Who

The current "golden boy" of ballet choreography, Wheeldon is about as close to a rock star as it gets in the world of ballet.

Backstory

Wheeldon grew up in Somerset, England and attended the Royal Ballet School. He was just eight when he created his first dance; by the age of 12, his performance of The Nutcracker at Covent Garden had earned him praise from London's premier dance critic Clement Crisp. Wheeldon was 18 in 1991 when he joined the Royal Ballet Company, but he left for New York two years later, courtesy of a plane ticket he won through a Hoover vacuum promotion. While on his free trip, he attended several guest classes at the New York City Ballet, and immediately caught the eye of higher-ups, earning himself a spot in the company. In 1997, he choreographed his first dance for NYCB, becoming the company's soloist in 1998 and its resident choreographer in 1999. Along the way, he's created ballets for nearly a dozen of the world's leading companies, including the American Ballet Theatre, the Royal Ballet, the Bolshoi, and the San Francisco Ballet, and dabbled in film as well.

Of note

Known for his sophisticated musicality and sinuous moves, Wheeldon's dances have inspired more than one critic to wonder if he might be better suited to the job of NYCB's artistic director than the man who currently holds the position, Wheeldon's boss Peter Martins. But Wheeldon, whose contract with NYCB will expire in 2008, doesn't seem to want the gig, saying "I'm not interested in inheriting a legacy; I want to create one of my own." To that end he has formed his own company of 20 "kick-ass" dancers, called Morphoses.

Morphoses—Greek for "processes of transformation "—aims to create new works, attract non-traditional audiences (the company has a MySpace page), and collaborate with artists from other fields (Narciso Rodriguez is designing the costumes for two productions). With former City Ballet principal dancer Lourdes Lopez as its artistic director, Morphoses made its first appearance at the international dance festival at Vail in August 2007, generating rave reviews. The London premiere at Sadler's Wells the following month wasn't nearly as well received: Wheeldon's early champion Clement Crisp deemed the show "relentlessly pauperish." New Yorkers got a taste of Morphoses in October 2007 at City Center and were slightly more impressed, although reviews were still mixed.

Trophy case

Wheeldon won the gold medal at the prestigious Prix de Lausanne when he was 17. He also won the London Critics' Circle Award for Best New Ballet for Polyphonia.

Personal

Wheeldon lives with his partner, the now-retired ballet dancer Jock Soto. In 2003, Wheeldon bought a $740,000 condo in the Chelsea Mercantile office conversion, where his neighbors include Bobby Flay and Stephanie March, and Kyle MacLachlan and Desiree Gruber.