Evan McKie was born in Toronto, Canada. He received his initial ballet training in his home town and subsequently joined the Kirov Academy in Washington D.C. (1997-99). Following an invitation from Petr Pestov, he completed his studies at the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart in 2001.
After his graduation he became an apprentice with the Stuttgart Ballet. At the begining of the 2002/03 season he was taken into the Corps de ballet. In 2005/06 he was promoted to Demi-Soloist, in 2006/07 to Soloist. His promotion to Principal Dancer followed in 2009/10 after his debut in the title role of Kevin O’Day’s Hamlet.
Choreographers who have created roles for Evan McKie in Stuttgart include Wayne McGregor, Marco Goecke, Mauro Bigonzetti, Christian Spuck, Kevin O’Day and Douglas Lee. He has also worked with John Neumeier, Marcia Haydée and the late Glen Tetley.
Evan McKie is a guest dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet, Universal Ballet, The Tokyo Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada and the Ballet de Santiago de Chile. He has received international critical acclaim for his performances as Hamlet, Onegin, Siegfried in Swan Lake and as the Prince in The Sleeping Beauty. He has been twice listed in Dance Europe’s Critics’ Choice List for performances in Paquita and as Albrecht in Giselle.
In July 2012 Evan McKie received the Premio ApuliArte “Prix Grand Merit”, a prize awarded yearly by a panel of prestigious dance journalists for the season’s outstanding performances. The journalists cited McKie’s performances in the title role of John Cranko’s Onegin with the Paris Opera, in Rudolph Nureyev’s The Sleeping Beauty with the National Ballet of Canada and in John Cranko’s Swan Lake with the Stuttgart Ballet.
Evan McKie has choreographed two successful works for the Noverre Society “Young Choreographer” evenings in Stuttgart. When he is not onstage, McKie works as a photographer specializing in abstract portraits and is also a guest writer for Dance Magazine, New York. The magazine named him an honorary advisory board member in 2011.
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