Kevin Pugh is a dancer and educator known for his work as a principal dancer with the

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

and as founder of the Dance Teq studio. He has been based for most of his career in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Canada.

Early life and education

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1960, Pugh entered the

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 ...

at the age of twelve after studying briefly in Stuttgart. As a professional dancer, he studied periodically with Stanley Williams in New York.

Career

Pugh joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1978, rapidly rising to the rank of second soloist in 1979, first soloist in 1980, and principal dancer in January, 1984. He was known for his remarkable athleticism and extraordinary jumps in roles including the Bluebird in '' The Sleeping Beauty'', the Prince in ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchai ...

'', the Rose in '' Le Spectre de la rose'' and Colas in ''

La fille mal gardée LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

''. Following an injury to his foot in November, 1985, he took two years to recover before performing again with the company. He retired from the National Ballet in 1991 due to knee injury.. Pugh is an accomplished teacher, having undertaken guest teaching roles with Ballet Jörgen, Desrosiers Dance Theatre, Ballet British Columbia, in Japan, and the National Ballet of Canada. In 1997 he founded Dance Teq, a dance studio in Toronto, which originally operated out of the National Ballet of Canada building and later moved to Queen Street West.

Awards

Pugh received a notable honour from Rudof Nureyev after a performance of ''The Sleeping Beauty'' at the New York State Theatre in 1979, when Nureyev presented his own bouquet to the young dancer. He was named Best New Male Dancer of 1979 by

Dance and Dancers ''Dance and Dancers'' was a magazine about ballet. The magazine was founded in 1950 by publisher Philip Dosse and editor Peter Williams. John Percival edited the magazine from 1951 to 1995. The publishing company, Hansom Books Hansom Books ...

(England), and in 1981 he won the Silver Medal at the Fourth Moscow International Ballet Competition along with pas de deux partner Kimberly Glasco.

References

External links

Dance Teq
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pugh, Kevin National Ballet of Canada principal dancers National Ballet of Canada dancers Canadian male dancers 1960 births 20th-century ballet dancers Living people 20th-century Canadian dancers