Joy is the first American woman to sign a soloist contract with the Bolshoi Ballet Theater.

Born in Beverly Hills, California, Joy Womack began her formal training as a ballerina at Westside Academy of Ballet at the young age of four. She went on to study at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC where she was scouted to join the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow. In 2009 she was offered a three year contract to become one of the first American dancers ever selected for the Russian Program. 

At seventeen, whilst at the academy, she became the first American female to dance the lead in Yuri Grigorovich’s “La Fille Mal Gardee.” She also was the first American to graduate with a Red Diploma from the Russian Program and performed the lead role in Paquita while still in the Graduating class.

In 2012, Joy became the first American woman to sign a soloist contract with the Bolshoi Ballet Theater, formally bridging a gap between Russian and Western ballet styles for the first time in history. She later accepted an invitation to join the Kremlin Ballet as Principal Dancer at age nineteen where she remained the Prima Ballerina until 2018. She was then invited to Seol, South Korea as a Principal Dancer with Universal Ballet and later joined the Boston Ballet. 

Joy now travels the world as a guest performer, motivational speaker, and choreographer. She is also the CEO of Annabelle Artists, LLC and the Director of Project Prima, an excelerator dedicated to equipping young dancers with scholarships and training opportunities. 

In 2021, a full-length documentary titled, Joy Womack: The White Swan, was released globally and showcased  Joy’s life in Russia. The film crew documented seven years of her journey from the United States into the heart of the Kremlin Ballet Company as an American dancer in Russia.

Joy Womack: The White Swan

A story about Joy Womack's journey from an American girl from California who had a dream to become a Bolshoi ballet dancer to the first American to graduate from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and to sign a contract with the Bolshoi Ballet before becoming a top ballerina of the Kremlin Ballet.