Ashley Bouder (born December 10, 1983) is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet. She also founded and currently runs her own project, The Ashley Bouder Project.

Early life

Ashley Bouder was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She started ballet when she was six, at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. In 1999, she attended the School of American Ballet, and was invited to stay and train at the winter session.

Career

New York City Ballet

Bouder joined the New York City Ballet as an apprentice in June 2000, and was promoted to the corps de ballet four months later. She was named a soloist in 2004 and a principal dancer the following year. She has danced Balanchine works such as The Nutcracker and Serenade, and new works such as Alexei Ratmansky's Concerto DSCH and Justin Peck's Pulcinella Variations. In 2019, she won the Prix Benois de la Danse for dancing the role of Swanida in Coppélia.

The Ashley Bouder Project

Bouder helms her own small company, The Ashley Bouder Project, that has mounted several innovative ballet productions in New York over the years, primarily centered on commissioning new works by women choreographers and composers, including her own. Dancers involved with the project include Bouder's NYCB colleagues, such as Sara Mearns, Taylor Stanley and Andrew Veyette. Notable appearances have been at the Joyce Theater in 2015. and at The Symphony Space in 2017, in collaboration with The New York Jazzharmonic. This was the first time that an entire evening of ballet in varied styles was set solely to the accompaniment of a jazz orchestra.

Other ventures

Bouder has called upon ballet to embrace Feminism. She is a resident fellow at the Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University.

Awards

Personal life

She is married to financier Peter de Florio and gave birth to their daughter, Violet Storm de Florio, on May 4, 2016. As of 2018, she is studying political science at Fordham University part-time.

Selected repertoire

Bouder's repertoire with the New York City Ballet includes: • Apollo (Polyhymnia) • Coppélia (Swanilda) • Dances at a Gathering • The Firebird • Harlequinade (Colombine, Lead Alouette) • "Emeralds" and "Rubies" from Jewels • A Midsummer Night's Dream (Divertissement, Butterfly) • The Nutcracker (Sugarplum Fairy, Dewdrop, Marzipan) • Other Dances • Raymonda Variations • Serenade • The Sleeping Beauty (Aurora, Diamond) • Swan Lake (Odette/Odile, Pas de Quatre) • La Sylphide (The Sylph) • Symphony in C (First and Third Movements) • Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux • La Valse

Created roles

• Acheron • Bal de Couture • Broken Promise • Clearing Dawn • Concerto DSCH • "The Blue Necklace" from Double Feature (Mabel) • Grazioso • Lineage • Luce Nascosta • New Blood • Outlier • The Runaway • Shambards • Soirée • SOMETHING TO DANCE ABOUT Jerome Robbins, Broadway to Ballet • Viva Verdi • Year of the Rabbit