Melanie Hamrick (born July 17, 1987) is an American choreographer, author, and retired ballerina. She danced 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 ...

for fifteen years before retiring in 2019. She has written two novels, ''First Position'' and ''The Unraveling''.

Early life

Hamrick was born in

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It had a population of 15,425 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern par ...

. She attended the

Kirov Academy of Ballet The Kirov Academy of Ballet (formerly the Universal Ballet Academy) was a ballet school in Washington, D.C. founded by Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon in 1990. It closed in May 2022. Facilities The Kirov was located in a former monastery on a 1.2 ...

for five years as a scholarship student, training under

Alla Sizova Alla Sizova (22 September 1939 – 23 November 2014) was a Russian ballet dancer, best known for her work with the Kirov Ballet. She was one of the four superstar ballerinas of the Soviet Union along with Natalia Makarova, Alla Osipenko and Irina ...

, Nicolai Morozov, and Adrienne Dellas.

Career

Ballet

Hamrick danced with the

for fifteen years, retiring in 2019. She spent her career as a member of the company's corps de ballet.https://pointemagazine.com/melanie-hamrick/#gsc.tab=0 Prior to joining the corps, she danced for a year in the junior company. Hamrick danced various corps and featured roles including the Fairy Candide in

Alexei Ratmansky Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky (, born August 27, 1968) is a Russian-Ukrainian-American choreographer and former ballet dancer. From 2004 to 2008 he was the director of the Moscow Bolshoi Ballet. He left Russia in 2008. In 2009 he was appointed the ar ...

’s '' The Sleeping Beauty'', Caroline in '' Lilac Garden'', Flower Girl 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 ...

'', Olympia in '' Lady of the Camellias'', Winter Fairy in

Sir Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the oppositio ...

’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 ...

'', and other roles in ''

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. She danced her final performance in October 2019 in the company's production of

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...

’s ''

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 ...

''. She choreographed a 2019 ballet named ''Porte Rogue'', which was soundtracked to songs by

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

and composed in collaboration with her partner, the band's singer,

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

Writing

In 2023, her debut novel, ''First Position'', was published by

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...

. The

romance novel A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and Romance (love), romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed ...

, though not autobiographical in nature, is "loosely based on some truths backstage" during Hamrick's time as a ballerina. The novel's title is a pun based on the

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. ...

in ballet. In writing ''First Position'', Hamrick took inspiration from her life experience as a ballerina, the novel ''

Fifty Shades of Grey ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It became the first instalment in the ''Fifty Shades'' novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, ...

'', and the 2010

psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre freque ...

film ''

Black Swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large Anatidae, waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent ...

''. She announced in March 2024 that her second novel, ''The Unraveling'', would be released that August. Following its release, ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' selected ''The Unravelling'' as a "Buzz Pick".

Personal life

Hamrick is engaged to Sir

, with whom she has a son who was born in December 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamrick, Melanie Living people 1987 births 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American ballet dancers 21st-century American women writers American ballerinas American ballet choreographers American Ballet Theatre dancers American women choreographers American women romantic fiction writers Dancers from Virginia Jagger family Novelists from Virginia People from Williamsburg, Virginia