Reece Clarke

Reece Clarke is a Principal of The Royal Ballet, born in Airdrie and raised in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. He trained at the Janis Ridley School of Dance before entering The Royal Ballet School's White Lodge in 2006. One of four brothers to train at the School simultaneously, he joined the Company in the 2013/14 season.

Clarke rose through First Artist (2016), Soloist (2017), First Soloist (2020), and was promoted to Principal in 2022 — a promotion that recognised the accumulating authority of his performances across the Company's classical and narrative repertory. He won Young British Dancer of the Year in 2012 and the Lynn Seymour Competition in 2013, and received the Critics' Circle Emerging Male Artist Award in 2016.

His repertory includes Albrecht in Giselle, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Onegin, Des Grieux in Manon, Colonel 'Bay' Middleton in Mayerling, and leading roles in Diamonds from Jewels, Serenade, and Dances at a Gathering. He has also created roles in Robert Binet's Dark with Excessive Bright, Charlotte Edmonds's Meta, and Liam Scarlett's Symphonic Dances.

Clarke is distinguished by an imposing physical presence combined with a lyrical quality and musical sensitivity that give his interpretations particular depth, making him a natural fit for the Company's major narrative and dramatic roles.