City Ballet Replenishes Its Ranks, Depleted by Scandal

NEW YORK — New York City Ballet, which forced out three male stars this year after a nude-photo-sharing scandal, is replenishing its ranks: The company announced Saturday that it was promoting seven dancers, including Joseph Gordon, who was named a principal dancer.

The promotions were announced by Jonathan Stafford, leader of City Ballet’s interim artistic team, Saturday afternoon at the David H. Koch Theater, between the matinee and the evening performances. They signaled that the company was moving forward and continuing to develop its dancers, even during one of the most difficult years in its history.

In addition to making Gordon a principal, the company promoted six members of its corps de ballet to the rank of soloist: Daniel Applebaum, Harrison Coll, Claire Kretzschmar, Aaron Sanz, Sebastian Villarini-Velez and Peter Walker.

The elevation of new talent comes in a year when City Ballet was buffeted by several crises. First came the abrupt retirement of its longtime leader, Peter Martins, amid an investigation into abuse, which he has denied. More recently, the company was hit by the photo-sharing scandal, which led it to force out three of its male principals: Chase Finlay, Amar Ramasar, and Zachary Catazaro.

This makes the ascension of Gordon to principal dancer, the top rank, especially important.

Alastair Macaulay, chief dance critic for The New York Times, described Gordon this month as “a mysterious Adonis whose classicism is made of air.” He made debuts this season in George Balanchine’s “Diamonds” (from “Jewels”) and “Symphony in C” (First Movement), and in Jerome Robbins’ “Afternoon of a Faun.”

One of the difficulties of filling positions at City Ballet is that the company does not like to hire from outside, preferring to train its dancers from youth in the technique of Balanchine, its founding choreographer.

Dancer Teresa Reichlen summed up its ethos in the curtain speech she delivered in September at the Fall Gala, surrounded by the company: “As dancers, we decided early in our lives to dedicate ourselves to this beautiful art form, many leaving family and friends as teenagers. Our teachers at the School of American Ballet led us through Balanchine’s teachings, and instilled in us a strong work ethic and a pursuit of excellence.”

Gordon fits squarely in that tradition: He began dancing at 5 in his native Phoenix, started studying at the School of American Ballet, City Ballet’s affiliated school, in 2006; joined the company in 2011 as an apprentice; and then rose through its ranks.

Also squarely in that tradition are the newly promoted soloists, who came from far and near to dance at City Ballet: Applebaum was born in Maryland; Coll in New York City; Kretzschmar in Arizona; Sanz in Madrid; Villarini-Velez in San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Walker in Florida. All studied at the School of American Ballet, most beginning more than a decade ago, and all danced their way up through the ranks.

Now the dance world eagerly waits to see how City Ballet will replenish its principal rank — and who will be picked to permanently succeed Martins. A search committee had been working to find someone for months.