinction in ''Song of the Earth'' in 2015. In the same year he performed his debut in the role of Colas (''La fille mal gardee'') with

Yuhui Choe Yuhui Choe () is a Korean ballet dancer. She is a first soloist at The Royal Ballet. Early life Choe was born in Fukuoka, Japan. Choe started ballet training at the age of five. At the age of 14, Choe left her family and moved to Paris to tra ...

to critical acclaim. In the role of The Young Man in Ashton's ''The Two Pigeons'' in 2016 Campbell, again dancing with Choe, garnered universal acclaim in 14 independent reviews including The Times, The Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian.
/ref>
/ref> Campbell's role creations at Covent Garden include Henry Clerval (''Frankenstein''). His first role as Principal was as partner to the acclaimed Ashtonian dancer,

Roberta Marquez Roberta Marquez is a Brazilian ballet dancer who was a Principal Dancer with The Royal Ballet. Early life Roberta Marquez was born in Rio de Janeiro to a Peruvian mother and a to a Portuguese father who was raised in Brazil. She started ballet ...

in ''La Fille Mal Gardee'' at her Royal Ballet farewell performance in 2016. Campbell first danced Prince Florimund in ''The Sleeping Beauty'' at Covent Garden partnering

Francesca Hayward Francesca Hayward (born 4 July 1992) is a Kenyan-born British ballet dancer and actress. She is a principal dancer in the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden in London. In 2019, she starred as Victoria the White Cat in the musical film ''Cats'', an ad ...

on her debut as Aurora in February 2017. Later in 2017 he danced in ''Rubies (Jewels), Tarantella'' and as Oberon in ''The Dream''. In 2018 he debuted as Albrecht partnering Francesca Hayward in ''Giselle''. In April 2018 Campbell made his debut as des Grieux in Kenneth McMillan’s ''Manon'' and in the same run of performances at Covent Garden danced on different days the roles of both des Grieux and Lescaut; a rare distinction in the history of the Royal Ballet. In the following month he danced the expanded role of Benno at the World premiere of Liam Scarlett’s new production of ''Swan Lake''. In June 2019 Campbell gave a stand out performance of the 3rd movement of ''Symphony in C''. In major roles, Campbell toured with the Royal Ballet in Russia, Japan, The United States of America, Spain and Australia and has made guest appearances with Birmingham Royal Ballet and

Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet (TAB) is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur an ...

. In 2015 Campbell performed the role of The Devil in Will Tuckett’s ''a Soldiers Tale'' in Tokyo. He partnered

in Robert Binet's immersive work, ''The Dreamers Ever Leave You'' in collaboration with the

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca, the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

at The Printworks in London in October 2017.The Times
/ref> Campbell starred with

in the BBC television documentary film ''Dancing the Nutcracker: Inside the Royal Ballet'' which was first shown on Christmas Day 2016. As a presenter, Campbell has introduced broadcasts of ballet from the Royal Opera House and co-presented World Ballet Days with Kristen McNally.World Ballet Day. https:// www.roh.org.uk/news/world-ballet-day-2018/ In 2024, Campbell retired from the stage to become the artistic director of the

. His last performance was as Des Grieux in ''Manon''.

Work with Young People

In 2007 Campbell appeared as Mercutio for Ballet Hoo! in a collaboration working with under-privileged children which was broadcast by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. In June 2017 Campbell was appointed an ambassador for the

and

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

joint project to encourage more boys to take up ballet and more girls to take up cricket. In 2017 he took part in a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

live interactive ballet learning experience for 7- to 11-year-olds broadcast to schools across the UK ,/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/57XcCL5bzLkDyXz7w3MN4p/ten-pieces-and--the-nutcracker-live-lesson/ and was a guest teacher at the Royal Ballet School’s summer program. In 2018 he gave masterclasses to vocational level students at the Royal Academy of Dance in London. and was appointed an ambassador of The Sydney Eisteddfod.

Personal life

Campbell was awarded British Citizenship in 2013. He has always maintained his love and knowledge of cricket and was invited in 2010 to speak annually to the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

as part of their Level Four Training for international cricket coaches. In 2015, he was invited to take part in the BBC program ''Test Match Special'' with an interview entitled, ''View from the Boundary''. Campbell was born with significant

hearing loss Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spo ...

, and testing in his early 20s established that he had "around 40 per cent below average hearing", requiring him to sometimes wear hearing aids. Campbell says that when waiting to go on stage he sometimes relies on colleagues to give him his cues, but that once on stage he can usually hear the orchestra playing. In 2018 Campbell was featured on ABC Television (Australia) in a documentary charting his early life and that of fellow Royal Ballet Principal,

Steven McRae Steven McRae (born 19 December 1985) is an Australian ballet dancer and tap dancer. He is a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, London.

. In 2022, Campbell married fellow Royal Ballet dancer

Claire Calvert Claire Louise Calvert (born 1988) is an English ballet dancer and is a first soloist at the Royal Ballet. Early life and training Calvert started ballet training at the age of three. She started attending The Royal Ballet School when she was 1 ...

. They have a daughter, born in 2023.

DVDs

Campbell can be seen dancing in the following productions: BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET * ''Cinderella'' NVC Arts Warner Classics (2011) (Dancing Master) ROYAL BALLET * ''Romeo and Juliet'' Opus Arte (2013) (Mercutio) * ''Ashton Celebration'' Opus Arte (2013) (Voices of Spring) * ''Swan Lake''. Opus Arte (2015) (Pas de Trois) * ''Frankenstein'' Opus Arte. (2016) (Henry Clerval) * ''The Nutcracker'' Opus Arte (2017) (Hans Peter/Nutcracker) * ''Swan Lake'' Opus Arte (2018) (Benno) * ''Within the Golden Hour'' Opus Arte (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Alexander 1986 births Living people Australian emigrants to England Australian male ballet dancers Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Principal dancers of The Royal Ballet