Melanie Hamrick

Melanie Hamrick (born July 17, 1987) is an American choreographer, author, and retired ballerina. She danced with the American Ballet Theatre 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. She attended the Kirov Academy of Ballet for five years as a scholarship student, training under Alla Sizova, Nicolai Morozov, and Adrienne Dellas.

Career Ballet Hamrick danced with the American Ballet Theatre for fifteen years, retiring in 2019. She spent her career as a member of the company's corps de ballet. Prior to joining the corps, she danced for a year in the junior company. Olympia in Lady of the Camellias, Winter Fairy in Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, and other roles in Apollo and The Nutcracker.

Writing In 2023, her debut novel, First Position, was published by Penguin Random House. The romance novel, 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 in ballet. In writing First Position, Hamrick took inspiration from her life experience as a ballerina, the novel Fifty Shades of Grey, and the 2010 psychological horror film Black Swan. Following its release, Good Morning America selected The Unravelling as a "Buzz Pick".

Personal life Hamrick is engaged to Sir Mick Jagger; the couple have a son, born in December 2016.