James B. Whiteside (born 1984), is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, model, drag queen, and recording artist. He is a former principal dancer with

Boston Ballet The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. ...

and is currently a principal dancer with

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 ...

Early life and training

Whiteside was born in

Fairfield, Connecticut Fairfield is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Connecticut, Trumbull, Easton, Connecticut, Easton, Weston, Connecticut, W ...

. He grew up in Fairfield and in

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

. He began his dance training at the D'Valda & Sirico Dance and Music Centre when he was nine years old. He began training in jazz, tap, and acrobatic dance and did not begin studying classical ballet until he was a teenager. He later attended the Virginia School of the Arts and trained under the direction of Petrus Bosman and David Keener.

Career

Ballet

In 2002 he joined Boston Ballet II, eventually joining the corps de ballet of

in 2003. He was promoted to soloist in 2006, first soloist in 2008, and principal dancer with Boston Ballet in 2009. Whiteside left Boston Ballet and joined

as a soloist in September 2012. He was promoted to principal dancer in October 2013. He performed 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 ...

as a guest artist and was featured in

Justin Peck Justin Peck (born September 8, 1987) is an American choreographer, director, and dancer associated with New York City Ballet, of which he was appointed Resident Choreographer in July 2014, being the second person in the history of the instituti ...

's short film ''Early Sunday Morning'', which premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. In 2018, he starred in Arthur Pita's dance/theater work The Tenant at The Joyce Theater in New York City. In 2019, his choreographed work ''New American Romance'' debuted in 2019. Whiteside hosts his own podcast series on Premier Dance Network called ''The Stage Rightside with James Whiteside''.

Modeling

Whiteside is represented by

Wilhelmina Models Wilhelmina International Inc. (NASDAQ: WHLM), formerly Wilhelmina Models, is a modeling and talent agency headquartered in New York City, New York. The company also has offices in Los Angeles, Miami and London. Founded in 1967 by Wilhelmina C ...

and has modeled for

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...

Capezio Capezio is the trade name of Capezio Ballet Makers Inc., an American manufacturer of dance shoes, apparel and accessories. History In 1887, Salvatore Capezio, an Italian cobbler emigrated to the United States, opened a shoe repair shop near th ...

, Koio,

MAC Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

, and

Glossier Glossier is a beauty brand founded by Emily Weiss in 2014. It started as an online-only company, building on the popularity of the beauty blog ''"Into the Gloss"''. Glossier was one of the first direct-to-consumer beauty companies when it launched ...

Music

Whiteside records electronic pop, rap, and dance hall music under the stage name JbDubs. He writes and produces his own music and directs, choreographs, and produces his own music videos. The music video for his single ''I Hate My Job'' has been featured on ''

PerezHilton.com Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978), known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting tabloid ph ...

'', ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', ''

After Elton TheBacklot.com (TheBacklot), founded in January 2005 as AfterElton (AfterElton.com), was a culture website that focused on the portrayal of gay and bisexual men in the media, and was the companion site of the lesbian-focused AfterEllen (AfterElle ...

'', ''

Instinct Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing innate (inborn) elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a very short to me ...

'', '' Shangay Spain'', '' Up2U Thailand'', and ''

MTV3 MTV3 (, ) is a Finnish commercial television channel owned and operated by the media company MTV Oy, originally launched on 13 August 1957 as a programming block, becoming its own channel on 1 January 1993. It had the biggest audience share ...

''. His music has also been featured on the

Here TV Here TV (also known as Here! or stylized as here!) is an American premium television network targeting LGBTQ audiences. Launched in 2002, Here TV is available nationwide on all major cable systems, fiber optics systems, and Internet TV providers ...

network shows ''BOOMBOX'' and ''She's Living for This''. Whiteside released his debut album ''Free To Love'' in 2011. His second album, titled ''Oink'', was released in 2012. In 2013 he released an extended play titled ''Hey JB!''

Drag

Whiteside performs as a drag queen in New York City's drag scene under the stage name Ühu Betch. He is a member of a drag ensemble called ''Dairy Queens''. He has his own line of clothing at ''Drag Queen Merch''.

Selected repertoire

Boston Ballet

* ''

Theme and Variations In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve melody, rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these. Variation is often contrasted with mu ...

'' * ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...

'' * ''Rubies'' * ''

Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

'' * ''

Serenade In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honour of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Ital ...

'' * ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' * ''La Valse'' * Maina Gielgud's ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

'' * Mikko Nissinen's ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'' * Mikko Nissinen's ''

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 ...

'' * John Cranko's ''

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 ...

'' * Marius Petipa's '' The Sleeping Beauty'' * Jiři Kylián's '' Bella Figura'' * Jiři Kylián's '' Petite Mort'' * Mark Morris' ''Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes'' * Jorma Elo's ''Carmen''

American Ballet Theatre

* Solor in ''

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is an 1877 ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by the French choreographer Marius Petipa to music by Ludwig Minkus and libretto by . The ba ...

'' * The Prince in Frederick Ashton's ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' * Conrad and Ali, the Slave in ''

Le Corsaire ''Le Corsaire'' is a ballet typically presented in three acts, with a libretto originally created by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges loosely based on the poem '' The Corsair'' by Lord Byron. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to ...

'' * Basilio and Espada in ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'' * Oberon in ''

The Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Dream may also refer to: Art Paintings * ''The Dream'' (Detaille), an 1888 painting by Édouard D ...

'' * Colas in ''

La Fille mal gardée LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

'' * Albrecht in ''

'' * Lescaut in ''

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was f ...

'' * The Nutcracker Prince in Alexei Ratmansky's ''

'' * Prince Gremin in Onegin'' * Romeo in ''

'' * Prince Désiré in '' The Sleeping Beauty'' * Prince Siegfried and von Rothbart (Ballroom) in ''

'' * Orion in '' Sylvia'' * ''

'' * Prince Coffee in ''Whipped Cream'' * ''Bach Partita'' * '' Symphonic Variations'' * '' Symphony in C'' * ''

'' * ''Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes''

Created roles

* The Man in ''AfterEffect'' * Harlequin in Ratmansky's ''Harlequinade'' * Dionysius in ''Of Love and Rage'' * Zephyr in ''The Seasons'' * ''AFTERITE'' * ''Garden Blue'' * ''Serenade after Plato's Symposium'' * ''A Time There Was'' * ''With a Chance of Rain'' * ''Dream within a Dream (deferred)''

Choreographed works

* ''City of Women'' for ABT Incubator * ''Sway'' for Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night's Swing * ''New American Romance'' for American Ballet Theatre Source:

Personal life

Whiteside lived in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

with Dan Donigan, his partner of 12 years. He and Donigan were in an

open relationship An open relationship is an intimate relationship that is sexually or romantically non-monogamous. An open relationship generally indicates a relationship where there is a primary emotional and intimate relationship between partners, who agree to ...

. The couple ended their relationship in October 2020.

References

External links

*
James Whiteside
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whiteside, James B. 1984 births American Ballet Theatre principal dancers American drag queens American gay artists American gay musicians American LGBTQ dancers American LGBTQ models American LGBTQ singers American male ballet dancers American male models American male pop singers Boston Ballet II dancers Boston Ballet principal dancers Dancers from Connecticut Gay dancers Gay models Gay singers LGBTQ ballet dancers LGBTQ people from Connecticut Living people People from Fairfield, Connecticut