TOP 10 Best Principal Male Dancers

Who are my favorite male ballet dancers?

My friends often ask me about my favourite male dancers. As I have been a ballet lover for decades, it is very difficult to answer this question, given the amount of dancers I have seen perform. All dancers have different strengths and weaknesses; Rudolf Nurejev, for example, while a presence onstage and reknowned as the best dancer of the 20th century, would not be considered extremely talented by todays standards. I will also not be mentioning excellent male dancers who have passed their prime, such as Mikhail Baryshnikov and Vladimir Malakhov.

I will be focussing on the principal dancers that I have adored watching these past five years.

Here are my Top 10 male dancers:

Friedemann Vogel, Stuttgart Ballet

Semyon Chudin, Bolschoi Ballet

Sergei Polunin

Daniil Simkin, American Ballet Theatre

Steven McRae, Royal Ballet London

Edward Watson, Royal Ballet London

Ivan Vasiliev

Carlos Acosta, retired from Royal Ballet London

Rainer Krenstetter, Miami CIty Ballet

Marian Walter, Staatsballett Berlin

I need to mention some other great dancers like Valentino Zucchetti, James Whiteside, William Moore, Surimu Fukushi, Eric Scott Underwood and Dinu Tamazlacaru.

Photo on Top: Friedemann Vogel (c) Baki Photographer