Référence · Top 10

⚡ Top 10 Choreographers Right Now

The ones inventing steps RIGHT NOW. You could still get their autograph — some of them might even read this. Ranked with total objectivity (lie), again.

1. 1. Christopher Wheeldon

   My personal favourite, and I will not be argued with. Alice proved a brand-new story ballet can be more magical than the old ones. Cheshire Cat, Caterpillar incorporating full body wave into ballet, 16 pairs of sparkly pointe shoes and a Tap-dancing Mad Hatter. I rest my case.

   Favourite ballets ·Alice's Adventures in Wonderland · The Winter's Tale · Cinderella

2. 2. Septime Webre

   The man giving Hong Kong Ballet its giant glow-up (see chapter twelve). Currently threatening Wheeldon’s spot at the top of my rankings — but I can’t confirm until I’ve actually seen a show. Hong Kong Ballet, if you’re reading this: I am available, I travel well, and my seat preference is “close enough to see the feet”. Awaiting my invite. 💌

   Favourite ballets ·ALICE (in Wonderland) · The Great Gatsby · Romeo + Juliet — to be confirmed, still awaiting my invitation 😉

3. 3. Angelin Preljocaj

   The local hero (France représente!) — the kiss from Le Parc that the entire internet has watched on loop, and a Snow White with costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier. Contemporary ballet that makes teenagers gasp and grandmothers clutch their pearls, sometimes in the same minute. I personally audited his version of Swan Lake last year and I approve.

   Favourite ballets ·Le Parc · Snow White · Swan Lake (the one I personally audited)

4. 4. Akram Khan

   Spellbinding. He mixes Asian and European dance cultures — kathak, an Indian dance, is woven straight into classical ballet — into a PERFECT blend (a bit like me, when you think about it). He dared to redo Giselle — GISELLE — and instead of being struck by lightning, he made it modern: his villagers work in a factory, and his mad scene made me forget to blink.

   Favourite ballets ·Giselle (English National Ballet) · Dust · Creature

5. 5. Wayne McGregor

   The Royal Ballet’s mad scientist. His dancers move like their bodies received a software update the rest of us haven’t downloaded yet. He works with actual scientists and even AI — which is either genius, or how the robot uprising learns fifth position. Possibly both. And in a “Harry Potter meets artificial intelligence” moment I did not see coming, he also choreographed the Yule Ball in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Wizards AND robots. That’s range.

   Favourite ballets ·Woolf Works · Chroma · Infra

6. 6. Jean-Christophe Maillot

   The choreographer of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. The first time I saw him was in a documentary about the Princess Grace Academy. You will tell me: another one redoing the classics. Yep — Roméo et Juliette, Cendrillon, Swan Lake (his is called LAC). But his thing is reimagining the story: the original stays recognizable, only he dives into the characters’ heads or changes the point of view. His Cendrillon gives the leading role of the heart to the Fairy Godmother, and his Roméo et Juliette is told by Friar Laurence — you know, the one whose Very Important Letter never arrives. The Freud of ballet, maybe. But with better costumes.

   Favourite ballets ·Cendrillon · Roméo et Juliette · LAC

7. 7. Crystal Pite

   The choreographer EVERYONE agrees on — grown-up critics, dancers, me. That never happens. In The Seasons’ Canon at the Paris Opera, fifty-four dancers move like one giant wave and the whole theatre forgets to breathe. She can make a crowd look like the ocean. I can’t even coordinate five friends to do the same TikTok dance.

   Favourite ballets ·The Seasons’ Canon · Revisor · Flight Pattern

8. 8. Alexei Ratmansky

   He joined the archaeology club as the successor of Pierre Lacotte. Loves his ballet history: besides creating completely new ballets, he is known for researching and reconstructing the classics, recovering details that changed or disappeared over the decades — including, YES, he is the one, The Little Humpbacked Horse (my favourite ❤️). Rumour has it he was a bit of a ballet nerd even when he was little. Reminds me of someone…

   Favourite ballets ·The Sleeping Beauty (reconstruction) · The Bright Stream · Giselle (reconstruction)

9. 9. Cathy Marston

   I recently started reading the English classics (a.k.a. mommy made me a reading list), and hold your bun: there is a Jane Eyre BALLET. An actual one, and it’s hers. She turns books into ballets — Jane Eyre, Victoria, The Cellist — my reading list and my watchlist are now the same list. Library card: earned.

   Favourite ballets ·Jane Eyre · Victoria · The Cellist

10. 10. Justin Peck

    Doesn’t ring a bell? He is the one who choreographed the dancing in Spielberg’s West Side Story. New York City Ballet’s step-maker, with one sneaker on Broadway and the other in Hollywood.

    Favourite ballets ·West Side Story (the movie) · The Times Are Racing · Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes