Hope Muir

Biography

A leader of bold ambition, Hope Muir is driven by constant curiosity and the desire to cultivate new voices, collaborate in new ways and move ballet forward. An acclaimed dancer, teacher and director whose career bridges classical and contemporary dance across two continents, Hope was born in Toronto and trained in the UK as the first intake of Peter Schaufuss’ Festival Ballet School now English National Ballet School. Upon graduation Hope joined ENB where she danced a wide variety of repertoire followed by Rambert Dance Company, where she performed for a decade under the Artistic Direction of Christopher Bruce CBE. In 2004, she joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago where she remained until her retirement.

Following a 20-year career on stage, Hope moved into teaching and leadership roles. She has assisted numerous choreographers on staging their works, including Christopher Bruce, Javier De Frutos and Helen Pickett. In 2009, she assisted Crystal Pite on the creation of her award-winning  Emergence  for The National Ballet of Canada and has since helped to stage that work internationally.

Hope joined Scottish Ballet in 2009, eventually becoming Assistant Artistic Director before being appointed Artistic Director of Charlotte Ballet in 2017, where she commissioned numerous world and US premieres.

In 2022, Hope was named Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada. In this role, she has secured important first partnerships with acclaimed choreographers such as Alonzo King, David Dawson, Helen Pickett, Carlos Acosta, Sol León and Paul Lightfoot, while also supporting Canadian choreographic talent. Notably, her 2024 commission of UtopiVerse  by Canada’s William Yong was the National Ballet’s first mainstage work by an Asian choreographer.