Justin Peck is one of the most talked-about choreographic stars in the ballet world today. He is only the second person in history to hold the title of Resident Choreographer of the New York City Ballet. Hong Kong Ballet will dance Peck’s ballet Year of the Rabbit, in the upcoming HK Ballet X HK Phil: The Rite of Spring from 31 May to 1 June 2019. Year of the Rabbit is set to an orchestral adaptation of indie music sensation Sufjan Stevens’s Chinese astrology-inspired electronic score and was nominated for the Prix Benois de la Danse in 2013. Our upcoming repertory workshop gives you a precious opportunity to learn about the work of Justin Peck, and dance his choreography yourselves. The workshop is taught by his appointed repetiteurs, Michael Breeden and Zoe Zien, and includes a 30 minutes warm up session, followed by a 45 minutes repertory teaching session.
Justin Peck is a Soloist and the Resident Choreographer of New York City Ballet (NYCB), the second person holding this title in NYCB’s history. Peck has created over 30 ballets, which have been performed by NYCB, Paris Opera Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and more. He also choreographed for Francis Lawrence’s film Red Sparrow and Steven Spielberg’s upcoming West Side Story. His choreography has won many recognitions, including a nomination of the Prix Benois de la Danse for Year of the Rabbit, a Bessie Award for Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes as well as a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award for his choreography in 2018 Broadway revival of Carousel. Photography: Ryan Pfluger
After training at School of American Ballet, Michael Breeden danced with Miami City Ballet for 11 years, performing soloist and principal roles in works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Justin Peck, Christopher Wheeldon, Liam Scarlett, Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp. He has also performed with Boston Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet and Suzanne Farrell Ballet and taught ballet at Mark Morris Dance Center, Yale University, Ballet Arizona, Ballet Academy East and Ballet Tech. Breeden is the co-host of the popular podcast Conversations On Dance and enjoys residences at the Vail Dance Festival and the Kennedy Center as an extension of the podcast. He began to stage Peck’s works last year.
A former Miami City Ballet dancer, Zoe Zien has performed numerous works by legendary choreographers like George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. She has originated roles working directly with prominent choreographers such as Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, Liam Scarlett and Twyla Tharp. Zien choreographed and performed in a new work for Alex Prager’s art exhibition La Grande Sortie in 2016 and was Associate Choreographer for the award-winning 2018 Broadway revival of Carousel. Zoe previously staged Peck’s Year of the Rabbit for Houston Ballet.
