Soloist Shaun James Kelly retires after twelve years with the RNZB

Soloist Shaun James Kelly retires after twelve years with the RNZB

After twelve remarkable years with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Shaun James Kelly has taken his final bow as a company dancer, closing a career that spanned iconic classical roles, celebrated choreographic works, and a lasting contribution to the next generation of New Zealand dance artists.

Shaun joined the RNZB in 2014 from Copenhagen’s Tivoli Ballet Theatre, having danced previously in England. Over the following twelve years he became one of the company’s most admired and recognisable performers, celebrated for his dynamic stage presence, technical brilliance and his gift for bringing depth and humanity to every character he created.

Audiences will remember Shaun’s mischievous Puck in Liam Scarlett’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, his spirited Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, and his title role in Loughlan Prior’s Hansel and Gretel. His repertoire also spanned works by some of ballet’s most celebrated choreographers, including William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Alexander Ekman, George Balanchine, Johan Kobborg and Roland Petit. Shaun’s final performance as a dancer was his dramatic portrayal of Banquo in Alice Topp’s Macbeth, bringing to a close a stage career built on artistry, versatility and a rare talent for character work.

Alongside his performing career, Shaun has made an equally significant mark as a choreographer. Since winning the Harry Haythorne Choreographic Award in 2016, he has developed a distinctive creative voice through works including Little Red, The Things We Left Unsaid, The Ground Beneath Our Feet, Alba, Prismatic and Chrysalis. Fittingly, Shaun’s farewell season also included new choreography, with his reimagining of the White Swan Pas de Deux featuring in the company’s recent Voyages choreographic season.

Shaun’s choreographic journey has taken him well beyond the RNZB stage, from creating the first children’s ballet for Te Papa, to collaborating with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra on The Soldier’s Tale, to bringing dance into unexpected spaces including New Zealand Fashion Week and the Auckland Art Gallery. In 2023 he was invited to choreograph Prismatic for the RNZB’s 70th Anniversary Platinum Gala, a work paying tribute to company founders Poul Gnatt and Russell Kerr, which later toured Aotearoa as part of Tutus on Tour, and was performed alongside Scottish Ballet in 2025.

Throughout his time with the company, Shaun has also given generously as a mentor and teacher, working with the New Zealand School of Dance, the Royal Academy of Dance New Zealand, and dancers within the RNZB itself. He has spoken warmly of the pride he feels watching young artists he has mentored grow into leading roles, and of the sense of responsibility that comes with being a custodian of the artform for the next generation.

Since 2017, Shaun has been supported by Mark and Louise Binns through the RNZB’s Partner a Dancer programme, a relationship he describes as having given him a Kiwi family in the audience for every performance, an especially meaningful source of support given his own family’s distance in Scotland.

As he steps into an exciting new chapter focused on choreography and teaching, including continuing study towards the Royal Academy of Dance’s Professional Dancers’ Graduate Teaching Diploma, RNZB is delighted that Shaun will remain part of the company’s future as Choreographer in Residence.

Shaun would like to thank the audiences of Aotearoa for their continued support and the love they have shown him throughout his career, and looks forward to returning to work with the company in the future.