Artists of the Year 2025

Star cast that will take your breath away

This is a day we’ve been counting down to!
At Verdensballetten, we are passionate about presenting some of the world’s most talented ballet dancers and musicians who will take your breath away with their technical prowess, charismatic charisma and magical talent.

This year’s artists have plenty of that, and we’re delighted to unveil this year’s star cast, featuring several exciting new dancers and a welcome reunion with some of our indispensable stars from the past.

Ballet stars in your summerland

Once again this year, you will experience our artistic director Steven McRae dancing with 2 of Europe’s most talented ballerinas, soloist Anna Rose O’Sullivan from The Royal Ballet of London, and Ukrainian prima ballerina Iana Salenko from Staatsballett Berlin.
Look forward to seeing them shine in grandiose and breathtaking pas de deux’s from the classic repertoire.

2 strong ballerinas return home to Denmark

Since 2021, Danish ballerina Ida Praetorius has been a soloist in John Neumeier’s ensemble at Hamburg Ballet. This summer you can experience her in Denmark when she returns home to dance with Verdensballetten.

Ida will be joined by one of Europe’s most interesting dancers, Portuguese Marcelino Sambé, a principal dancer at The Royal Ballet of London, where he enjoys great success in several principal roles. He has previously thrilled Verdensballetten audiences with his magnetic charisma and energy, and together they will make an exceptionally strong pair.

Principal dancer Astrid Elbo is also returning – she has been living in Berlin for the past six months working on her own ballet project, and we are delighted that she has once again agreed to dance with Verdensballetten. We can already reveal that Astrid will be dancing a newly created solo and look forward to telling you more about the program soon.

New couple from a new company and young talent

This year we welcome a brand new couple to the Verdensballetten dance family. From one of Britain’s great ballet companies English National Ballet comes principal dancer Sangeun Lee and Gareth Haw.
As a high-profile first couple, they have danced demanding principal parts such as Romeo and Juliet, and Odette/Odile and the Prince from Swan Lake in London.
We are proud to present them for the first time in Denmark when they dance in your summerland in July.

This summer will also see a young talent Harris Beattie, who is already showing extraordinary potential. He has joined Northern Ballet in London and will be performing at the Verdensballetten performances in July.

Musical comeback and a wonderful debutant

The good news is that Alexander McKenzie and Niklas Walentin are returning this summer. The charming duo has become an almost indispensable part of the Verdensballetten, delighting everyone with their elegant, humorous and touching musical presence.

In August, you can experience one of Denmark’s most talented pianists when Tanja Zapolsky makes her debut at Verdensballetten. Tanja Zapolsky is a highly sought-after concert pianist, who many may know from TV programs such as Piano on TV2 or Den Klassiske Musikquiz on DR2. She will replace Alexander McKenzie on the second part of the tour.

Brilliant sopranos

The premiere and ballet performances in July will feature the rising Norwegian soprano Lydia Hoen Tjore, who has just won awards at the prestigious Renata Tebaldi International Voice Competition 2024 in Italy. At Verdensballetten, we couldn’t help but notice her exceptional talent and are delighted to be able to present her in Denmark this summer.

Danish soprano Signe Heiberg has traveled the world after graduating and has made a great career in Germany, where she is a permanent member of the soloist ensemble at Theater Heidelberg. Most recently, she jumped in and saved a performance at Oper Frankfurt in the dramatic lead role Lady Macbeth.
She recently received 2nd prize and the coveted audience award at the Lauritz Melchior Competition. Now you have a rare opportunity to hear her in Denmark when she takes part in this year’s performances in August.

As always, it will be Jens-Christian Wandtwho with great overview, wit and charm will tie the show together as he shares interesting facts and wonderful anecdotes about the evening’s artists and program.

This year’s tour is divided into 2 parts, and the participants are distributed as follows:

First part in July
Dancers: Steven McRae, Iana Salenko, Anna Rose O´Sullivan, Astrid Elbo, Sangeun Lee, Gareth Haw, Harris Beattie
Musicians: Niklas Walentin, Alexander McKenzie and Lydia Hoen Tjore

Second part in August
Dancers Steven McRae, Anna Rose O´Sullivan, Ida Praetorius, Marcelino Sambé, Astrid Elbo, Sangeun Lee, Gareth Haw
Musicians: Niklas Walentin, Tanja Zapolski and Signe Heiberg

We wish everyone a warm welcome!