Xander Parish to lead new ballet company in Florence, Italy

The New Generation Foundation announced the launch of a new ballet company, the Nouveaux Ballets Russes (NBR) on 26th September 2026.

The Italian non-profit art organisation said in a press release that the new ballet company will perform its inaugural show on 14th March 2027 at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Firenze, Italy.

The company website lists Xander Parish as Artistic Director and Co-Founder of NBR. The Royal Ballet School-graduate, British Parish was a Principal of the Mariinsky Theatre in Russia from 2017 until the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He will choreograph Swan Lake for NBR's inaugural show.

The Principal Dancers are mix of American, Russian and Ukrainian nationals: Joy Womack, Vsevolod Maievskyi, Boris Zhurilov and Anastasia Matvienko.

The company held an audition on 26th September to hire dancers for the six Swan Lake performance.

The press release said Nouveaux Ballets Russes was named after Ballets Russes, which was founded in Paris, France, in 1909 by Sergei Diaghilev.