Evan McKie
Evan McKie (born April 7, 1983) is a Canadian ballet dancer, artist, and instructor. He spent thirteen years dancing in each rank of the Stuttgart Ballet & he is currently a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada , and has performed as a guest dancer with numerous international companies, including the Paris Opera Ballet (2011, 2012, 2014), Bolshoi Ballet (2013), Mariinsky Ballet (2016) and Tokyo Ballet. Early life and education. At 15, McKie suffered a severe knee-ligament injury and was told by doctors that he may not be able to continue pursuing ballet. After recovering, McKie studied  at Canada's National Ballet School, The Kirov Academy of Ballet and Germany's John Cranko School, where he was given his first professional job as a dancer by the Stuttgart Ballet's Artistic Director, Reid Anderson. Career. After debuting at Stuttgart, McKie was eventually promoted to the ballet's principal dancer. In 2011, McKie was invited to be a guest dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet. The "Financial Times" stated that his performance (of John Cranko's "Onegin") was "the sensation of the entire season". McKie received further 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 different roles. 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 and was also given opportunities to develop himself as a creative director during the world-famous Noverre Society workshops. Over the last decade, he has been nominated as International 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. "Danse Magazine Paris" wrote, "Evan McKie's limitless spirit and unusual storytelling abilities make him one of the brightest of all of today's most famous dance stars." In 2014, McKie left Stuttgart and returned to dance professionally in Canada. In a statement to "The Toronto Star", the National Ballet of Canada's Artistic Director, Karen Kain, noted that "McKie is a "very" intelligent dancer and has the spirit of a "true" artist", "He loves the contemporary and the process of creation but also absolutely embodies the classical danseur  noble." McKie continues to have very close ties with the Stuttgart Ballet, where he trained and rose through the company's ranks. He credits his time there as the rare chance to find harmony between a fascination for classical ballet technique and an inner passion for (expressionist dance). McKie has choreographed two dance works for Stuttgart's 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 backstage portraits of artists and dancers and recently held an  exhibition in Germany entitled . McKie is also very active in researching the use of dance as part of rehabilitation from depression and drug addiction. McKie holds a certificate in Interpersonal Relations and Leadership from L'école des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Paris and recently shadowed Mikko Nissinen, the artistic director of the Boston Ballet to enhance his own practical experience initiative in the field of creative leadership. He is also a contributor and advisory board member for "American Dance Magazine" and for Canada’s Dance-archive, DanceCollectionDanse, and also with the Animal Welfare Institute and anti-bullying organizations in Canada and  the United States.