Mikko Nissinen
Hart Artistic Director’s Chair
Mikko Nissinen is recognized internationally as an accomplished dancer, teacher and artistic director. He assumed the position of artistic director of Boston Ballet and Boston Ballet School in September 2001. Nissinen holds the Hart Artistic Director’s Chair, a position partially endowed by a generous gift from Mary Hart Cogan.
Born in Helsinki, Finland, Nissinen began his dance training at age ten with The Finnish National Ballet School, and launched his dance career at age 15. In 1978, he won First Prize at The National Ballet Competition in Kuopio, Finland. The following year he continued his studies at The Kirov Ballet School. Nissinen went on to dance with Dutch National Ballet, Basel Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, where he held the position of principal dancer for ten years, until he retired from the stage in 1996. During Nissinen's performance career his vast repertoire ranged from classical to contemporary works. As a guest artist, he danced at numerous international galas and with many different companies and partners.
Nissinen was appointed artistic director of the Marin Ballet in San Rafael, California in 1996. Two years later he was appointed artistic director of Alberta Ballet, in Calgary, Canada. Under Nissinen’s leadership, Alberta Ballet’s global visibility, national stature, performance schedule and touring and were increased.
As artistic director of Boston Ballet, Nissinen has defined the Company’s image with classical and neo-classical works, ranging from full-length ballets including Cranko’s Onegin, Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée, Nureyev’s Don Quixote, Sergeyev’s The Sleeping Beauty and Bournonville’s La Sylphide, to masterworks by George Balanchine, to new works and world premieres by some of the finest contemporary choreographers including William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, James Kudelka, Peter Martins, Mark Morris, Val Caniparoli, David Dawson, Christopher Wheeldon, Helen Pickett, and Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo. Under Nissinen’s direction, Boston Ballet toured internationally for the first time in 16 years, receiving major critical acclaim on their 2007 tour to seven festivals in Spain and the company’s first-ever tour of Korea in summer 2008.
Nissinen has received extensive media coverage, including a cover story in Dance Magazine and a profile on CNN Worldwide. He was a fellow at the 2002 Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders in the Arts at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Nissinen appointed former New York City Ballet principal dancer Margaret Tracey as Associate Director of Boston Ballet School in 2007.
For Boston Ballet, Nissinen choreographed The Nutcracker in 2003, Swan Lake in 2004, and Raymonda, Act III in 2006. He has juried the Prix de Lausanne, Benois de la Danse, Japan Grand Prix, Helsinki International Ballet Competition, and New York International Ballet Competition, and his knowledge of dance history has made him a popular presenter at conferences. Nissinen is a member of the Artistic Committee for the New York Choreographic Institute. He is an advisory board member of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, and Armitage Gone! Dance. Nissinen is the recipient of the Finlandia Foundation’s 2008 Arts and Letters Award, the 2007 United Nations Association of Greater Boston Leadership Award, and was a guest speaker at Harvard Business School’s 2009 Social Enterprise Conference.
Headshot photo by Sadie Dayton.
