Catherine Hurlin

Catherine Hurlin (born ) is an American ballet dancer. She joined the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in 2014 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2022.

Early life Hurlin was born in New York City and raised in Westchester County, New York. Her mother, was a Paul Taylor Dance Company dancer and left the company when she was 14 weeks pregnant with Hurlin. Her father was a stage manager with the company and later Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS's production manager. Hurlin started creative movement at age three, then ballet at age five. When she was eight, her mother sent her to Westchester Dance Academy, a competitive dance school, where Hurlin trained in jazz and lyrical dance in addition to ballet, and performed around the East Coast on weekends. At the time, she preferred lyrical dance and later recalled her mother "dragged" her to the school, though gradually found herself enjoying ballet and decided to pursue it professionally. In 2010, whilst she was a student with the JKO School, she created the role of Young Clara in Alexei Ratmansky's The Nutcracker, which was performed by the American Ballet Theatre.

Hurlin first danced with the American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company, then became an apprentice with the main company in 2013, and a corps de ballet member in 2014. She also performed solo roles in The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadère, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, Giselle, Swan Lake, Ratmansky's The Firebird and MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet. The following year, she represented ABT at the Erik Bruhn Prize with colleague Aran Bell. The pair performed a pas de deux from Don Quixote and Let Me Sing Forevermore, which was created for them by Jessica Lang. Hurlin won the female category. Since her promotion, she created several roles, including Hail in Ratmansky's The Seasons, and in Whiteside's New American Romance. She had also appeared as Young Jane Eyre in Marston's Jane Eyre, However, ABT's spring season, which included the New York premiere and some of Hurlin's major debuts, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, she and Bell, who were quarantining together, performed Let Me Sing Forevermore at Central Park, filmed for ABT's virtual gala in May 2020. In March 2021, Hurlin performed the world premiere of Ratmansky's Bernstein in a Bubble, created while a group of ABT dancers were in a bubble in Upstate New York earlier that year. In the summer, she took part in the company's eight-city tour, performing outdoors and mainly with members of the corps de ballet.

In 2022, at the company's first season at the Metropolitan Opera House since the pandemic, Hurlin danced as Kitri in Don Quixote, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, and Callirhoe in the New York premiere of Of Love and Rage. Towards the end of the season, she was promoted to principal dancer.

Repertoire Hurlin's repertoire with the American Ballet Theatre includes: Ballet (roles)ChoreographerAftereffect Marcelo GomesAFTERITEWayne McGregorLa Bayadère (Lead D'Jampe; Third Shade)Natalia Makarova after Marius PetipaThe Brahms-Haydn VariationsTwyla TharpCompany BPaul TaylorLe Corsaire (Odalisque)Anna-Marie Holmes after Konstantin Sergeyev and Marius PetipaDeuce CoupeTwyla TharpDon Quixote (Kitri, Flower Girl)After Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky; staged by Kevin McKenzie and Sandra JonesFirebird (Lead Maiden)Alexei RatmanskyGarden BlueJessica LangGiselle (Giselle; Myrta; peasant pas de deux)After Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, and Marius Petipa; staged by Kevin McKenzieHer NotesJessica LangI Feel The Earth MoveBenjamin MillepiedIn the Upper RoomTwyla TharpJane Eyre (Young Jane)Cathy MarstonLike Water for Chocolate (Gertrudis)Christopher WheeldonManon (Lescaut's Mistress)Kenneth MacMillanThe Nutcracker (Clara, the Princess; Canteen Keeper; Nutcracker's Sister; Spanish Dance)Alexei RatmanskyOn the Dnieper (Olga)Alexei RatmanskyRomeo and Juliet (Juliet, Harlot)Kenneth MacMillanThe Seasons (Hail, Bacchante)Alexei RatmanskyThe Sleeping Beauty (Princess Florine; The Fairy Violente; The White Cat; Cinderella)Marius Petipa, staged and additional choreography by Alexei RatmanskySongs of BukovinaAlexei RatmanskySwan Lake (Odette/Odile; pas de trois; Big Swan)Kevin McKenzie after Marius Petipa and Lev IvanovThirteen DiversionsChristopher Wheeldon

Created roles Ballet (roles)ChoreographerAfter YouMark MorrisA Gathering of Ghosts (Greased Lighting)Twyla TharpLet Me Sing ForevermoreJessica LangNew American RomanceJames WhitesideOf Love and Rage (Callirhoe)Alexei RatmanskyPraedicereMichelle DorranceThe Seasons (Hail)Alexei RatmanskyWhipped Cream (Mademoiselle Marianne Chartreuse)Alexei Ratmansky