Evan McKie

Canadian ballet dancer, writer, and artist. He is a Principal Dancer with the National Ballet of Canada and a guest dancer with companies including the Paris Opera Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet and Tokyo Ballet. McKie continues to have very close ties with the prestigious Stuttgart Ballet, where he trained and rose through the companys ranks. He is also a contributor and Advisory Board member for American Dance Magazine and has been a freelance contributor for Canadas National newspaper, The Globe and Mail. McKie studied at Canadas National Ballet School, The Kirov Academy of Ballet and Germanys John Cranko School, where he was given his first professional job as a dancer by the Stuttgart Ballets Artistic Director, Reid Anderson. Just before becoming professional however, McKie suffered a severe knee-ligament injury and was told by doctors that he may never be able to be a ballet dancer. Though the ligament was irreparable, McKie attempted to dance without it and began training with the late ballet legend Pyotr Pestov. McKie started performing and eventually took a place at the Stuttgart Ballet. At the time doctors called it a "miraculous recovery." Promotions to Soloist and highest rank of Principal Dancer followed and in 2011, McKie was invited to be a guest dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet. McKie received critical acclaim when he was invited to be a guest at the Bolshoi Ballet in 2013 which led to further guest-engagements at the Paris Opera Ballet in both January and July 2014. In Stuttgart, under the direction and mentorship of fellow Canadian Reid Anderson, McKie danced the major roles in Classical Ballet as well as being a part of over 30 contemporary collaborations. He has been nominated as dancer of the year by dance magazines in Tokyo, London, Paris, Berlin and New York for dance works ranging from "classical" to "dramatic narrative" to "contemporary". McKie has choreographed two dance works for Stuttgarts Noverre Society and a work for Olga Smirnova of the Bolshoi Ballet in cooperation with the Youth American Grand Prix at Lincoln Centre in New York. He is a visual artist specializing in intimate portraits of artists and dancers and recently held an exhibition in Germany entitled SCHICHTEN. McKie is also very active in researching the use of Dance as part of rehabilitation from depression and drug addiction. He is a part-time volunteer contributor to the recreational-therapy program at Canadas Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and is also involved in independent research focussing on neuro-plasticity training. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less