Kevin O’Day

The American Kevin O’Day was born in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2002, he became the artistic director of the ballet at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, which was renamed Kevin O’Day Ballett NTM at the start of his tenure. Between 2013 and 2016, he also served as the ballet’s artistic director and deputy director of operations at the theater. Starting in 2018, he was the Artist in Residence for the dance company at the Mainfranken Theater Würzburg for three seasons and has held the same role at the Badisches Staatsballett Karlsruhe since April 2022.

As a choreographer, O’Day has created over 80 ballets, including commissioned pieces for New York City Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Stuttgart Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, Gran Ballet Argentino, the Royal Danish Ballet, ProArteDanza, BalletX, Gauthier Dance Stuttgart, Ballet im Revier, Ballet Augsburg, Ballet Nordhausen, and Visceral Dance Chicago.

O’Day trained in dance at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York. After just one year, he joined Joffrey II and was subsequently admitted to the main company of the Joffrey Ballet. In 1984, he began a long-term collaboration with choreographer Twyla Tharp. From 1988 to 1991, he performed as a soloist with the American Ballet Theatre, appearing in both classical and contemporary roles. In 1991, he joined William Forsythe’s Frankfurt Ballet, and from 1992 to 1995, he was part of Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project. During this time, he also frequently performed as a guest artist with the New York City Ballet.

O’Day’s debut as a choreographer came in 1994 when Mikhail Baryshnikov invited him to create a new piece for the White Oak Dance Project. In 1998, he founded his own company in New York City, O’Day Dances, in collaboration with composer John King.

He has received numerous accolades as a choreographer. In 2000, he was nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards in the “Best Choreography” category for Alanis Morissette’s “So Pure” video. His work “Full Bloom,” created in collaboration with Robert Glumbek and Luches Huddleston Jr., was nominated for the Canadian Dora Mavor Moore Award in 2010. That same year, O’Day was awarded the Koerner Award, which was presented for the first time by the Canadian Banff Centre.