World-renowned ballet star returns to Toronto

Evan McKie speaks about his husband for the first time

World-renowned principal ballet dancer Evan McKie has returned to Toronto as a guest of the National Ballet of Canada to perform in Rudolf Nureyev’s The Sleeping Beauty.

A member of the Stuttgart Ballet company, McKie has performed on stages all over the world to great acclaim. In December 2011, he became the first Canadian to be invited to guest star at the Ballet de l’Opéra National de Paris.

McKie’s career began at Canada’s National Ballet School, located just off Church St in the heart of Toronto’s gay village.

“It was really, really cool to grow up there,” says McKie of the Church St community. “It’s just such a theatrical place. It was amazing.”

In an Xtra exclusive video interview below, McKie talks for the first time about his husband and coming of age in the world of ballet.

McKie will be dancing in The Sleeping Beauty on March 11, 15 and 18. For more information on the production and the National Ballet of Canada, click here.

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