by Amy Brandt | Apr 17, 2018 | News
“When you turn up at someone’s door saying, ‘I would like to make the first dance in Antarctica,’ they often call you crazy.” So says Kiwi choreographer and former ballet dancer Corey Baker. Luckily, his persistence paid off. On Sunday,...
by Steve Sucato For Dance Magazine | Jan 1, 2018 | Career, News
The past few months have brought on a media storm surrounding accusations about the culture and employment practices at the Royal New Zealand Ballet. But it turns out, much of the reported information doesn’t tell the whole story. Caught up in the rumors has...
by Julia Guiheen | Dec 6, 2017 | Everything Nutcracker, Profiles, TBT
December is here and the holiday season—better known to ballet dancers as Nutcracker season—is in full swing. To celebrate, we’re throwing it back to Patricia Barker and Wade Walthall as Clara and the prince in Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 1986 Nutcracker:...
by Steve Sucato | Nov 5, 2017 | Career, Profiles
Former Pacific Northwest Ballet principal Patricia Barker has taken over as artistic director of Royal New Zealand Ballet. Barker, 54, was named to her new role in June, becoming only the second woman director in RNZB’s 64-year history and the second...
by Madeline Schrock | Jun 6, 2017 | Career, Profiles
In the latest round of “artistic director musical chairs,” Royal New Zealand Ballet has announced major news: Patricia Barker has been named the company’s new artistic director. Later this month, she’ll replace Francesco Ventriglia. The...
by Gillian Murphy | May 20, 2014 | Company Life
Photography by Joe Toreno. When I was 19 years old and in the corps de ballet of American Ballet Theatre, a domino effect of casting changes left me with three days to learn and prepare my first dramatic leading role: Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis. There was not...
by Jennifer Heimlich | Nov 28, 2001 | Company Life
Ethan Stiefel’s only been in charge of the Royal New Zealand Ballet for a year, but he’s already brought his signature pizazz to the company. The former ABT star is currently co-choreographing and producing a new Giselle with The Royal Ballet’s Johan...
by Nicole Loeffler-Gladstone | Nov 28, 2001 | Company Life
As choreographers like Wayne McGregor push the aesthetic boundaries of ballet, even the most contemporary work still adheres to recognizable elements of the form. There are gradations—and yes, there’s the eventual hair-splitting difference between...