RNZB appoints new Trustee

The Royal New Zealand Ballet is pleased to announce that Rev. Toby Behan has joined the Board of the RNZB.

‘Toby brings a wealth of knowledge and insight as a dancer, choreographer and director to the Board, as well as more than a decade of experience in governance roles. We look forward to working with him’ says RNZB Chair Steven Fyfe.

‘The expression of ballet within a New Zealand context never ceases to excite me’ says Toby Behan. ‘I am delighted to have this opportunity to serve the company.’

Toby Behan grew up in Nelson, Auckland and Christchurch, where he undertook his pre-professional dance training with Gillian Francis, Julia Barry and Russell Kerr. Upon graduating from the New Zealand School of Dance in 1992, Toby was awarded the Shell Scholarship for entry into the Royal New Zealand Ballet. He danced with the RNZB from 1993 to 2003.

During his time with the company, Toby danced a variety of roles including Peter (Peter Pan), Jonathon Harker (Dracula) and Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) and worked with notable choreographers including Mark Morris, Russell Kerr, Douglas Wright, Michael Parmenter and Michael Pink. Toby has choreographed works for the Royal New Zealand Ballet (including the full-length Pinocchio for Tutus on Tour in 2011) and several full-length works for the Southern Ballet Theatre in Christchurch. In recognition of his achievements in the field, Toby was named on the distinguished Honours Board at the New Zealand School of Dance in 2002.

Since retiring from the stage, Toby has remained active in the dance world, as General Manager of Southern Ballet Theatre (2003 – 4), as the Chair of the Dance and Physical Theatre Trust in Christchurch (2005 – 8) and as a Trustee of the Christchurch Dance Education Bursary Trust (2003 – 15). From 2005 – 13 he acted as a strategic assessor for dance funding applications to Creative New Zealand, and since 2015 has served as a Chair for Arts Grants funding rounds for Creative New Zealand.

Toby completed a Bachelor of Theology at Otago University in 2017 and was ordained as a Deacon in the Anglican Church in February 2018. He is part of the ministry team at the parish of All Souls, Merivale and St Albans and is also currently serving a Chaplaincy Internship at St. Margaret’s College in Christchurch.

Toby Behan joins current Board members Steven Fyfe, Lisa Bates, Lilias Bell, Ros Burdon CNZM, Candis Craven CNZM, Isaac Hikaka, Trish Oakley and John Ryan, for an initial term of three years. Information on all Board members can be found here.