James B. Whiteside (born 1984), is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, model, drag queen, and recording artist. He is a former principal dancer with Boston Ballet and is currently a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre.
Early life and training
Whiteside was born in Fairfield, Connecticut. He grew up in Fairfield and in Bridgeport.[1] He began his dance training at the D’Valda & Sirico Dance and Music Centre when he was nine years old.[2] He began training in jazz, tap, and acrobatic dance and did not begin studying classical ballet until he was a teenager.[3] He later attended the Virginia School of the Arts and trained under the direction of Petrus Bosman and David Keener.[4]
Career
Ballet
In 2002 he joined Boston Ballet II, eventually joining the corps de ballet of Boston Ballet in 2003. He was promoted to soloist in 2006, first soloist in 2008, and principal dancer with Boston Ballet in 2009. Whiteside left Boston Ballet and joined American Ballet Theatre as a soloist in September 2012. He was promoted to principal dancer in October 2013.
He performed with the National Ballet of Canada as a guest artist and was featured in Justin Peck's short film Early Sunday Morning, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.[5] In 2018, he starred in Arthur Pita’s dance/theater work The Tenant at The Joyce Theater in New York City.
In 2019, his choreographed work New American Romance debuted in 2019.[6]
Whiteside hosts his own podcast series on Premier Dance Network called The Stage Rightside with James Whiteside.[7][8]
Whiteside records electronic pop, rap, and dance hall music under the stage name JbDubs.[11][8][12] He writes and produces his own music and directs, choreographs, and produces his own music videos.[13][14] The music video for his single I Hate My Job has been featured on PerezHilton.com, HuffPost, After Elton, Instinct, Shangay Spain, Up2U Thailand, and MTV3. His music has also been featured on the Here TV network shows BOOMBOX and She's Living for This.[15]
Whiteside released his debut album Free To Love in 2011. His second album, titled Oink, was released in 2012. In 2013 he released an extended play titled Hey JB![15]
Drag
Whiteside performs as a drag queen in New York City's drag scene under the stage name Ühu Betch.[16][17] He is a member of a drag ensemble called Dairy Queens.[11][18] He has his own line of clothing at Drag Queen Merch.[19]