Today I received the latest Friends of CG newsletter and it confirmed a rumour I had heard recently. Edward Watson has been promoted to Principal Dancer. Here is the relevant paragraph:

Many Friends will already have heard that Edward Watson, a member of The Royal Ballet since 1994 and a First Soloist since 2002, has been promoted to Principal from next Season. Edward has recently been seen at the House as Palemon in Ondine and Oberon in The Dream. Congratulations!

Congratulations indeed! I have very often been impressed with Edward's performances over the past few years and so I am very pleased with this piece of news.

Thanks for waiting until you had official confirmation, Odile. I agree entirely on the merits of the promotion. He is a remarkable dancer and one of the most distinctive movers currently on the UK stage. Over the past year he has ben given the chance to show what he can do as a partner as opposed to a soloist and has clearly convinced Monica Mason that he has what it takes.

I'm delighted.

I know my reply is probably very late to this topic, however I would like to share my thrills and happiness for Edward Watson.
He finally got what he deserved it had been long overdue.
I am looking forward to more of his works, as he is currently the only British male principal in the company now, I believe he will be having a huge fan base.
I hope dancers like Martin Harvey, Rupert Pennefather, Kenta Kura, etc will be promoted soon....
*pixie*

In order to avoid splitting the coversation on this wonderful dancer, shall we use this topic for current conversation:

http://www.ballet-dance.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26446

Cheers
Kate