On March 6, the American Ballet Theatre’s African American principal dancer, Calvin Royal III, launches the company’s spring 2026 season at Lincoln Center performing the lead in “Othello: A Dance in Three Acts,” a sweeping reimagination of Shakespeare’s tragic tale of jealousy and betrayal that ensnares the Moorish general and his beloved wife Desdemona. The production is choreographed by Lar Lubovitch.
“Othello: A Dance in Three Acts” gives the audience an opportunity to witness Royal’s display of his technical facility, combined with a deeper and somewhat darker dramatic range as the title character at the center of this dance, about a towering figure and his wife whose lives are destroyed by an evil genius masquerading as a loyal servant who convinces Othello his wife has been unfaithful. Consumed by jealousy and rage, Othello spirals into madness, ultimately killing Desdemona before learning the truth of her innocence.
Of course, as a well-known classic Shakespearean tale, the excitement of this ballet is not so much in an unfolding plot and its ending as in the captivating manner in which the tale is told with movement. It is a telling that promises to unfold beautifully in the hands of the ABT’s three casts, particularly the one on opening night that features Royal’s compelling Othello, Fangqii Li’s fragile Desdemona, James Whiteside’s sinister Iago, and a young Black ballerina named Madison Brown as Iago’s dutiful but conflicted wife, Emilia.
Royal is no stranger to major roles in the classical ballet canon. In fact, since his beginnings as an ABT apprentice in 2010 to his rise a year later to becoming a member of the corps de ballet, then, in 2017, a soloist, and three years later being promoted to principal dancer, he has tackled demanding roles with critical acclaim. His repertoire with the company includes the title role in “Apollo”; Albrecht in “Giselle”; Espada in “Don Quixote”; the third sailor in “Fancy Free”; Dr. John Brown in “Like Water for Chocolate”; Romeo and Benvolio in “Romeo and Juliet”; Prince Désiré in Susan Jaffe’s “The Sleeping Beauty, Act III”; Prince Siegfried, von Rothbart, Benno, and the Spanish Dance in “Swan Lake”; the Poet in “Les Sylphides,” and countless other leading and featured roles in the company’s repertoire.
Now, with Lubovitch’s “Othello: A Dance in Three Acts,” Royal is the first African American male principal at ABT to step into a role choreographed for and originated by another Black ABT principal dancer, the legendary Desmond Richardson. In addition to dancing with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (1987–1994), Richardson co-founded the Complexions Contemporary Ballet with Dwight Rhoden in 1994.
Recently, after watching a rehearsal of “Othello” at ABT’s downtown Manhattan headquarters, the AmNews was privileged to conduct interviews with Royal and Lubovitch, and to sit in on a webinar between Lubovitch, Richardson, and Royal. Highlights of those three conversations include Royal recalling how Lubovitch first approached him about the role, and details about the arc of perfecting his performance in time for the premiere.
Royal told us, “When Lar Lubovitch came to ABT last year, we had a chance to sit down and talk. He really wanted to check in with me because he had seen a lot of performances where I was portraying the Prince, which was much more about elegance, whereas Othello is much more into the ground — very dramatic and powerful. Also, the story isn’t one with a fairytale ending. Lar wanted to know how I felt about this idea of taking on the role of Othello … I was so appreciative. He said that this is a ballet that’s been so controversial; even as a play, it’s been controversial with all of the themes in it. He said, ‘I want to make sure that you’re okay with this idea that I want you to portray Othello.’”
“I was so grateful for that exchange,” Royal added. “I told him that I would, with open arms, want to take on this role at this stage in my career. I was thrilled to have this opportunity this season to perform this and become the role of Othello. There are so few roles in the ballet canon in full-length narrative works that have a Black man at the center, and to be able to step into those boots and into that character — it’s an honor and a privilege. It is also something that I feel so incredibly like all of the years have led to a moment like this, to bring all of the experiences that I’ve had both on stage and in life.”
Royal talked briefly about “experiences of having a certain level of status and authority but also still being Othered” as things he’s experienced and will be able to pull from to take on this dramatically complex role.
Lubovitch spoke expansively about the dance during an interview that took place during his brief downtime from daily 11:30 to 6:30 rehearsals. In a spacious dance studio with dancers in an assortment of colorful practice clothes representing principals in ABT’s three separate casts for “Othello,” we watched Lubovitch direct their movements, giving them notes about everything from their execution and timing of the steps to how movement communicated as emotion.
At times, as they flew across the dance floor with space-eating grand jetés, he would yell “Shape” to signal the creation of snapshot-like shapes that capture memorable movements and enhance their interpretations of the characters they portray.
He commanded the three casts like a general marshaling troops with precision and attention to the esprit de corps. The interview was filled with thoughtful insights into the mysterious ethnicity of Shakespeare’s “Othello” and what made him tick. He also talked about the historic 19th-century Black tragedian Ira Aldridge, who made other actors in blackface look like pale imitations. Aldrich’s fame began in the 1800s with New York’s African company, but went global as he successfully portrayed the “the Moor of Venice” in major theaters, from England’s Covent Garden to the European continent, and even Moscow before, according to Langston Hughes and Milton Meltzer’s “Black Magic,” “settling abroad and never returning to the United States.”
As for questions concerning Othello’s race or ethnicity, Lubovitch’s encyclopedic research leads him to suggest the character might have been Muslim, even as he falls back on saying definitely, “I think what the character [Othello] has to be is Other.”
Of the three ABT casts of dancers in the leading roles, Royal is the only Black Othello. Speaking of Royal’s unique presence, “dignity,” and “sensitivity” as a performer, Lubovitch signaled the significance of his choice, pointing to Royal’s technical expertise and commanding presence (in the spirit of Richardson) while commenting on his uniqueness in interpreting the role: “As we go further and further into rehearsal, the idea of emulating Desmond is kind of [evolving] … Calvin is starting to show his own version of this character, which is different from Desmond’s — much more vulnerable. You feel the hurt rather than the violence.”
Lubovitch called Othello “one of the greatest roles ever written for a Black artist,” explaining, “At the time when Desmond did this, there were very few Black members of classical ballet companies. Now there are more.” Just as the choice of Richardson, described by the New York Times in 1998 as “one of the most majestic dancers ever to tread the Met stage,” was based on his powerful technique and dancer presence, so too the choice of Royal is a deliberate one based on his presence.
In fact, a recent webinar conducted by Lubovitch, Richardson, and Royal was filled with the kind of mutual admiration between the three, indicative of a successful collaboration. Of the current performance, Royal told Lubovitch, “Although this production was made many decades ago, it still feels so alive, working with you in the studio because you’re there with us and encouraging us to be propelled by it versus pasting something on that doesn’t feel authentic and true.”
Richardson recalled a note given during a rehearsal of Lubovitch’s dance years ago that remains with him today. He was told to think of “acting and reacting” where “you’re really, really listening. Then you can be spontaneous instead of having to pre-ordain something. That’s what I believe transports the audience so well into this work.”
Transported they will undoubtedly be, from the moment the curtain goes up on Calvin Royal III in Lar Lubovitch’s “Othello” to the end.
For more info, visit abt.org.