Peter Walker (born ) is an American ballet dancer and choreographer. He joined the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

(NYCB) in 2012 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2022. He choreographed ''Ten in Seven'' (2016) and ''Dance Odyssey'' (2018) for NYCB, as well as the 2020 film ''

I'm Thinking of Ending Things ''I'm Thinking of Ending Things'' (stylized as i'm thinking ''of'' ending things) is a 2020 American surrealist psychological thriller film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman. It is an adaptation of the 2016 novel of the same name by Iai ...

''.

Early life and training

Walker was raised in

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

. He began learning tap dancing at age eight, before focusing on ballet after being convinced by his ballet teacher and former

principal dancer Melinda Roy. He took part in

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the most renowned ballet school in the United States. School of American Ballet is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New ...

's summer program in 2006 and 2007, before entering the scholl full-time in 2007. Whilst a student, he appeared in a ballet choreographed by

Lauren Lovette Lauren Lovette (born November 10, 1991) is an American ballet dancer and choreographer who was previously a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. Early life and education Lovette was born in Thousand Oaks, California, and started he ...

. In his last year at the school, he choreographed a

pas de deux In ballet, a pas de deux ( French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The pas de deux is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well ...

for the student workshop. One of the dancers slated to perform got injured, so Walker danced his part.

Career

Walker became an apprentice with the New York City Ballet in spring 2011, and was invited to make a ballet for the New York Choreographic Institute in the summer. The next year, while he was injured, he was invited to choreograph for the institute again. He joined the company in fall 2012. He was cast in several featured roles when he was still in the corps de ballet, including in Balanchine's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict ...

'' and ''

Agon Agon (Greek ) is a Greek term for a conflict, struggle or contest. This could be a contest in athletics, in chariot or horse racing, or in music or literature at a public festival in ancient Greece. Agon is the word-forming element in 'agony', ...

'', Bigonzetti's ''

Oltremare ''Oltremare'' is a ballet by Mauro Bigonzetti to Bruno Moretti's eponymous music commissioned by New York City Ballet. The premiere took place Wednesday, January 23, 2008, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with costumes by the c ...

'', for which he was cast at the last minute, and as Romeo in Martins' ''

Romeo + Juliet Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a pries ...

''. In 2015, Walker choreographed for the School of American Ballet's Winter Ball. He used a commission score by Thomas Kikta, a classical guitarist. In 2016, he choreographed his first ballet for the NYCB Fashion Gala, entitled ''Ten in Seven'', with Kikta again writing the score, and costumes designed by

Jason Wu Jason Wu (; born September 27, 1982) is a Taiwanese-Canadian artist and fashion designer based in New York City. Born in Taiwan and raised in Vancouver, he studied fashion design at Parsons School of Design, and trained under Narciso Rodriguez ...

. In 2018, Walker choreographed his second ballet for the NYCB, ''Dance Odyssey'', to music from Oliver Davis's albums ''Fight'' and ''Dance''. In summer of that year, he choreographed in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

for

Bavarian State Opera The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

's Young Choreographer program. In October 2018, Walker was promoted to soloist at the NYCB, as one of the first dancers promoted by the company's interim leadership, after

Peter Martins Peter Martins (born 27 October 1946) is a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and with the New York City Ballet, where he joined George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and John Taras ...

' abrupt retirement. As a soloist, he performed in Balanchine's ''

Slaughter on Tenth Avenue ''Slaughter on Tenth Avenue'' is a ballet with music by Richard Rodgers and choreography by George Balanchine. It occurs near the end of Rodgers and Hart's 1936 Broadway musical comedy '' On Your Toes''. ''Slaughter'' is the story of a hoofer ...

'', ''

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to ...

'' and ''

Kammermusik No. 2 (''Chamber Music'') is the title for eight chamber music compositions by Paul Hindemith. He wrote them, each in several movements, during the 1920s. They are grouped in three opus numbers: Op. 24, Op. 36 and Op. 46. Six of these works, ''Kamme ...

'', in Robbins' ''

Dances at a Gathering ''Dances at a Gathering'' is a ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins to music by Frédéric Chopin, with costumes designed by Joe Eula. The ballet premiered on May 22, 1969, at the New York State Theater, performed by the New York City Ball ...

'', in '' N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz'', Peck's '' Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes'', and Martins' ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

'', in which he portrayed Prince Siegfried. He originated roles in Abraham's ''

The Runaway Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...

'' (2018), Liang's ''Lineage'' (2019) and Roberts' ''Emanon — in Two Movements'' (2022). Walker choreographed a

dream ballet A dream ballet, in musical theater, is an all- dance, no-singing production number that reflects the themes of the production. The plot, themes, and characters are typically the same—although the people playing the characters may be different, a ...

sequence for

Charlie Kaufman Charles Stuart Kaufman (; born November 19, 1958) is an American filmmaker and novelist. He wrote the films '' Being John Malkovich'' (1999), '' Adaptation'' (2002), and ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' (2004). He made his directorial ...

's 2020 film ''

''. The number was inspired by the musical ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells ...

'' and performed by Unity Phelan and Ryan Steele. In 2022, Walker was promoted to principal dancer, following several veteran dancers' retirements.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Peter 1990s births Living people People from Fort Myers, Florida American male ballet dancers American choreographers New York City Ballet principal dancers Choreographers of New York City Ballet 21st-century American ballet dancers Dancers from Florida