Kevin McKenzie (ballet dancer)
Encyclopedia
Kevin McKenzie is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and Artistic Director
of American Ballet Theatre
since 1991. He began his ballet instruction at the O'Brien School of Dance in South Burlington, Vermont before attending the Washington School of Ballet. He has received awards such as the Silver medal at the Sixth International Competition in Bulgaria. He danced with companies including The Washington Ballet and The Joffrey Ballet. He is noted for his performances in La Bayadere, Don Quixote, and The Leaves are Fading. He was appointed a permanent guest artist with The Washington Ballet. He has choreographed his own version of Transcendental Etudes, The Nutcracker,Don Quixote,Swan Lake, and The Sleeping Beauty.
Mckenzie has also appeared in two Emmy Award
winning broadcasts: The Unicorn
, The Gorgon and the Manticore (1970) and in American Ballet Theatre's Le Corsaire
(1998), both for PBS's Dance in America series on Great Performances
. Dance in America has also telecast McKenzie's production of Swan Lake, in 2005. He is interviewed during the intermission.
Artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
of American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...
since 1991. He began his ballet instruction at the O'Brien School of Dance in South Burlington, Vermont before attending the Washington School of Ballet. He has received awards such as the Silver medal at the Sixth International Competition in Bulgaria. He danced with companies including The Washington Ballet and The Joffrey Ballet. He is noted for his performances in La Bayadere, Don Quixote, and The Leaves are Fading. He was appointed a permanent guest artist with The Washington Ballet. He has choreographed his own version of Transcendental Etudes, The Nutcracker,Don Quixote,Swan Lake, and The Sleeping Beauty.
Artistic Credits
- Don QuixoteDon Quixote (ballet)Don Quixote is a ballet originally staged in four acts and eight scenes, based on an episode taken from the famous novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus and was first presented by the Ballet of the...
(staging) - The NutcrackerThe NutcrackerThe Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
- Swan LakeSwan LakeSwan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
(staging) - Transcendental Etudes
- The Sleeping Beauty (staging and additional choreography)
Awards
- Silver MedalSilver medalA silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
from the Sixth International Ballet Competition in VarnaVarnaVarna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
, BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
- Honorary degreeHonorary degreeAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
of Doctor of Arts from Saint Michael's CollegeSaint Michael's CollegeSaint Michael's College is a private, residential liberal arts Catholic college. The campus is located in Colchester, Vermont. It was founded in 1904 by the Society of Saint Edmund, a French order of Catholic priests.-History:...
in Colchester, VermontColchester, VermontColchester is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The population was 17,067 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth-largest municipality and second-largest town in Vermont by population.-Geography:...
(1993)
- Dance MagazineDance MagazineDance Magazine is an "influential" American trade publication for dance, currently published by the Macfadden Communications Group. It was first published in June 1927 as The American Dancer. William Como was its editor-in-chief from 1970 to his death in 1989. Wendy Perron became its editor-in...
AwardAwardAn award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...
(1999)
Mckenzie has also appeared in two Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
winning broadcasts: The Unicorn
Unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary animal from European folklore that resembles a white horse with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead, and sometimes a goat's beard...
, The Gorgon and the Manticore (1970) and in American Ballet Theatre's Le Corsaire
Le Corsaire
Le Corsaire is a ballet typically presented in three acts, with a libretto originally created by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges loosely based on the poem The Corsair by Lord Byron. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Adolphe Adam, it was first presented by the ballet of...
(1998), both for PBS's Dance in America series on Great Performances
Great Performances
Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on Public Broadcasting Service public television since 1972...
. Dance in America has also telecast McKenzie's production of Swan Lake, in 2005. He is interviewed during the intermission.