Evan McKie

Evan M. McKie (born April 7, 1983, Toronto, Canada) is a dancer, dance teacher and researcher of dance who has won awards. Raised in both Canada and Germany, and of Celtic descent, McKie is a ballet dancer in classical and contemporary ballet [1] and an actor-dancer known for interpreting roles from literature.[1] He is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Neuroplastic Training, a dance-archive advisor [2] and part-time writer.[3] He spent 13 years dancing in each rank of the Stuttgart Ballet and until recently was a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada.[4] He has performed as a guest dancer with international companies, including the Paris Opera Ballet (2011, 2012, 2014), Bolshoi Ballet (2013), Mariinsky Ballet (2016) Tokyo Ballet (2013), Ballet de Santiago de Chile Marcia Haydeé (2014), and Orsolina28 (2019/20).

Evan McKie
McKie and Xiao Nan Yu
Born (1983-04-07) April 7, 1983
Toronto, Canada
Occupation(s)Ballet dancer, dance instructor, art instructor, movement director, writer, dance curator.


Early life and education

McKie started his ballet training with Deborah DelVechio and continued at Canada's National Ballet School from the age of 8 until 14. At 15, McKie suffered a severe ligament injury and was told by doctors that he might not be able to continue pursuing ballet.[5] McKie managed to recover without surgery and continued to train with The Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington D.C. under the guidance of Vladimir Djouloukhadze.[6] At 16, Mckie was invited to join Germany's John Cranko Schule by Pyotr Pestov. It was at the Stuttgart Ballet that McKie was given his first professional job as a dancer by artistic director Reid Anderson. McKie was a member of current John Cranko Schule Ballet-Director Tadeusz Matacz’s first official graduating class, having completed the two mandatory Academy Years (B and A) under his guidance.[7]

Career

After debuting at the Stuttgart Ballet as the Old Notary in Frederick Ashton’s "La Fille Mal Gardeé" , McKie was eventually promoted to principal dancer.[8] In 2011, McKie was invited to be a guest dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet. The Financial Times stated that his performance of Onegin was "the sensation of the entire season".[9]

McKie was invited to be a guest at the Bolshoi Ballet in 2013 and followed with performances 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 in classic ballets, narrative works and over 30 contemporary collaborations.[10]

In 2014, McKie returned to dance professionally in Canada until the news of lockdowns and COVID-19 hit.[5] On tours and at home with the company McKie received critical acclaim.[11][12][13] McKie has been mentioned in Gary Smith’s Top10 performances of the year list several times including in 2019/20 for his long awaited debut of George Balanchine’ "Apollo".[14]

McKie did not give performances with the National Ballet from the beginning of Covid-19 in 2020 and when the company fully resumed work in 2021 Mckie exited the company a year after Karen Kain, who had recruited him. He announced a need to be able to perform and build an Act 3 and thanked the company.[15]

McKie is a contributor and advisory board member for Dance Magazine [16] and DanceCollectionDanse, the Canadian Dance Archive.

Performance repertoire
Notable Role Play Source
Onegin & Vladimir Lensky Onegin by John Cranko [17]
Prince Florimund (Prince Desire) The Sleeping Beauty [17]
Hamlet Hamlet by Kevin O'Day [17]
Leontes The Winter's Tale (ballet) by Christopher Wheeldon [17]
Serge Diaghilev & Petruschka Nijinsky [17]
Des Grieux The Lady of the Camellias
Iago Othello
Mitch Streetcar Named Desire
Alexei Karenin Anna Karenina [17]
Romeo Romeo and Juliet [17]
Tybalt and Paris Romeo and Juliet by John Cranko & Alexei Ratmansky [17]
Prince Siegfried Swan Lake by John Cranko
Apollo George Balanchine [17]
Pflegmetic & Sanguinic The Four Temperaments by George Balanchine. [18]

Awards
  • McKie received Italy’s ApuliArte prize for achievement in dance for Rudolf Nureyev’s The Sleeping Beauty, John Cranko’s Onegin and for three roles created on him in Wayne McGregor’s Eden | Eden, Yantra and Nautilus.[19]
  • McKie was chosen as one of LaNotte Magazine’s Top 5 International Dancers of the Year for 2020 and 2021.[20][21]
  • McKie received the first Kirov Academy Award for an Outstanding Stage Career combined with Humanitarian Work.[22]
  • My Entertainment Award Fan Favorite. 2016/17 "There couldn’t possibly be a better fan-favourite, we couldn’t agree more."[23]

References
  1. Асланова, Алиса (2020-03-21). "Evan McKie - The National Ballet of Canada". La Personne. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  2. "Board and Advisors". dcd.ca. Retrieved 2023-04-02.
  3. "Evan McKie". Breaking Bounds Dance. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  4. Mihaela. "Evan McKie: his 20th professional season in 2021". Dance for You Magazine (in German). Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  5. "Cover Story: Principal Dancer Evan McKie" (PDF). National Ballet of Canada. 2015. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
  6. McKie, Evan (2020-12-29). "Vladimir Djouloukhadze, One of Ballet's Foremost Teachers, Celebrates 50 Years in Ballet". Dance Magazine. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  7. "Home | John Cranko Schule". www.john-cranko-schule.de. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  8. "The Canadian dancers at Stuttgart". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
  9. Cappelle, Laura (February 13, 2018). "Onegin, Palais Garnier, Paris – John Cranko's ballet isn't about love". Financial Times.
  10. Danse Paris, Odin 2011
  11. Macaulay, Alastair (2016-01-21). "Review: Dark Suspicions in Jumps and Gestures in 'The Winter's Tale'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  12. "National Ballet of Canada: A pairing of Balanchine and Ekman". The Globe and Mail. 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  13. Cappelle, Laura (2017-10-06). "John Neumeier's labour-of-love ballet about Nijinsky comes to Paris". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  14. Spectator, Gary Smith Special to the Spectator, Special to The Hamilton (2019-12-26). "Gary Smith: Top 10 performances of 2019". The Hamilton Spectator. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved 2023-09-26.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. Jul 6, Ballet News |; Releases | 0, 2022 | Press (2022-07-06). "Evan McKie Bids Farewell to The National Ballet of Canada But Not to Dance Career | Ballet News". Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  16. "Dance Magazine". Dance Magazine. 2022-05-20. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
  17. Wild, Stephi. "Evan McKie Bids Farewell to The National Ballet of Canada". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  18. Cass, Anne (2016-03-16). "Pure, Smart Entertainment". The Dance Current. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  19. Jul 6, Ballet News |; Releases | 0, 2022 | Press (2022-07-06). "Evan McKie Bids Farewell to The National Ballet of Canada But Not to Dance Career | Ballet News". Retrieved 2023-04-27.
  20. "La Notte Ballet Top: Top-5 International Dancers of the Year". August 13, 2020.
  21. "La Notte Ballet Top: Top-5 International Dancers of the Year". La Notte. 2020-08-13. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  22. "Special Events". CCAR - New York. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  23. "The 2016 MyTheatre Award Winners: Toronto". My Entertainment World. 2017-04-20. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
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