Wendy Whelan

Wendy Whelan (; born May 7, 1967) is an American ballet dancer. She was principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and performed with the company for 30 years, and toured in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Whelan has also been an influential guest artist with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company. In 2019, Whelan was named Associate Artistic Director of New York City Ballet.

Early life Whelan was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. She started ballet at age three. After performing as a mouse in The Nutcracker with the Louisville Ballet, she began formal training when she was eight at the Louisville Ballet Academy. At age 12, she was diagnosed with severe scoliosis, and had to wear a brace. In 1981, after auditioning before Suzanne Farrell, she received a scholarship to the summer intensive program at the School of American Ballet. She was asked to stay in New York and train, but chose to return to Kentucky and study at the J. Graham Brown School, a public high school, because she was only 14. The following year, she re-auditioned for SAB's summer course, this time before Karin von Aroldingen, was accepted again, and chose to remain in New York afterward. Whelan encountered George Balanchine only once. On the day she danced one of his works for the first time, as a corps member in Western Symphony at an SAB showcase, he died. A documentary film, titled Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan and released in 2017, followed Whelan through her hip surgery and recovery, the project's creation, and the last two years of her NYCB career.

In 2014, Whelan left NYCB after 30 years in the company. Her farewell performance was sold out within minutes.

After her departure from ballet, she shifted her focus to contemporary dance.

Whelan was appointed an Artistic Associate for developing new projects at New York City Center for a 2-year term from November 2014. Whelan was an artist-in-residence at Barnard College from November 2015 to May 2017. In 2017, she staged Ratmansky's Pictures at an Exhibition for the Pacific Northwest Ballet.

After Peter Martins' resignation in 2018 following allegations concerning emotional and physical abuse, Whelan was seen as a possible new director. A petition to hire her had over 15,000 signatures. In February 2019, Whelan was appointed as Associate Artistic Director of the NYCB. Jonathan Stafford, who had been acting as interim leader, was named Artistic Director. The two said they intended to work as partners, Stafford would be in charge of artistic operations while Whelan supervises programming. This is the first NYCB leadership that had never worked with Balanchine.

Style Whelan is known for her angular body and muscularity, particularly suited to the Balanchine style. She had been called America's greatest contemporary ballerina. Mikhail Baryshnikov commented she was "the best" and "there's a complexity, a sense of internal life, a woman on stage. You're always trying to decode this person when she moves." They reside in New York City.