Evan McKie Joins as a Principal Dancer in 2014/15 Season
April 25, 2014… Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced that Evan McKie
will join the company as a Principal Dancer in the 2014/15 season. Mr.
McKie returns to his hometown of Toronto after dancing with Stuttgart
Ballet for 13 years.
“One
of the finest dancers of his generation, Evan McKie is acclaimed
internationally for his artistry and dramatic sensibility. His recent
guest appearances have thrilled Toronto audiences and I am so pleased to
welcome him to the company as a Principal Dancer. Evan is a perfect fit
with our dancers and repertoire and it is wonderful that a Canadian
artist celebrated around the world is coming home,” said Ms. Kain.
Mr.
McKie appeared with the National Ballet as a Principal Guest Artist for
the past two seasons, receiving critical acclaim for his portrayals of
such roles as Siegfried in Swan Lake, Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty, Albrecht in Giselle and Lensky in Onegin.
Mr. McKie has been hailed by the Toronto Star as “a natural aristocrat
of ballet”, Ballet Review wrote “Not since Nureyev has a dancer found
the yearning in the elegant and passionate solo that defines the Prince
Florimund’s aching heart.” DanceView Times exclaimed “McKie is a dream
as Lensky.”
Born
in Toronto, Mr. McKie trained at Canada’s National Ballet School, the
Kirov Academy of Ballet and John Cranko School. He joined Stuttgart
Ballet in 2001 where he has been a Principal Dancer since 2009. Mr.
McKie has had roles created on him by choreographers such as Wayne
McGregor, Marco Goecke, Mauro Bigonzetti, Christian Spuck, Kevin O'Day
and Douglas Lee and has also worked with John Neumeier and the late Glen
Tetley. He has guested internationally with Bolshoi Ballet, Tokyo
Ballet, Universal Ballet and Ballet de Chile and is the first and only
Canadian to dance with Paris Opéra Ballet. Recently he was awarded the
prestigious ApuliArte prize for achievement in dance and German TANZ
Magazine named him one of the Dancers of the Year 2013. He also won
critics choice nominations for best dancer in Dance Europe magazine for
his portrayals of Albrecht in Giselle, Lensky and Onegin in Onegin and the lead role in Paquita.
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