Columbian named principal dancer with the New York City Ballet

Sara Mearns Sara Mearns, a former member of the Ann Brodie's Carolina Ballet, was promoted to principal dancer with the New York City Ballet on June 28, 2008.

The promotion was made by Peter Martins, New York City Ballet's Ballet Master in Chief and successor to George Balanchine, June 28 following Mearns's performance in Balanchine's "La Sonnambula." Martins and members of the ballet company's senior staff were waiting in the wings at the New York State Theatre to congratulate Mearns and make the formal announcement.

Sara Mearns danced many major roles with the Carolina Ballet during her pre- professional training. She has returned as guest artist for the company's annual production of "The Nutcracker," and most recently performed this past season in CMFA's production of "Steppin' On Hollywood," a tribute to Columbia native, Stanley Donen. For that performance CMFA was given special permission from the Balanchine Trust to perform "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" with Amar Ramassar, a soloist with the NYCB.

Sara Mearns was again one of the featured performers in Carolina Ballet's spring production of "Accolades for Ann," a tribute to civic ballet in the Midlands and her former teacher, Ann Brodie. For that program she was given special permission to perform the Balanchine, "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux," which she danced with Christian Tworzyanski, another Carolina Ballet alumni currently dancing with the New York City Ballet.

Mearns was born in Columbia and began her dance training at the age of three with Ann Brodie at the Calvert- Brodie School of Dance where she also trained with the legendary Cuban ballet teacher, Adolfina Suarez- More. She studied with Bolshoi Ballet Master, Shamil Yagudin at the Carolina Ballet Academy. She also studied with Patricia McBride, a former principal at NYCB, at Dance Place in Charlotte, N.C., and with Stanislav Issaev at the Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville, S.C.

Throughout her pre- professional dance years she performed each season with the Carolina Ballet under the artistic direction of John Whitehead and Mimi Worrell.