Teresa Reichlen


Teresa Reichlen is an American ballet dancer. She is currently a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet.

Early life

Reichlen was born in Clifton, Virginia. She has three brother. At age three, her parents sent her to ballet classes. At age ten, she started training at Russell School of Ballet in Northern Virginia. She is the first person from that school to be accepted by the School of American Ballet, but she delayed for a year before entering SAB in 1999, at age 15. She first attended a summer intensives at the School of American Ballet, and stayed in New York City as a full-time student afterwards.

Career

In 2000, at age sixteen, Reichlen got an apprenticeship at the New York City Ballet. She thought she would join Pacific Northwest Ballet, which is known for hiring taller dancers, but ended up joining the corps de ballet the following year. At age 19, Reichlen danced the solo role in "Rubies" from Jewels. She was promoted to soloist in 2005. In 2009, at age 25, she became a principal dancer. She has danced lead roles in works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Justin Peck and Christopher Wheeldon.
In the 2004-05 season, Reichlen was the Janice Levin Dancer Honorees, which is given to promising corps members at the NYCB.
Reichlen had also performed with Wheeldon’s company, Morphoses, and Columbia Ballet Collaborative. In 2010, Reichlen performed in Cuba, alongside several other NYCB dancers.
In 2018, after NYCB was sued by Alexandra Waterbury, a former student at SAB, Reichlen spoke on behalf of the dancers at NYCB's fall fashion gala. The speech was written by her and fellow principal dancer Adrian Danchig-Waring. Though she did not name the lawsuit or anyone involved, she noted, "we will not put art before common decency or allow talent to sway our moral compass."

Reviews

On Symphony in C, the New York Times noted Reichlen "contrasted the airy movement of her extraordinary limbs with the unfussy regal way she glides through most choreography."
Reviewing Western Symphony, Bachtrack wrote Reichlen "made a series of traveling relevés into high extensions look like child’s play."

Selected repertoire

Selected repertoire:

Created roles

Reichlen studied biology in Barnard College.