Justin Peck
Portrait © Paul Kolnik
Justin Peck grew up in San Diego, California, and was raised amidst a culture of beach-bum surfers and the straight-and-narrows of suburban living. He was inspired to begin dancing at the age of 13, finding it to be a substantial creative outlet. Eager and anxious to escape the calculated drawl of Southern California, he gravitated towards New York City, moving there at the early age of 15 to study dance at the School of American Ballet (S.A.B.). He took to the pace of New York with an acute enthusiasm. After 3 years training at S.A.B., his hard work and ambitions culminated in the form of an invitation by Ballet Master in-chief Peter Martins to join the New York City Ballet. In February 2013, Peck was promoted to the rank of Soloist.
Since joining New York City Ballet, Peck has danced extensive repertoire, including principal roles in George Balanchine's Concerto Barocco, The Firebird, Liebeslieder Walzer, Tschaikovsky Suite #3, La Sonnambula, The Four Temperaments, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, A Midsummer Night's Dream; Jerome Robbin's West Side Story, The Cage, I'm Old Fashioned, Glass Pieces, NY Export: Opus Jazz, Ives Songs; Alexei Ratmansky's Concerto DSCH; Benjamin Millepied's Plainspoken and Why am I not Where you Are; Peter Martins' Fearful Symmetries, Thou Swell, Waltz Project, Romeo and Juliet; and Christopher Wheeldon's Scenes De Ballet and Estancia.
Although his time at City Ballet has been eminently stimulating, Peck eventually found himself itching to explore another creative interest: choreography. Since his debut as a choreographer in 2009, he has created works for the New York City Ballet, the New York Choreographic Institute, the School of American Ballet, the Miami City Ballet, the Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival, Skidmore College, and more. He has recently been recognized for his choreographic promise, and has received favorable reviews from the New York Times, the Daily News, Vanity Fair Magazine, The Last Magazine, and Dance Magazine, to name a few. In 2011, he was nominated for a Bessie Award in the "Outstanding Emerging Choreographer" category. In 2013, he was nominated for the Benois De La Danse Award for new choreography.
Since joining New York City Ballet, Peck has danced extensive repertoire, including principal roles in George Balanchine's Concerto Barocco, The Firebird, Liebeslieder Walzer, Tschaikovsky Suite #3, La Sonnambula, The Four Temperaments, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, A Midsummer Night's Dream; Jerome Robbin's West Side Story, The Cage, I'm Old Fashioned, Glass Pieces, NY Export: Opus Jazz, Ives Songs; Alexei Ratmansky's Concerto DSCH; Benjamin Millepied's Plainspoken and Why am I not Where you Are; Peter Martins' Fearful Symmetries, Thou Swell, Waltz Project, Romeo and Juliet; and Christopher Wheeldon's Scenes De Ballet and Estancia.
Although his time at City Ballet has been eminently stimulating, Peck eventually found himself itching to explore another creative interest: choreography. Since his debut as a choreographer in 2009, he has created works for the New York City Ballet, the New York Choreographic Institute, the School of American Ballet, the Miami City Ballet, the Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival, Skidmore College, and more. He has recently been recognized for his choreographic promise, and has received favorable reviews from the New York Times, the Daily News, Vanity Fair Magazine, The Last Magazine, and Dance Magazine, to name a few. In 2011, he was nominated for a Bessie Award in the "Outstanding Emerging Choreographer" category. In 2013, he was nominated for the Benois De La Danse Award for new choreography.
