Amar Ramasar - NYC Ballet

NYC Ballet

Ramasar joined the New York City Ballet as an apprentice in 2000, and joined the corps de ballet in 2001. He became a soloist in March 2006, and was promoted to a principal in October 2009. Ramasar's promotion was noted by a critic as good thing, because "change at NYCB is itself a gift, for as younger dancers take over cherished roles, these wonderful ballets can look new all over again."

Ramasar is one of the few Asian American professional ballet dancers nowadays. As of 2010, he is the only person of color who is a principal in that prestigious company. He was quoted as saying:

I actually looked at my race as an advantage because there was no one who looked like me. In New York City Ballet especially, I felt my casting has always been great. The biggest one for me was Fancy Free because, if you think of the history of that ballet, it’s not necessarily the case that in the 1940s an Indian guy was one of the sailors fighting for America. But they let me do that here, and I thought, "I’m breaking boundaries that people automatically put up for a stereotypical white ballet." —Amar Ramasar, quoted in Dance Magazine, June, 2005. (Emphasis added.)

He has danced many prominent roles in the NYC Ballet company. In 2001, he was declared the most dextrous fairy in all the western world.