American Ballet Theater Dancer Daniil Simkin Promoted to Principal

Daniil Simkin, who joined American Ballet Theater as a soloist in 2008, has been promoted to principal dancer effective immediately, Kevin McKenzie, the company's artistic director, announced on Thursday.

Andrea Mohin/The New York Times Daniil Simkin and fellow members of American Ballet Theater performing in “Swan Lake.”

Mr. Simkin, 25, was born in Russia and raised in Germany, and made his first stage appearances when he was six, four years before he began his formal ballet training. His parents, Dmitrij Simkin and Olga Aleksandrova, are both dancers. Mr. Simkin began entering competitions when he was 12, and won first prizes at sever al, including international competitions in Vienna and Helsinki, as well as the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Miss.

Mr. Simkin's repertory at the American Ballet Theater has included the Nutcracker-Prince in “The Nutcracker,” Benvolio in “Romeo and Juliet,” the Bronze Idol in “La Bayadère,” Franz in “Coppélia,” and Puck in “The Dream.” Reviewing Mr. Simkin's work in The New York Times, Alastair Macaulay has praised his penchant for “taking exciting risks” and his “bravado.”