Justin Peck
Justin Peck is the Resident Choreographer and Artistic Advisor of New York City Ballet. One of the most acclaimed and in-demand choreographers of his generation, he has created more than 50 works for NYCB and other dance companies around the world. His artistic collaborators include composers Dan Deacon, Bryce Dessner, Philip Glass, Nico Muhly, Steve Reich, Caroline Shaw, and Sufjan Stevens; and visual artists John Baldessari, Jules de Balincourt, Marcel Dzama, Shepard Fairey, Jeffrey Gibson, Karl Jensen, Eva LeWitt, and Sterling Ruby; and fashion designers Tsumori Chisato, Prabal Gurung, Mary Katrantzou, Humberto Leon, Raf Simons, and Dries Van Noten. Outside of NYCB, Peck has created ballets for the Paris Opéra Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Houston Ballet, and L.A. Dance Project, and his works have also been performed by Dutch National Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, The Australian Ballet, Acosta Danza, Hong Kong Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Pennsylvania Ballet, among many other companies.
A native of San Diego, California, Peck studied at California Ballet before enrolling at the School of American Ballet in 2003. He was named an apprentice in 2006, joined the NYCB corps de ballet in spring 2007, and was promoted to Soloist in February 2013. His repertory as a dancer included ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Alexei Ratmansky, and Christopher Wheeldon, among others, in addition to performing in his own works. Peck first choreographed as a student at SAB in 2005. He participated in a working session at the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of NYCB, in the fall of 2009, and received NYCI’s first year-long choreographic residency in 2011. He was named NYCB’s Resident Choreographer, the second in the Company’s history, in July 2014. Peck also served as a member of NYCB’s interim artistic team from December 2017 until his appointment as Artistic Advisor in February 2019, working closely with the artistic leadership on programming and choreographic commissions. Peck retired from dancing following NYCB’s 2019 Spring Season.
Photo © Ryan Pfluger