Robert Weiss is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and Artistic Director of Carolina Ballet.
 He began his professional career at age 17 joining the New York City Ballet under George Balanchine, eventually becoming a Principal Dancer.
 Balanchine created several roles for him, including Ballo della Regina.
 Weiss remained with the New York City Ballet for 16 years.
 He later served as Artistic Director of the Pennsylvania Ballet from 1982 to 1990.
 Weiss then became the founding Artistic Director of Carolina Ballet in 1997 where he has remained to this day.
Julie Kent (born 1969) is an American ballet dancer; she remained a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre from 1993 to June 2015.
 Her farewell role was Juliet (in Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet).
 In 2016, she was named the artistic director of The Washington Ballet.
Ben Stevenson OBE (born 4 April 1936), is a former ballet dancer with Britain's Royal Ballet and English National Ballet, co-director of National Ballet of Washington, D.C. (1971–1974), artistic director of Chicago Ballet (1974-1975), artistic director of Houston Ballet (1976–2003), and current artistic director of Texas Ballet Theater (2003–present).
Dancers is a 1987 film directed by Herbert Ross and stars Mikhail Baryshnikov and Julie Kent.
 The story revolves around a ballet dancer who is planning to make a film version of the ballet "Giselle", and how his romance with a young woman parallels the plotline of the ballet.
 The film received scathing reviews upon release.
Val Caniparoli is an American ballet dancer and choreographer.
 His work includes productions for ballet, opera, and theater for over 35 companies, and his career as a choreographer progressed even as he continued his professional dance career with the San Francisco Ballet.
 He joined the San Francisco Ballet as a dancer in 1973.
 He was appointed to the position of principal character dancer with the San Francisco Ballet by Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson in 1987.
Walter Patrick Bissell (December 1, 1957 – December 29, 1987) was an American danseur.
 He was a leading principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.
 On his death at age 30 from a drug overdose, he was described by the artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre Mikhail Baryshnikov as "without a doubt one of the brightest lights in American Ballet Theater's history, or, for that matter, in the entire ballet world".
 Bissell was noted for his height and athleticism.
 His most famous rôle was as Solor in "La Bayadère".
 His death prompted investigations into the alleged widespread drug use within the American Ballet Theatre.
Reid Bryce Anderson (born 1 April 1949) is a Canadian ballet dancer, ballet director, and artistic director.
 He danced with the Stuttgart Ballet before returning as artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada in 1987.
 He returned to the Stuttgart Ballet as artistic director in 1996.
Rolando Sarabia Oquendo (born 18 August 1982) is a Cuban ballet dancer.
 He is an acclaimed Principal Dancer for The Washington Ballet under artistic director Julie Kent.
 He has danced with many companies including the Cuban National Ballet, the Houston Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre as a guest artist in 2011.
 Erika Kinetz of "The New York Times" called him the "Cuban Nijinsky" and compared him to the young Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Igor Dmitrievich Belsky (Russian: Игорь Дмитриевич Бельский ; 28 March 1925, Saint Petersburg, Russia – 3 July 1999, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer.
 After 20 years of solo work (1942–62) he became a chief choreographer of Maly Theatre (1962–73), artistic director of Kirov Ballet (1973–77), artistic director of Cairo Ballet (1977–78), chief ballet master at the Leningrad Music Hall (1979–92), and artistic director of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet.
Ross Stretton (6 June 1952 – 16 June 2005) was an Australian ballet dancer and artistic director.
 As a dancer, he performed with the Australian Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre.
 He was later Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet (1997–2001) and the Royal Ballet (2001–2002).

Question: Who was the director of a 1987 film in which an American ballet dancer named the artistic director of The Washington Ballet performed?
Answer: Herbert Ross