Sara Mearns  Sara Ann Mearns (born 19 January 1986) is an American ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer at New York City Ballet. Mearns was born in Columbia, South Carolina. Her mother is a nurse. At age three, she began dancing with Ann Brodie at the Calvert-Brodie School of Dance, also in Columbia. Mearns trained with Patricia McBride at the School of North Carolina Dance Theatre, at age 13, and at South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities the following year. In 2001, Mearns relocated to New York to train at the School of American Ballet. In 2003, Mearns became an apprentice with New York City Ballet. She was nominated for a Princess Grace Award and received the Mae L. Wien Awards that year. She became a member of the corps de ballet the following year. In 2006, at age 19 and while she was still in the corps, she was chosen to dance Odette/Odile in "Swan Lake". Later that year, she was promoted to the rank of soloist, and to principal dancer two years later. She was nominated for a Prix Benois de la Danse in 2012. She was nominated for a Bessie Awards in 2014 and was awarded one in 2018. She has danced classical roles such as the Lilac Fairy in "The Sleeping Beauty", Balanchine works such as "La Valse", "Symphony in C", "Serenade" and "Walpurgisnacht Ballet ", as well as contemporary pieces such as Alexei Ratmansky's "Concerto DSCH" and Justin Peck's "Rotunda". In 2013 Mearns starred in "A Dancer's Dream", a New York Philharmonic production choreographed by Karole Armitage and conducted by Alan Gilbert, which was broadcast nationally. In 2015 she made her Broadway debut in the "Lonely Town" pas de deux from the Tony-nominated musical "On the Town", choreographed by Joshua Bergasse. She has also collaborated with the modern dance choreographer Jodi Melnick, resulting in the piece performed at the Guggenheim Museum in November 2016. In 2017, Mearns performed the role of Victoria Page in Matthew Bourne's "The Red Shoes" in New York City Center. Mearns' repertoire with the New York City Ballet includes: In November 2012, Mearns met Joshua Bergasse when she was auditioning for a featured dancing role on "Smash".