Evan M. McKie , raised in both Canada & Germany was born on April 7, 1983 in Toronto, Canada. He is a  ballet dancer in classical and contemporary ballet  and an actor-dancer known for interpreting roles from literature.     He is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Neuroplastic Training, a dance-archive advisor  and part-time writer. 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. 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 in 2019/20. McKie graduated after being  classically trained by Pyotr Pestov, "one of the best ballet teachers of the previous century who’s students include Vladimir Malakhov, Alexander Vetrov, Nickolai Tsiskaridze, Alexei Ratmansky."  McKie holds Canadian records as a performer and instructor.

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.  McKie exclaims how he owes much of this success to the to fellow Canadian, Reid Anderson who facilitated initial contact in Paris, Moscow & Tokyo. In a statement to The Toronto Star, the National Ballet of Canada's Artistic Director Emerita, 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." Of Kain, McKie stated: " Karen has made so many of my dreams come true. She invited me to be a guest artist in roles like Rudolf Nureyev’s “The Sleeping Beauty” and then allowed me to join full-time when I asked to come and learn from her. Karen engaged outstanding choreographers like Wayne McGregor, John Neumeier, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon and Crystal Pite and allowed them to cast me in their ballets. I am so grateful for this. Not every director would allow this. When I asked her for guidance as I was trying to learn new ways to study for creative leadership roles, she pleasantly surprised me by allowing for me to participate in a future-directors retreat in the UK and allowed me to take a short period of time off to shadow Mikko Nissinen at the Boston Ballet. Karen also took my passion for commissioning new short works seriously and even permitted us to bring in choreographers like Juliano Nunes to our annual fundraiser Gala." 

The National Ballet of Canada’s current Artistic Director Hope Muir spoke candidly about McKie’s career:  "Evan has become one of Canada's most celebrated dancers with an international career as both a Principal Dancer and Guest Artist. He is renowned for his range, strength in fluidity and a rare athletic articulation in both classical and contemporary roles. Often bringing intriguing characters from literature to life, Evan entranced National Ballet audiences. His most notable roles include both Lensky and Onegin in Onegin, the title role in Apollo,  Phlegmatic from the Four Temperaments,   Leontes in The Winter's Tale, Diaghilev and Petruschka in Nijinsky, Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty, Karenin in Anna Karenina and lead roles in Wayne McGregor's Chroma and Genus." Former Artistic Director & fellow Canadian Dance legend Karen Kain offered:  "It was a great pleasure during my tenure as Artistic Director to be able to invite Evan to return home and share his unique artistry with Canadian audiences. He gave many outstanding performances in a wide variety of important roles with the company. I send Evan my gratitude."

McKie was chosen as one of LaNotte Magazine’s Top 5 Dancers in the World 2021. The magazine’s editor in chief Julia Suzmina based her decisions on strict criteria including: a "constantly-developed body of outstanding work over the last decade; Authenticity, generosity and hard-earned respect within the industry; Noted efforts to adapt equally to classical technique, contemporary technique, acting technique and especially willingness to explore anything that is authentically new in the dance world; Audience appreciation and fan reactions from all over the world;Critical acclaim (multiple journalist sources);and using their platform to support the creative youth of tomorrow while making dance more accessible to those in need." Suzmina writes that "McKie is celebrated around the world for his artistry, adaptability and physical intelligence in an unusually large spectrum of roles. If there was an Oscar for ballet dancers, he’d surely be nominated for roles in "Onegin", "The Winter’s Tale”, "Hamlet", "Nijinsky" , "Apollo" , "The Sleeping Beauty" and more." Suzmina continues later in the article which explains the top honor which McKie shares with Misty Copeland, Matthieu Ganio, Marianela Nunez and Victoria Tereshkina, "Currently, as an experienced dancer of highest class, Evan seems open and ready for new challenges. He appears to be an optimal candidate for the role of an Artistic Director for the future." McKie replies "I haven’t made any inquiries or accepted anything coming my way yet because at the moment, the psycho-social tensions around that subject are too high and some people treat me differently because they assume that I’m on that wavelength and that I’m clawing my way into some illusion of a director’s chair. But really, I just want to work with them dancer-to-dancer. People instinctively want power, I get it, and all that’s meant to be will be, for all of us, but I think the people I spend time with and want to spend more time with are really looking for strength, balance and daily morale: actual dreams being achieved, you know?" He continues "I’ve seen directors build lasting and sustainable legacies based on really listening to their artists and getting the absolute most out of their acquired range of talent. That’s a tough marker to pass for a leader but some do it and have companies full of happy, busy and creative artists whose voices matter! I’ve seen it and felt it and I will keep it with me always.” 

McKie won the inaugural Kirov Academy Achievement Award in 2016 for his humanitarian work in the field of mental health and addiction and for having an outstanding dance career so far. At the ceremony, in Washington D.C., filled with two-hundred students, McKie stated: "This award is for you: anybody who is being bullied because you don’t fit-in due to your orientations, expressions and what methods you seek to inspire you to keep growing...But please be true to yourself, be smart and enjoy being generous. Never leave anybody behind, not even those who’ve laughed at you, hurt you or tried to hold you back in any way...this award is for them too."  

McKie is a member of the International advisory council for Dance Magazine and for Dance Collection Danse.  McKie has been awarded academic certificates through Oxford University Saïd Business School (Executive Management), École des Hautes études commerciales de Paris (Leadership and Interpersonal Relations) , Columbia Business School (Digital Marketing Strategies) and has shadowed Mikko Nissinen, Artistic Director of the Boston Ballet.

Early life and education 
Evan McKie started his ballet training with Deborah DelVechio & 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 may not be able to continue pursuing ballet. McKie managed to recover without surgery & continued to train with The Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington D.C. 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.

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 Onegin was "the sensation of the entire season".

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 both classic ballets, and over 30 contemporary collaborations.

In 2014, McKie returned to dance professionally in Canada. One of Kain’s most important goals as Artistic Director was to " attract, nurture & retain the most talented artists. : Leading International dancers such as Principal Dancers Svetlana Lunkina, Evan McKie and Jurgita Dronina " were engaged as Kain’s plans fell into place starting a new era for the company & aligning closely with the National Ballet’s " Soaring Campaign . " 

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 Center in New York. In 2022, wanting to learn how to choreograph for Opera, McKie created a duet with up & coming Mezzo Soprano, Midori Marsh who danced while singing Osvaldo Golijov’s Lua Descolorida.  

McKie is a visual artist specializing in backstage portraits of artists and dancers and held a private exhibition in Germany entitled . 

McKie also researches the use of dance as part of rehabilitation from depression and drug addiction. He is also a contributor and advisory board member for Dance Magazine  & DanceCollectionDanse, the Canadian Dance Archive. 

McKie has danced with Diana Vishneva, Aurelie Dupont, Olga Smirnova, Isabelle Ciaravola, Svetlana Lunkina, Alicia Amatriain, Nadia Saidakova, Elisa Carillo Cabrera, Sue Jin Kang, Mika Yoshioka, Sonia Rodriguez, Maria Eichwald, XiaoNanYu, Myriam Simon, Myriam Ould-Braham, Jurgita Dronina , Ekaterina Osmolkina and more.

Performance repertoire 
Through his career, McKie has performed in over 100 original and adapted works for notable choreographers, including John Cranko, Kenneth MacMillan, Maurice Bejart, John Neumeier, George Balanchine, Marius Petipa, Glen Tetley, Rudolf Nureyev, William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Crystal Pite, David Dawson, James Kudelka, Christopher Wheeldon and Wayne McGregor.

Awards 
Top 5 International Ballet Dancers of the Year - 2020, La Notte Ballet 
The 2016 Kirov Academy Award for outstanding achievement in dance and contribution as a humanitarian.
Apuli Arte Merit Prize, Italy. Outstanding Performance in International Dance - 2012
Best Newcomer Dance Performance of the Year (nominated) - 2001, Dance Europe Magazine
Best International Dance Performance of the Year (nominated) - 2012, Dance Magazine Japan
Best International Dance Performance of the Year (nominated) - 2012, Danse Magazine
Best International Dance Performance of the Year (nominated) - 2013 & 2014, Tanz Magazine Yearbook (Germany)
Best International Dance Performance of the Year (nominated) - 2012 & 2014, Dance Europe Magazine
Best Performer, Dance Magazine (alongside Olga Smirnova) - 2014 & 2015

References

External links 

Canadian male ballet dancers
Canadian choreographers
Living people
1983 births
LGBT choreographers
Canadian LGBT dancers
National Ballet of Canada principal dancers
Canadian contemporary dancers
Dance writers