A danseur noble traditionally was a male ballet dancer who projected great nobility of character. Over the last century the term has been used to define a male principal dancer who performs at the highest theatrical level combining grace with ability. Some use danseur noble as the masculine equivalent to a Prima Ballerina. Notable examples Historical and retired Gaétan Vestris Charles Le Picq Vaslav Nijinsky Léonide Massine Serge Lifar Adolph Bolm Mikhail Mordkin Anton Dolin Theodore Kosloff Pavel Gerdt Vakhtang Chabukiani Pyotr Gusev Asaf Messerer Roman Jasiński Igor Youskevitch Vasily Tikhomirov Aleksey Yermolayev Nikolai Fadeyechev Sergei Filin Askold Makarov Konstantin Sergeyev Erik Bruhn Rudolf Nureyev Edward Villella Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Nicolas Le Riche Carlos Acosta Jean Guizerix Vladimir Vasiliev Cyril Atanassoff Mikhail Baryshnikov Henning Kronstam Jacques d'Amboise Fernando Bujones Robert Helpmann Michael Somes Reid Anderson Anthony Dowell Wayne Eagling José Martinez Ivan Nagy Peter Martins Laurent Hilaire Julio Bocca Nikolay Tsiskaridze Manuel Legris Johan Kobborg Ethan Stiefel Tamas Detrich Maris Liepa Yuri Soloviev Alexander Godunov Irek Mukhamedov Farukh Ruzimatov Vladimir Malakhov Current Roberto Bolle Mikhail Baryshnikov José Manuel Carreño David Hallberg Marcelo Gomes Vladimir Yaroshenko Federico Bonelli Sergei Polunin Thiago Soares Rupert Pennefather Igor Zelensky Mathieu Ganio Stéphane Bullion Evan McKie Matthew Golding Igor Kolb Leonid Sarafanov Vladimir Shklyarov Friedemann Vogel Ballet occupations