Aran Bell (born October 7, 1998) is an American ballet dancer. He was featured in the 2011 documentary ''

First Position ''First Position'' is a 2011 American documentary film. It follows six young dancers preparing for the Youth America Grand Prix in New York City, an annual competition for dancers ages 9–19 to earn a place at an elite ballet company or school. ...

'', and became a principal dancer with the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...

at age 21.

Early life and training

Bell was born on October 7, 1998, in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

. As his father was a U.S. Navy doctor, Bell was homeschooled and lived in different parts of the country and in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, Italy. Bell, who started ballet at age 4, trained at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet for three years as well as with private teachers. He studied a variety of styles including the

Vaganova method The Vaganova method is a ballet technique and training system devised by the Russian dancer and pedagogue Agrippina Vaganova (1879–1951). It was derived from the teachings of the ''Premier Maître de Ballet'' Marius Petipa, throughout the lat ...

and Balanchine technique. During the four and a half years Bell's father was stationed in Naples, Bell and his mother travelled to Rome six times a week to train with Denys Ganio, who had danced with

Roland Petit Roland Petit (13 January 192410 July 2011) was a French ballet company director, choreographer and dancer. He trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets. Life and work The son of shoe designer Ro ...

's company. He also studied under Fabrice Herrault in New York City, and was enrolled in

's summer intensive for several years. At age 11, Bell competed at the

Youth America Grand Prix Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) is a non-profit international youth ballet and contemporary dance competition and scholarship program established in 1999. Overview Each year, over 10,000 dancers participate in the competitions and auditions YAGP ...

, where he won the overall prize in the junior division. He was one of six competitors profiled in the 2011 documentary ''

''.

Career

In 2014, at age 16, Bell joined the

Studio Company, and stayed for a second year as a result of a growth spurt. He became an apprentice with the main company in 2016 and joined the

corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French language, French for "body of the little dance") is the group of ballet dancer, dancers who are not principal dancers or Soloist (ballet), soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and ...

the following year. In 2018, at age 19, Bell danced Romeo in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' with principal dancer

Devon Teuscher Devon Teuscher (born 1989) is an American ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre. Early life Teuscher began her dance training at the age of nine. As a student, Teuscher attended The Kirov Academy of Ballet, Pac ...

as Juliet, when the dancer scheduled to dance the role was injured. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called his performance "an astonishingly impressive debut." The following year, he represented ABT at the Erik Bruhn Prize with colleague Catherine Hurlin, made his debut as Prince Siegfried in ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'' and Prince Désiré in '' The Sleeping Beauty'', and was promoted to soloist. In 2020, though some of his major debuts were delayed due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Bell was promoted to principal dancer at age 21, which was unusually young.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Aran 1998 births Living people Entertainers from Bethesda, Maryland American male ballet dancers American Ballet Theatre principal dancers 21st-century American ballet dancers Dancers from Maryland American expatriates in Italy