Corey Baker (choreographer)

Last updated

Corey Baker
Born (1990-06-06) 6 June 1990 (age 34)
Christchurch, New Zealand
Career
DancesClassical, contemporary
Website coreybakerdance.com

Corey Baker (born 6 June 1990) is a New Zealand creative director, choreographer, filmmaker and former dancer. [1]

Contents

Early life

Baker was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 6 June 1990. [2] He attended a rural primary school in Canterbury. [3]

At age fourteen, he was aspiring to be a musical theatre actor in high school. [1] His English teacher, who ran a ballet class in the center of town, saw him tap dancing in the corridor because of his interest and said, "Ballet will help with that." [1] Baker left high school at fifteen to join the International Ballet Academy (IBA) in Christchurch; he danced full time for a year. [1] His lead teacher at IBA was Carl Myers. [3]

Career

Baker has been Resident Choreographer at the Royal New Zealand Ballet [4] and Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall. [5] In 2018, Baker created the first professional dance performance in Antarctica, which was filmed for Channel 4 (UK) and aired on Earth Day 2018. [6]

In 2020, Baker received a "Culture in Quarantine" commission from the BBC and remotely directed and choreographed a 3-minute film titled Swan Lake Bath Ballet, filmed by 27 elite ballet dancers in their homes during COVID-19 lockdowns. [7] [8] The film was released in July 2020 and went viral, [9] with over 4 million views by the following month. [10] The film won the 2021 Prix Italia award for web fiction. [11]

In 2021, Baker created two dance films focusing on climate justice: Blown for the BBC [12] and Leaders of a New Regime, [13] which uses Lorde's track of the same title. Dance Race, a commission for the BBC's Dance Passion season, [14] was broadcast on BBC3 in March 2022. [15]

Baker was chief choreographer and movement director for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. [16] In 2023, he was creative director for the United Nations's Human Rights 75 Concert in Geneva. [17]

Baker's other TV credits include Strictly Come Dancing, Ru Paul's Drag Race Down Under, Joe Lycett vs the Oil Giant, The National Lottery's Paralympics GB Homecoming [18] , and advertisements for O2/Dua Lipa and EE. [19] . He was choreographer of the 2024 Tim Burton movie Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. [20]

Personal life

Baker was in a relationship with American actor Jonathan Groff from 2018 to 2020. [21] [22] [23] [2] [1] [24]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Pearson, Anna Frances (20 July 2016). "Interview: Corey Baker, the biggest NZ dance star you've never heard of". The Spinoff . Archived from the original on 23 July 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Corey Baker — RNZB". Royal New Zealand Ballet . Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  3. 1 2 Pearson, Anna Frances (29 July 2016). "Interview: Corey Baker, the biggest NZ dance star you've never heard of". The Spinoff. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  4. ↑ Di Orio, Laura (4 June 2018). "Featured New Zealand Dance News – June 2018". Dance Informa. Dance Magazine. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  5. ↑ "London's Royal Albert Hall announces four new associate artists". The Stage. 29 March 2022.
  6. ↑ Christian, Dionne (10 December 2017). "Dancing on Antarctica ice a historic first for Kiwi dancer". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  7. ↑ Fuhrer, Margaret (8 July 2020). "Please Enjoy the Quarantine Genius of "Swan Lake Bath Ballet"". Pointe Magazine. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  8. ↑ Wiegand, Chris (27 May 2020). "Swan Lake Bath Ballet to be performed in dancers' own bathtubs". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  9. ↑ Lansky, Chava Pearl (21 December 2020). "The Choreographer's New Skill Set: Working From Home". Dance Magazine. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  10. ↑ "Corey Baker Dance has created a new short film entitled Swan Lake Bath Ballet". Dance Informa. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  11. ↑ "2021 Winners and Special Mentions". Rai. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  12. ↑ "BBC Scotland - Blown".
  13. ↑ "Lorde's climate-conscious track travels to COP26 by wind power". nowness.com. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  14. ↑ "BBC Arts - BBC Arts - Gear up for Corey Baker's ultimate Dance Race". BBC. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  15. ↑ Dance Passion - 2022: Corey Baker's Dance Race , retrieved 21 March 2022
  16. ↑ "Commonwealth Games: Rehearsals begin for Birmingham's opening ceremony". BBC News. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  17. ↑ "Human Rights 75 Concert". UN Web TV. UN Department of Global Communications. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  18. ↑ Dawkins, Andrew (13 September 2024). "Paralympics GB team celebrate at homecoming event". BBC News. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  19. ↑ "Corey Baker". IMdb. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  20. ↑ Romano, Nick (10 September 2024). "How Beetlejuice Beetlejuice made 'MacArthur Park' scene a sequel to 'Day-O'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  21. ↑ "Julie Andrews, Jonathan Groff". The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Season 5. Episode 817. 21 October 2019. CBS. Note: A short clip from the home movie was played for the television audience.
  22. ↑ Paulson, Michael (21 October 2019). "Jonathan Groff Is a Seymour at Heart". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  23. ↑ "Corey Baker". Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater . 4 March 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  24. ↑ Arifien, Elizabeth; Edmonds, Charlotte (1 December 2021). "Move Beyond Words: Corey Baker" (Podcast). Spotify. Event occurs at 41:30. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
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