Corey Baker (choreographer)

Corey Baker
Born (1990-06-06) 6 June 1990
Christchurch, New Zealand
Career
DancesClassical, contemporary
Websitecoreybakerdance.com

Corey Baker (born 6 June 1990) is a New Zealand creative director, choreographer, filmmaker and former dancer.[1]

Early life

Baker was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 6 June 1990.[2] He grew up in Hornby and attended Yaldhurst School. In his teens he attended Ao Tawhiti school, then known as Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti.[3][4]

At age fourteen, he was aspiring to be a musical theatre actor.[1] His English teacher, who ran a ballet class in central Christchurch, saw him tap dancing in the corridor because of his interest and said, "Ballet will help with that."[1] Baker left high school at fifteen to join the International Ballet Academy (IBA) in Christchurch; he danced full time for a year.[1] His lead teacher at IBA was Carl Myers.[4]

Career

Baker has been Resident Choreographer at the Royal New Zealand Ballet[5] and Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall.[6] In 2018, Baker created the first professional dance performance in Antarctica, which was filmed for Channel 4 (UK) and aired on Earth Day 2018.[7]

In 2020, Baker received a "Culture in Quarantine" commission from the BBC and remotely directed and choreographed a 3-minute film titled Swan Lake Bath Ballet, filmed by 27 elite ballet dancers in their homes during COVID-19 lockdowns.[8][9] The film was released in July 2020 and went viral,[10] with over 4 million views by the following month.[11] The film won the 2021 Prix Italia award for web fiction.[12]

In 2021, Baker created two dance films focusing on climate justice: Blown for the BBC[13] and Leaders of a New Regime,[14] which uses Lorde's track of the same title. Dance Race, a commission for the BBC's Dance Passion season,[15] was broadcast on BBC3 in March 2022.[16]

Baker was chief choreographer and movement director for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.[17] In 2023, he was creative director for the United Nations's Human Rights 75 Concert in Geneva.[18]

Baker created "The Dead Dance" for Lady Gaga's song of the same name, originally created for season 2 of Netflix's Wednesday and later used for the music video of the single.[19][20] His other TV credits include choreographing Julianne Nicholson's "Dance Mom" in season 4 of Hacks,[21] Strictly Come Dancing, Ru Paul's Drag Race Down Under, Joe Lycett vs the Oil Giant, The National Lottery's Paralympics GB Homecoming,[22] and advertisements for O2/Dua Lipa, Marks & Spencer[23] and EE.[24] He was choreographer of the 2024 Tim Burton movie Beetlejuice Beetlejuice[25] and movement director of the music promo for Lola Young's 2025 single "One Thing".[26]

Personal life

Baker was in a relationship with American actor Jonathan Groff from 2018 to 2020.[27][28][29][2][1][30]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Credited as Notes
Director Producer Choreographer
2018 Antarctica: The First Dance Yes Yes No Short film
2020 Spaghetti Junction Dance Film Yes Yes Yes
Swan Lake Bath Ballet Yes Yes No
Lying Together Dance Film Yes Yes Yes
2021 Blown Yes Yes No
Leaders of a New Regime Yes Yes No
2022 Dance Race Yes No No
2024 Beetlejuice Beetlejuice No No Yes

Television

Year Title Credited as Notes
Choreographer
2025 Hacks Yes 3 episodes
Wednesday Yes Episode: "Woe Me the Money"

Music video

Year Title Credited as Artist(s) Director
Choreographer
2025 The Dead Dance Yes Lady Gaga Tim Burton

Accolades

Award Year Category Work Result
Astra Creative Arts Awards 2025 Best Choreography Wednesday Won
Primetime Emmy Award 2026 Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming Pending

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Pearson, Anna Frances (20 July 2016). "Interview: Corey Baker, the biggest NZ dance star you've never heard of". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on 23 July 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Corey Baker — RNZB". Royal New Zealand Ballet. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  3. ↑ Gates, Charlie (14 January 2023). "Christchurch choreographer Corey Baker's career is out of this world". Stuff. Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  4. 1 2 Pearson, Anna Frances (29 July 2016). "Interview: Corey Baker, the biggest NZ dance star you've never heard of". The Spinoff. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  5. ↑ Di Orio, Laura (4 June 2018). "Featured New Zealand Dance News – June 2018". Dance Informa. Dance Magazine. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  6. ↑ "London's Royal Albert Hall announces four new associate artists". The Stage. 29 March 2022.
  7. ↑ Christian, Dionne (10 December 2017). "Dancing on Antarctica ice a historic first for Kiwi dancer". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  8. ↑ Fuhrer, Margaret (8 July 2020). "Please Enjoy the Quarantine Genius of "Swan Lake Bath Ballet"". Pointe Magazine. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  9. ↑ Wiegand, Chris (27 May 2020). "Swan Lake Bath Ballet to be performed in dancers' own bathtubs". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  10. ↑ Lansky, Chava Pearl (21 December 2020). "The Choreographer's New Skill Set: Working From Home". Dance Magazine. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  11. ↑ "Corey Baker Dance has created a new short film entitled Swan Lake Bath Ballet". Dance Informa. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  12. ↑ "2021 Winners and Special Mentions". Rai. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  13. ↑ "BBC Scotland – Blown".
  14. ↑ "Lorde's climate-conscious track travels to COP26 by wind power". nowness.com. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  15. ↑ "BBC Arts – BBC Arts – Gear up for Corey Baker's ultimate Dance Race". BBC. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  16. ↑ Dance Passion – 2022: Corey Baker's Dance Race, retrieved 21 March 2022
  17. ↑ "Commonwealth Games: Rehearsals begin for Birmingham's opening ceremony". BBC News. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  18. ↑ "Human Rights 75 Concert". UN Web TV. UN Department of Global Communications. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  19. ↑ Laubacher, Kyra Laubacher. "Meet Corey Baker, the Brains Behind "Wednesday" Season 2's Woe-tally Creepy Choreography". Dance Spirit. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  20. ↑ Crow, David. "Inside Wednesday Season 2 Going K-Pop with New Dances". Den of Geek. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  21. ↑ Cobb, Kayla (2 May 2025). "'Hacks': Julianne Nicholson Jumped at the Chance to Play Dance Mom Because She Never Gets Offered Comedy Roles". TheWrap. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  22. ↑ Dawkins, Andrew (13 September 2024). "Paralympics GB team celebrate at homecoming event". BBC News. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  23. ↑ "Christmas Starts Here: M&S Reveals its Christmas 2024 Clothing & Home Campaign". Marks & Spencer. 7 November 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  24. ↑ "Corey Baker". IMdb. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  25. ↑ Romano, Nick (10 September 2024). "How Beetlejuice Beetlejuice made 'MacArthur Park' scene a sequel to 'Day-O'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  26. ↑ Promonews. "Lola Young 'One Thing' by Dave Meyers | Videos". Promonewstv. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  27. ↑ "Julie Andrews, Jonathan Groff". The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Season 5. Episode 817. 21 October 2019. CBS. Note: A short clip from the home movie was played for the television audience.
  28. ↑ Paulson, Michael (21 October 2019). "Jonathan Groff Is a Seymour at Heart". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  29. ↑ "Corey Baker". Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. 4 March 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  30. ↑ Arifien, Elizabeth; Edmonds, Charlotte (1 December 2021). "Move Beyond Words: Corey Baker" (Podcast). Spotify. Event occurs at 41:30. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
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