The Beauty of Dance: Stephanie Zungre, New York City Ballet, New York, NY

Originally from Holland, Stephanie Zungre entered the New York City Ballet's school in 2000 after years of training elsewhere. She has been a member of the New York City Ballet's corps de ballet since 2003.

The Beauty of Dance: Elizabeth Walker, New York City Ballet, New York, NY

A native of South Carolina, Elizabeth Walker began her ballet training in her home state before studying with the New York City Ballet's school in 1986. She has been a member of the ballet company since 1991.

The Beauty of Dance: Lisa Viola, Paul Taylor Dance Company, New York, NY

Lisa Viola has been a mainstay with the Paul Taylor Dance Company for years. She's known for her keen comic timing in his more whimsical pieces.

The Beauty of Dance: Laura Urgelles, The Washington Ballet, Washington, DC

Laura Urgelles, a native of Cuba, has been with The Washington Ballet (TWB) in our nation's capital (take that, Castro!) since 2000. She previously performed with several American companies, including the Miami Hispanic Ballet, and won the Gold Medal and the Grand Prix of the Seventh International Ballet Competition of Trujillo in Peru.

The Beauty of Dance: Julie Tice, Paul Taylor Dance Company, New York, NY

A member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company since 2000, Julie Tice started out in ballet in her native Illinois. She's choreographed and performed her own dances in addition to performing standard modern works.

The Beauty of Dance: Rachel Rutherford, New York City Ballet, New York, NY

Another New York City Ballet dancer (a soloist), Rachel Rutherford is as serious as she looks when it comes to dance. She's already appeared in several Balanchine and Peter Martins works, and she's also danced original roles in new ballets as well.

The Beauty of Dance: Jenifer Ringer, New York City Ballet, New York, NY

Jenifer Ringer - yes, she spells her first name with one "n" - is a rising star in the New York City Ballet company founded by George Balanchine. Since becoming a principal dancer in 2000, she's danced in numerous NYCB productions - mostly Balanchine works, of course.

The Beauty of Dance: Heather Ogden. . .

. . .in color! :-)

The Beauty of Dance: Heather Ogden, National Ballet of Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Canadian native Heather Ogden has been with the national ballet company of her country for several years and a principal since 2005. She has also performed with Suzanne Farrell's eponoymous ballet company.

The Beauty of Dance: Gillian Murphy, American Ballet Theatre, New York, NY

Although she shares many a stage with Paloma Herrera and Julie Kent, Gillian Murphy has no need to worry about being upstaged. Anyone who saw her perform as Odette/Odile in the American Ballet Theatre's production of Swan Lake can attest to that.

The Beauty of Dance: Aara Krumpe, Ballet Austin, Austin, TX

After being with many different companies, Aara Krumpe is currently with Ballet Austin, where she has danced in original works choreographed by Stephen Mills. She's also performed in The Nutcracker, a ballet every company has to know.

The Beauty of Dance: Darci Kistler, New York City Ballet, New York, NY

Darci Kistler is synonymous with the New York City Ballet. A principal dancer with the company since 1982, she has performed numerous roles created by George Balanchine. She is a living legend to serious ballet aficionados.

The Beauty of Dance: Julie Kent, American Ballet Theatre, New York, NY

Julie Kent is perhaps the American Ballet Theatre's most esteemed dancer. And like most dancers of distinction, she's performed far too many roles to be listed here. The day I saw Paloma Herrera perform in Romeo and Juliet and got her autograph after the show, incidentally, I saw Miss Kent dart back and forth to and from the stage door with her son in tow; she didn't perform that day, but her husband did. :-)

The Beauty of Dance: Rie Ichikawa, Boston Ballet, Boston, MA

Soloist Rie Ichikawa is a ballet dancer from Nagano, Japan (site of the 1998 Olympics), who has been with the Boston Ballet since 1999. Roles such as Lise in Sir Frederick Ashton's La Fille mal gardée, Bianca in John Cranko's The Taming of the Shrew, Blossom in James Kudelka's Cinderella, the Songbird Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, and the Snow Queen and Sugar Plum Fairy in Nissinen's The Nutcracker are just some of her many parts in the last seven years with Boston.

The Beauty of Dance: Paloma Herrera, American Ballet Theatre, New York, NY

Here she is, Paloma Herrera! She's not only the American Ballet Theatre's most beautiful company member, she may very well be the most beautiful woman in all of ballet today.

Paloma Herrera is originally from Argentina, and she was a child phenomenon in South American ballet, winning many competitions. After studying in Belarus and Great Britain, she continued her training at ABT's school. She joined the the company's corps de ballet in 1991. Two years after that, she became a soloist. Two years after that, she became a principal. Today, she's a star.

Ms. Herrera dances with both the grace and elegance of a prima ballerina and the passion and zest associated with the Argentine tango dance. Her exotic looks make it all the more impossible to take your eyes off her.

P.S. I got her autograph after a performance of Romeo and Juliet (Ms. Herrera played Juliet, of course!) at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Woo hoo! :-D

The Beauty of Dance: Michelle Fleet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, New York, NY

Whether in performance (above) or sitting still (below), Michelle Fleet of the Paul Taylor Dance Company is someone you just can't look away from. :-)

Ms. Fleet joined this illustrious modern dance company's Taylor 2 troupe in 1999, having won an audition for one of only six slots. She joined the main Taylor company in 2002.

The Beauty of Dance: Suzanne Farrell

Suzanne Farrell is a living legend in American dance. A muse of the legendary ballet director George Balanchine, she danced with distinction in to many ballets to list while she was with Balanchine and the New York City Ballet. :-) She now directs her own company in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center.

The Beauty of Dance: Kathleen Dwyer, Louisville Ballet, Louisville, KY

Kathleen Dwyer is a corps de ballet member of the eponymous ballet company of Louisville, Kentucky. In her debut season (2005-06) with the company, she was featured in Ben Stevenson's Four Last Songs.

The Beauty of Dance: Rebecca Crawford, Ballet Arizona, Phoenix, AZ

Yes, Phoenix has a ballet, too! And one of its newest members is Rebecca Crawford, who joined at the start of the current season after studying her art in Florida and her native Georgia.

The Beauty of Dance: Erica Cornejo, Boston Ballet, Boston, MA

A native of Argentina, Erica Cornejo joined the American Ballet Theatre in 1998, where she distinguished herself with her performance in Agnes DeMilles's Rodeo. She joined the Boston Ballet this year; her brother Herman is currently with ABT.

The Beauty of Dance: Barbara Bears, Houston Ballet, Houston, TX

Barbara Bears has been a principal dancer with the Houston Ballet since 1995, and she's known for choreographing her own ballet, Speaking In Strings, as well as teaching dance.

The Beauty of Dance: Lauren Anderson, Houston Ballet, Houston, TX

In a "60 Minutes" story about ballet, Lauren Anderson of the Houston Ballet was identified as the first black principal ballerina of a major dance company. I thought to myself, "Wow that's astonishing!

"Houston has a ballet company?"

Seriously, Ms. Anderson has been a principal for the Houston Ballet since 1990, retiring this year (2006). Her most noted role was the title part in Cleopatra. As a humorous aside, she was invited by a Houston sports radio station to talk about football, the idea being that a ballerina would know nothing about America's most masculine sport. She turned out to be a huge football fan, and she gave regular picks for games each weekend!

The Beauty of Dance: Stella Abrera, American Ballet Theatre, New York, NY

Stella Abrera is a dancer from California who joined the American Ballet Theatre's corps de ballet in 1996, and became a soloist five years later.

Despite her obvious sultriness, she is not the most beautiful dancer in the company. And who is that, you ask? Oh, you'll find out soon! :-)

New Series: The Beauty of Dance!

The next alphabetical series of pictures will be portraits of women in the world of dance, particularly ballet. Emphasizing dancers on this blog is a no-brainer; where else but in dance can you expect to find so many beautiful women? :-D