Inside the Ivy Ballet Exchange: PUB Dancers Take the Alvin Ailey Stage

On Feb. 14, Princeton University Ballet (PUB) traveled to New York City to participate in the 2026 Ivy Ballet Exchange, an annual gathering that brings together collegiate ballet companies from across the Ivy League for a day of dance masterclasses and performances.

Founded in 2014 by the leaders of the ballet companies at Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia, the Exchange strives to recognize the work of student-run dance companies. Although the program was halted for a period of time due to COVID-19, it returned in 2024. This year’s event, held at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, brought together ballet companies from Columbia, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Yale, and Princeton.

PUB president Gisele Sonnier ’27 has attended the Exchange every year since her freshman year, and described how the event has evolved post-pandemic.

“I would say our first year was very trial and error, and a little bit more makeshift. But in the years since, it has become a very professional event,” she said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian. “The teachers have gotten really interesting, and everyone has really stepped up their game.”

According to Sonnier, to organize the event, the leaders of each university’s dance company coordinate through Zoom calls and each take on distinct roles. Columbia hosts the Exchange and is therefore responsible for acquiring the studio space. Princeton enlisted the instructors that made the event especially remarkable.

Sonnier highlighted that PUB brought Jeanette Delgado, the Rehearsal Director for the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, to teach the morning class. Delgado received a Princess Grace Award in Dance in 2003, which “identifies extraordinary emerging artists in theater, dance and film through career-advancing grants.” Eran Fink, a Berklee College of Music graduate, was the live accompanist at the piano.

The day-long event began with a ballet class in the morning, followed by four rotations in the afternoon and a fifteen minute performance from each group. PUB presented three pieces from their past show that they had been rehearsing for the past few months. Each university had twenty available spots for dancers. Princeton offered spots on a first come, first served basis.

Throughout the sessions, dancers from different schools recognized familiar faces from summer intensives, training programs, and mutual connections.

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Spencer Fitzgerald ’29 told the ‘Prince’ that this was his first Ivy Ballet Exchange with PUB.

“It was a great experience to meet new people with our shared love for ballet. I fortunately got to see some past dance friends and reconnect with them,” he said.

Sonnier acknowledged that dancers expect a stressful environment when they go into a ballet company, which she said does not reflect the environment at the Exchange.

“We are here because we love to dance and [the Exchange] is such a mindset shift that I think really reinvigorates people’s love of dance,” she said.

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Ambre Van de Velde is a contributing News writer and a contributing Prospect writer for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Boston and can be reached at av8447[at]princeton.edu.

Daphne Lewis is a contributing News writer and a contributing Prospect writer for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Washington and can be reached at dl1424[at]princeton.edu.

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.