Caroline Baldwin (born 1990) is an American/Danish ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the

Royal Danish Ballet The Royal Danish Ballet ( Danish: ''Den Kongelige Ballet'') is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Danish Theatre in Kongens Nytorv, Copenhagen, Denmark. It is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world a ...

in Copenhagen.

Early life and education

Baldwin was raised in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois. She attended her first ballet class at age 11, and later trained at the Faubourg School of Ballet, while attending high school, and attended summer intensives at

Houston Ballet Houston Ballet, operated by Houston Ballet Foundation, is a professional ballet company based in Houston, Texas. The company consists of 59 dancers and produces over 85 performances per year. It is the 5th largest ballet company in the United ...

San Francisco Ballet School San Francisco Ballet School was founded in 1933 as part of the San Francisco Operatic and Ballet School when Gaetano Merola, the founder of the San Francisco Opera, perceived a need for an institution where dancers could be trained to perform in ...

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional voc ...

in New York City and The Royal Ballet School in London.

Career

In 2007, at age 17, Baldwin 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 ...

, and was spotted by the Royal Danish Ballet, and was invited to take classes with the company in Copenhagen. In 2009, she became an apprentice with the company, and was promoted to the corps de ballet later that year. She was named soloist in 2013, and as a soloist, she danced Odette/Odile 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 returned to the U.S. to dance

August Bournonville August Bournonville (21 August 1805 – 30 November 1879) was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. He was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the ne ...

's works. In 2017, she became a principal dancer. As of 2019, she is one of the four American principal dancers in the company. She had also performed for

Queen Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly 5 ...

. In 2021 Caroline was knighted by the Danish Queen for her outstanding contribution to the art of ballet.

References

Living people 1990 births Royal Danish Ballet principal dancers American emigrants to Denmark 21st-century American ballet dancers 21st-century Danish ballet dancers American prima ballerinas 21st-century American women

External links

Royal Danish Theater: Caroline Baldwin
{{Ballet-bio-stub Dancers from Chicago