Once a Soloist, a Ballerina Finds Her Partner for Life

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Once a Soloist, a Ballerina Finds Her Partner for Life

Soon after they started dating nearly three years ago, Olivia MacKinnon, a dancer with the New York City Ballet, discovered Bill Keenan’s genuine passion for ballet.

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Olivia MacKinnon and Bill Keenan married on March 7 at Central Presbyterian Church in New York City.

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Liz Andolina Photography

By

Valeriya Safronova

April 24, 2026,

12:00 a.m. ET

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The first time Olivia Kathleen MacKinnon met William Howard Keenan III, he was wearing a tutu, a tiara, tights and bloody socks at his sister’s Halloween party in 2019. The costume? Injured ballerina.

“I found it funny, slightly endearing and a little bit odd,” said Ms. MacKinnon, an actual ballerina at the New York City Ballet.

Because Ms. MacKinnon was in a relationship at the time, her brief interaction with Mr. Keenan remained just that until nearly four years later, when Mr. Keenan’s sister gave him the number of the newly single Ms. MacKinnon.

“My sister is really the Cupid of the whole story,” said Mr. Keenan, who goes by Bill.

In his first missive to Ms. MacKinnon, at the end of August 2023, Mr. Keenan referenced her profession, writing, “I’m standing in first position as I type.”

During their first date at Arte Cafe on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where they both lived, Ms. MacKinnon discovered that beneath Mr. Keenan’s humorous text message was a true passion for the art form.

“We joke that he loves ‘The Nutcracker’ more than I do,” said Ms. MacKinnon, 30, who has performed all the lead roles in George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker,” including

Sugarplum last December

. “He was genuinely interested in my lifestyle, the performances and all the details in between.”

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