''John Alleyne'' (born January 25, 1960) was a Canadian ballet choreographer and dancer, now retired.

Early life and career

Alleyne was born in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

on January 25, 1960. In 1965, his family moved to

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, where he grew up. At the age of 13, Alleyne began with his studies at the

Canada's National Ballet School Canada's National Ballet School, also commonly known as the National Ballet School of Canada, is a classical ballet school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Along with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, it is a provider of professional ballet tr ...

as the only black student at the time. After his graduation in 1978, Alleyne joined

Stuttgart Ballet Stuttgart Ballet is a leading German ballet company. Dating back to 1609, then the court ballet of the dukes of Württemberg, the modern company was founded by John Cranko and is known for full-length narrative ballets. The company received the ...

and started his career in choreography. He was tasked with creating various works for the company's internal workshops. In 1992, Alleyne was appointed

Artistic Director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

of Ballet BC. He remained in that role from 1992 to 2009.

Works

* Phases (1983), In Variation on a Theme (1984), and Weiderkekr (1985) at Stuttgart Ballet * Blue-Eyed Trek (1988), Split House Geometric (1989-1990) and Interrogating Slam (1991) at The National Ballet of Canada * Flying To Paris (1989), Go Slow Walter (1990), Talk About Wings (1991), Archeology of Karl... A romantic adventure (1993), Three Visible Poems (1994), The Don Juan Variations (1995), Can you believe she actually said (1995), Remember Me From Then (1996) with Peter. Goldberg (1998), Schubert (1999), The Faerie Queen (2000, adapted and filmed by CBC), Orpheus (2002) Scheherazade (2002), Carmina Burana (2004), The Rite of Spring (2005), A Streetcar Named Desire (2006), and The Four Seasons (2008) at Ballet BC

Awards

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Awards (also known as the Dora Awards or the Doras) are awards presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), honouring theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moor ...

for Outstanding New Choreography (1992) * Harry Jerome Award for Professional Excellence from the Black Business and Professional Association (1993) * Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

(2003) * Vancouver Arts Award for Performing Arts (2004) * Exceptional Achievement Award in the Performing Arts from the Black Historical and Cultural Society of British Columbia (2005)

References

Canadian male ballet dancers Ballet choreographers Canadian people of Barbadian descent {{DEFAULTSORT:Alleyne, John 1960 births Living people