She was born Julie Cox in Bethesda, Maryland. Her father was a nuclear physicist and her mother, who is from New Zealand, was a ballet dancer and later flight attendant. She started ballet at age eight.[3] She trained with Hortensia Fonseca at the Academy of the Maryland Youth Ballet. She also spent summers attending intensives at American Ballet Theatre II and School of American Ballet.[4] She took the stage name Julie Kent at the suggestion of Mikhail Baryshnikov.[1]
Kent joined the American Ballet Theatre in 1985, as an apprentice. The following year, she competed at the Prix de Lausanne, and was the only American to win any medal that year. Later that year, she became a member of the corps de ballet. In 1990, Kent was promoted to soloist. In 1993, she was named principal dancer, she also became the first American to win the Erik Bruhn Prize that year. In 2000, she received the Prix Benois de la Danse, and is the first American to win the prize.[4]
In 2015, Kent retired from dancing. Her farewell performance was Romeo and Juliet, with Roberto Bolle as her Romeo. Having danced with ABT for 29 years, she is the longest-serving principal dancer in the company's history.[6] Following her retirement, she became the artistic director of ABT's summer program, with over 1,000 students training in various locations across the country.[7]
In October 2022, it was announced that Kent was set to leave Washington Ballet at the end of the 2022-23 season.[10] In July 2023, she became an artistic director at the Houston Ballet, alongside current artistic director Stanton Welch.[11]
Selected repertoire
Kent's repertoire with the American Ballet Theatre includes:[12]
Kent is married to Victor Barbee, former ABT Principal Dancer and Associate Artistic Director, and former Washington Ballet Associate Artistic Director. Mr. Barbee is now retired. They are the parents of two children, Josephine, age 15, and William, age 20.[4][13]
