Media Release
2026/27 Season Dancer Roster Announced
Timothy van Poucke and Shale Wagman Appear as Guest Artists
Moisés Martín Cintas Joins as New Rehearsal Director
July 7, 2026… Hope Muir, Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced the 2026/27 season dancer roster. Joining the company this season are First Soloist Sasha Mukhamedov and six new Corps de Ballet members, Tom Cape, Karin Laldjising and João Massei, promoted from the RBC Apprentice Programme, Lillian Casscells, Jane Park and Alyssa Pratt, as well as eight new RBC Apprentices.
New First Soloist
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Sasha Mukhamedov |
Sasha Mukhamedov was born in London, England and trained at Tiring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire, The Royal Ballet School and Elmhurst School for Dance in Birmingham. Before joining The National Ballet of Canada, she danced with San Franscisco Ballet and Dutch National Ballet. Her repertoire with San Franscisco Ballet includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Emeralds, Mere Mortals, Blake Works I, Broken Wings, The Big Hunger, Sandpaper Ballet, Bolero, Violin Concerto, In the Night, MADCAP, Carmen, COLORFORMS, Don Quixote, Giselle, Nutcracker, Prism, Swan Lake, The Fifth Season and Cinderella.
New Corps de Ballet Members
New RBC Apprentices
Joining the RBC Apprentice Programme are Yu Chia Chang, Bryce Cooper, Elias Fahle Diego, Enrico Fasoglio, Monet Hilliard, Melia Lin, Alexander Stevens and Leanne van der Hilst.
Guest Artists
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Timothy van Poucke |
Timothy van Poucke will guest in the world premiere of The National Ballet of Canada Resident Choreographer David Dawson’s The Beginning of Forever and will also dance the role of Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty. Van Poucke is a Principal Dancer with Dutch National Ballet and one of the Netherlands’ most acclaimed ballet artists. Trained at the Dutch National Ballet Academy, he joined the company in 2016 and performs leading roles in classical and contemporary repertoire.
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Shale Wagman |
Toronto-born Shale Wagman will make his highly anticipated homecoming this season, returning to perform professionally in Canada for the very first time, appearing as a guest artist dancing the role of Prince Florimund in Rudolf Nureyev's The Sleeping Beauty. The internationally acclaimed Wagman won the Prix de Lausanne in 2018 and has danced with English National Ballet and Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich where he was promoted to First Soloist in 2022. In 2024, he joined Paris Opera Ballet.
New Rehearsal Director
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Moisés Martín Cintas |
Moisés Martín Cintas is a ballet professional with over 20 years of international experience as a principal and soloist dancer with San Francisco Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Compañia Nacional de Danza, Atlanta Ballet and Ballet RI, dancing both classical and contemporary repertoire. With his teaching experience at Atlanta Ballet, Ballet RI and Escuela Profesional de Danza “Ana Laguna” in Spain, Moisés brings a wealth of knowledge in performance, coaching, male technique and partnering to his new role as Rehearsal Director with The National Ballet of Canada.
As previously announced, two dancers are promoted in the 2026/27 season: Isaac Wright to First Soloist and Tene Ward to Second Soloist.
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The RBC Apprentice Programme is sponsored by RBC.
The National Ballet of Canada gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of the Canada Council for the Arts; the Ontario Arts Council; the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council; the Government of Canada – Department of Canadian Heritage with the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages; and the Government of Ontario with the Honourable Stan Cho, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming and Minister of Sport.
Celia Franca. Photo by Janina Mokrzycki. Genevieve Penn Nabity. Photo by Karolina Kuras.
Sasha Mukhamedov.
Tom Cape.
Lillian Casscells. Photo by Beau Pearson.
Karin Laldjising.
João Massei. Photo by Karolina Kuras.
Jane Park. Photo by Erik Berg.
Alyssa Pratt. Photo by Alana Campbell.
Timothy van Poucke. Photo by Jan Willem Kaldenbach.
Shale Wagman. Photo by Nickolas Mackay.
Moisés Martín Cintas. Photo by Charlie McCullers.
For more information and interview opportunities, please contact:
Touchwood PR
Andréa Grau, Founder and OwnerChelsea Cabello, Senior PublicistSydney Clarke, Publicist
NBOC@touchwoodpr.com
The National Ballet of Canada
Catherine Chang, Associate Director of Communications & Content Strategy
Sarah Johnsen, Interim Communications Manager
Media@national.ballet.ca