Aran Bell

Bell was born on October 7, 1998, in Bethesda, Maryland.[1][2] As his father was a U.S. Navy doctor, Bell was homeschooled and lived in different parts of the country and in Naples, Italy.[3] Bell, who started ballet at age 4, trained at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet for three years as well as with private teachers.[4][3] He studied a variety of styles including the Vaganova method and Balanchine technique.[3] During the four and a half years Bell's father was stationed in Naples, Bell and his mother travelled to Rome six times a week to train with Denys Ganio, who had danced with Roland Petit's company.[3] He also studied under Fabrice Herrault in New York City, and was enrolled in American Ballet Theatre's summer intensive for several years.[4]

At age 11, Bell competed at the Youth America Grand Prix, where he won the overall prize in the junior division.[1][5] He was one of six competitors profiled in the 2011 documentary First Position.[5][1]

In 2014, at age 16, Bell joined the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, and stayed for a second year as a result of a growth spurt. He became an apprentice with the main company in 2016 and joined the corps de ballet the following year.[6][7] In 2018, at age 19, Bell danced Romeo in Romeo and Juliet with principal dancer Devon Teuscher as Juliet, when the dancer scheduled to dance the role was injured.[7] The New York Times called his performance "an astonishingly impressive debut."[8] The following year, he represented ABT at the Erik Bruhn Prize with colleague Catherine Hurlin,[9] made his debut as Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake and Prince Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty, and was promoted to soloist.[6] In 2020, though some of his major debuts were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Bell was promoted to principal dancer at age 21, which was unusually young.[10]