News Clipping: Megan Fairchild's new career, looking back on Liam Scarlett

• The New York Times published an article about New York City Ballet Principal Megan Fairchild on 18th May 2026 ahead of her retirement performance on 24th May. Megan, who soon turns 42, will move to Bordeaux in France with her French husband and their three girls. The decision to move there seems to have been made for economic and practical reasons. But she will not retire from ballet. She will work for the Balanchine Trust as a stager for European companies in a career path which has been laid out for her somewhat surprisingly. Click here for the full article (subscription required).

  
  

• It has been five years since Liam Scarlett, a former Royal Ballet dancer and once an internationally coveted choreographer, passed away at the age of 35 in a presumed suicide. The Critic published an article looking back on him on 28th April 2026. It stated that media blow-up and The Royal Ballet's and other ballet companies' bureaucracy and PR, or the cancel culture, led to the tragic incident while he was never proven guilty. <The following is my opinion> Of course it was tragic and it should not have happened. Personally, however, I am not sure if I agree with every single point the article tried to make because its argument was heavy-handed on the grief of the loss of his art in this complex situation over artists' and ballet students' safety (Remember Sage Nicole Humphries, anyone? Her alleged abusers are not proven legally guilty yet). And to be honest, not all Scarlett choreographies received a rave review. I actually hope The Royal Ballet brings back Anthony Dowell's Swan Lake. To read the article, worth a read nonetheless, click here.

Updated 21st May 2026 to add my personal view. Please note it is my own view, which may not be everyone's.