Sara Mearns (dancer) is from Columbia, SC, and has been a principal dancer at New York City Ballet since 2008. She has originated roles in works by Justin Peck, Kyle Abraham, Alexei Ratmansky, Pam Tanowitz, Bobbi Jene Smith, Christopher Wheeldon, Guillaume Côté and Beth Gill, among others. Guest performer: Paul Taylor Dance Company, The Cunningham Centennial Celebration, Jodi Melnick Dance, Bill T. Jones/Lee Ming Wei and Wang Ramirez, as well as Dances of Isadora Duncan at Lincoln Center. At NYCC, she starred in Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes, I Married An Angel (Encores!) and Twyla Now, as well as multiple Fall for Dance Festivals. Mearns performed A Piece of Work, a full evening of five world premieres at The Joyce Theater (2022), was awarded a Bessie Award for Outstanding Performer (2018), the Dance Magazine Award (2019) and an honorary doctorate from University of South Carolina (2019). Mearns recently made her debut as Juliet in Alexei Ratmansky’s production of Romeo and Juliet with The National Ballet of Canada.
Photo: Erin Baiano