about
Stephen Pier has performed throughout the world with The Royal Danish Ballet, The Hamburg Ballett, The José Limón Company, and as a guest artist. His repertoire spans a vast range of Bournonville to Balanchine, Limón to Kylian, and some of the most influential choreographers of the day. Critically acclaimed as “highly defined, a tour de force”, “ a dancer of tremendous taste and insight.”, “one of the most gifted dancers on the modern dance scene today.” Mr. Pier has also become internationally respected as a teacher and coach. He taught for the Royal Danish Ballet’s company and school while serving as ballet master from 1990 -1996. He served as a full-time faculty member of The Juilliard School from 1996-2010, Alvin Ailey School, and the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. He is a trusted teacher for Regional Dance America, New York International Ballet Competition, and many notable companies in Europe, America, and Asia including The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Atlanta Ballet, Bat Dor, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Philadanco, Introdans, Scapino Ballet, the New National Theater Japan, and Company Wayne McGregor. His students have danced in companies around the world including, The Royal Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Forsythe Company, Netherlands Dance Theater, Martha Graham Company, Lar Lubovitch, José Limón Dance Co., Mark Morris Dance Group, Doug Varone and Dancers, Cullberg Ballet, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Alvin Ailey and Batsheva.
In 2004 Mr. Pier began PierGroupDance to explore and collaborate with dancers and artists in various art forms. He has created over 75 works for the concert stage, opera, theater, and film. His work has been presented by The Hamburg Ballet (Ger.); Royal Danish Ballet, Theater, and Opera; Bat-Dor (Israel); The New National Theater (Japan); the Juilliard Dance Ensemble; The Di Capo Opera Company (NYC); and the Dance on Film Festival at Lincoln Center. In 1998 he was selected to be part of Jacob's Pillow Choreographers Project. He co-founded and directed the choreographer’s workshop, “Danses”, at the Royal Danish Ballet 1990-1996.
Stephen was the Artistic Director of Juilliard’s innovative Mentoring Program from 2007 - 2010 and in September 2008 he began a 3-year tenure as director of Visions and Voices: Altria/ABT Women's Choreography Project at American Ballet Theater. In October of 2009, Mr. Pier was recruited for the position of Artistic Director of the Dance Division at The Hartt School, University of Hartford solidifying the program as a pre-eminent conservatory of Dance. Under his leadership, the program has appeared several times at the Joyce Theater in NYC, The Kennedy Center, and at Jacob’s Pillow. An ongoing stream of guest artists such as Wendy Whelan, Yuriko, Virginia Johnson, Desmond Richardson, NDT2, Taylor 2, Misty Copeland, Bryan Arias, and Claudia Schreier, work extensively with the students. Graduates from Hartt Dance are currently performing with Paul Taylor, José Limón, Martha Graham, Whim W’him, Broadway, Charlotte Ballet 2, directing their own companies, teaching throughout the nation, and sharing the influence of the art of dance with the world.
