Biography

Robert Stephen is a Canadian choreographer, dancer and teacher.

He trained at Canada’s National Ballet School and joined the National Ballet of Canada in 2004, with a promotion to First Soloist in 2011. During his fourteen years with the company, he performed a diverse range of repertoire by James Kudelka, Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor and Crystal Pite. In 2011, he was commissioned to choreograph for the Erik Bruhn Competition, and won the Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award from the Banff Centre. In 2018, he joined Gauthier Dance/Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart, where he performed works by Ohad Naharin, Hofesh Shechter, William Forsythe and others. Since returning to Canada in 2020, he has been commissioned to create three new works for Ballet Kelowna: Celestial Mechanics (2021), In the Light of the Waking Sun (2022), and Mustard (2024) based on the award-winning play by Kat Sandler. He has also joined the artistic faculty at Canada’s National Ballet School, where he teaches, mentors, and choreographs for the Professional Ballet and Company Life programs.

Selected Credits

CHOREOGRAPHER

  • Ballet Kelowna – Mustard (2024) – Original Music: Owen Belton

  • Ballet Kelowna – In the Light of the Waking Sun (2022) – Music: Schubert

  • Canada’s National Ballet School’s Spring Showcase – Boundless (2022) – Music: Schubert

  • Ballet Kelowna – Celestial Mechanics (2021) – Music: Beethoven

  • Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award & Commission (The Banff Centre) – Hold Me, Neighbour, in this Storm – Music: Aleksandra Vrebalov/Kronos Quartet

  • Audience Choice Award, Best New Choreography – Erik Bruhn Competition – Passacaglia – Music: Handel/Halvorsen

  • The National Ballet of Canada: Five Creations – Suite in Old Style – Music: Dobrinka Tabakova

  • Echo Chamber Toronto – Origin – Music: Ysaÿe, Bach

  • Creative Partnerships Commission, Dance Ontario – In the Cantina – Music: Daedelus

  • numerous works – The National Ballet of Canada Choreographic Lab

DANCER

The National Ballet of Canada
First Soloist

  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Christopher Wheeldon) – Mad Hatter, White Rabbit

  • Hamlet (Kevin O’Day) – Title role

  • Pinocchio (Will Tuckett) – Title role

  • Emergence (Crystal Pite) – solo

  • Chroma, Genus (Wayne McGregor) – solo

  • numerous works by James Kudelka

  • works by Alexei Ratmansky, Aszure Barton, Jorma Elo, Twyla Tharp, Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine

Gauthier Dance // Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart

  • Herman Schmerman Pas de Deux (William Forsythe)

  • Uprising (Hofesh Shechter)

  • Minus 16 and Decadance (Ohad Naharin)

  • For D (Guy Weizman and Roni Haver)

  • works by Eric Gauthier, Andonis Foniadakis, Cayetano Soto, Virginie Brunelle, Po-Cheng Tsai

TEACHER

  • Canada’s National Ballet School – Artistic Faculty, Professional Ballet & Post-Secondary Programs (ongoing)