Sarah Lane facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sarah Lane
Lane receiving prize money at USA IBC in 2002
Born	(1984-08-03) August 3, 1984 (age 40) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Education	Draper Center for Dance Boston Ballet
Occupation	Ballet dancer
Years active	2003–present
Spouse(s)	Luis Ribagorda ​ (m. 2007)​

Sarah Lane, born on August 3, 1984, is a talented American ballet dancer. She was a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), which is one of the top ballet companies in the world. Many people also know her for being a "dance double" for actress Natalie Portman in the 2010 movie Black Swan.

Early Life and Training

Sarah Lane was born in San Francisco, California. She started learning to dance at a young age in Memphis, Tennessee. Later, her family moved to Rochester, New York. There, she continued her ballet training at the Draper Center for Dance Education.

When she was 16, Sarah attended a special summer program at the Boston Ballet. She received a full scholarship for this program. Sarah also won first place at the North American Ballet Festival in both 2000 and 2001. She also received the Capezio Class Excellence Award.

In 2002, Sarah earned the highest medal in the Junior Division at the Jackson International Ballet Competition. That same year, she performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. This was a special honor as a presidential scholar in the arts. She also won a bronze medal at the Youth America Grand Prix Competition.

Becoming a Professional Dancer

Sarah Lane joined the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in August 2003 as an apprentice. An apprentice is like a trainee dancer. In April 2004, she became a full member of the company's corps de ballet. The corps de ballet is the group of dancers who perform together.

In August 2007, Sarah was promoted to a Soloist. This means she started performing more important roles on her own. She was featured on the cover of Dance Magazine in June 2007.

Sarah became a Principal Dancer in September 2017. This is the highest rank a dancer can achieve in a ballet company. She earned this promotion after successfully performing major roles. These roles included the main character in Giselle and Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. She also created the role of Princess Praline in the ballet Whipped Cream.

In February 2020, Sarah performed in the Richmond Ballet's "Swan Lake." She danced with Cory Stearns, another talented dancer. Her time with ABT ended in 2020. In 2023, she briefly led the school of Ballet RI.

Her Role in Black Swan

Sarah Lane was a "dance double" for actress Natalie Portman in the 2010 movie Black Swan. This movie is a psychological thriller about ballet dancers. A dance double performs the difficult dance scenes that the main actor might not be able to do.

After the movie came out, there was some discussion about how much dancing Natalie Portman actually did. Wendy Perron, an editor for Dance Magazine, wrote about it. She pointed out that it takes many years to become a ballerina. Natalie Portman trained for a year, but Sarah Lane performed many of the complex ballet moves. Both the movie's director and Natalie Portman's dance coach spoke about the issue. Sarah Lane also shared her thoughts on the topic.

Personal Life

In December 2007, Sarah Lane married Luis Ribagorda. He was also a dancer in the ABT's corps de ballet. They live together in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Selected Ballet Performances

Sarah Lane has performed many famous roles with the American Ballet Theatre. Here are some of them:

Roles She Helped Create

Sarah Lane also helped create new roles in ballets. These are roles that were made especially for her or for the first time:

• Chinese Dance - Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker
• The Rose - The Seasons
• The Fairy Miettes qui tombent (Breadcrumb) - Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty
• Miranda - The Tempest
• Princess Praline - Whipped Cream
• Dream within a Dream (deferred)
• Private Light