Lindsay Fischer Joins The Sarasota Ballet As Assistant Education Director And Principal Company Teacher

Karen Kain, Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Canada, today announced that Lindsay Fischer, Artistic Director, YOU dance/Principal Ballet Master, will be joining The Sarasota Ballet in Florida as Assistant Education Director and Principal Company Teacher as of August 1, 2021.

Mr. Fischer began working with the National Ballet first as a guest répétiteur in 1997 and was appointed Artistic Director of YOU dance in 2007. He also served as Ballet Master and was promoted to Principal Ballet Master in 2015. Under Mr. Fischer's guidance, YOU dance, the company's flagship education and community engagement programme, has reached over 300,000 students and community members, introducing young people to the world of dance and ballet. Mr. Fischer also led the company's RBC Apprentice programme, playing a key role in developing the skills of young dancers as they transition into a professional career.

Over the 24 years that Mr. Fischer has been with the National Ballet, he has overseen the production of numerous works by such choreographers as George Balanchine, Alexei Ratmansky, John Neumeier, Christopher Wheeldon, Justin Peck, Rudi van Dantzig, James Kudelka, Peggy Baker, Christopher House and Toer van Schayk. In 2011, he restaged Don Quixote for the National Ballet. Mr. Fischer has also staged works for and been a guest ballet master with companies in Canada and around the world.

"Lindsay has been an important member of the National Ballet's artistic team for nearly two and a half decades. We will miss the extraordinary dedication he brought to introducing a love of dance to so many students and to nurturing our young Apprentices through the YOU dance programme. We will also miss the professionalism and deep knowledge he showed us every day in his work with the company. We congratulate Lindsay on this exciting opportunity," said Ms. Kain.

Born in New York City, Mr. Fischer studied at Canada's National Ballet School (NBS). His onstage career saw him dance with New York City Ballet and Het Nationale Ballet as a Principal Dancer and with Companhia Nacional de Bailado in Lisbon. He also performed as a guest artist with some of the world's most eminent ballerinas including Margaret Barbieri, Cynthia Gregory and Evelyn Hart.

After Mr. Fischer retired from the stage, he joined NBS where, in addition to teaching, he developed a structure to guide the school's graduates through the transition from school to professional employment. This led to the creation of the Post-Secondary and the Dancer Career Planning Programmes at the school, both of which Mr. Fischer managed until 2007. In 2008, Mr. Fischer was appointed Director of the Professional Summer Dance Program at The Banff Centre in Alberta.

The National Ballet wishes Mr. Fischer all the best in this new chapter of his career.