Peck was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in San Diego, California. His father was from New York and his mother was of Ukrainian descent, born and raised in Argentina.[2] He began tap dancing when he was nine years old, after seeing a performance of Bring in 'da Noise. When Peck was 13, he witnessed a performance of American Ballet Theatre in Giselle which inspired him to begin training in the ballet form. At 15 years old, Peck moved to New York City to attend the School of American Ballet.[2]
Alastair Macaulay, the chief dance critic at The New York Times, described Peck in an article as "the third important choreographer to have emerged in classical ballet this century."[1] In 2014, Peck was named the New York City Ballet's Resident Choreographer, the youngest and only the second ever to hold the position.[9] Peck is the focus of the 2014 Jody Lee Lipes documentary Ballet 422.[10]Ballet 422 follows Peck's process of creating Paz de la Jolla for the New York City Ballet,[10] focusing on aspects such as choreography, staging, lighting, and costumes.[9][11] The movie was filmed and directed by Jody Lee Lipes, an American cinematographer known for his cinematography in the television show Girls and film Manchester by the Sea.[11][12]
Peck provided the choreography for the third Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel in 2018 at the Imperial Theatre.[20] Alastair Macaulay of The New York Times praised his work on the production writing, "His works, polished and contemporary, are energetic through each individual body and in striking ensembles; and they often ask gender questions, with both opposite-sex and same-sex pairings...In almost every piece he tackles, he adds to his already impressive accomplishments".[21] For his work Peck earned the Tony Award for Best Choreography.[22]
2020–present: Career expansion
Peck made his first foray into film choreographing dance sequences in Steven Spielberg's musical drama West Side Story (2021). Of the experience he said that "they approached this with a sense of reverence and admiration for the original...But for this updated version, he makes the dances more menacing."[23] Peck stated of collaborating with Spielberg, "There was a process of working toward understanding it that Steven went through, and that we were in constant dialogue about. It was helping him understand the full range of what dance could express in a moment — that it was its own tool of language that could run throughout this film in the same way that words could or visuals could".[24]
A few years later Peck worked on Bradley Cooper's biographical drama Maestro (2023) about the complicated marriage between the composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre. Peck choreographed the imaginary dance sequence involving Bernstein and Montealegre played by Cooper and Carey Mulligan. Peck oversaw the Fancy Free section of the scene and then devise original choreography for the On the Town music. Together, Cooper explains, they worked on “the best choreography to tell the story of, they are going to be pulled apart in this life, everybody’s going to be around them, there are going to be hands and eyes on them, and then they are going to try to find each other."[25]
In 2023 Peck adapted a musical production of Sufjan Stevens' 2005 concept albumIllinois titled Illinoise, alongside playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury.[26] The production had its debut at the Fisher Center at Bard before playing at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. The production then ran at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. The production "weave[s] together delicate folk narratives about blossoming queerness, orchestral anthems destined for cinematic montages, and jazz tunes about the state’s ghost towns".[27] Peck said he drew inspiration from the 1975 musical A Chorus Line saying, "It’s about this group of humans, and one by one we’re getting their stories...Some of them are short, single songs. Some of them are a little more extensive. Some of them build and build and build, and relationships form...I think there’s a parallel to that structure with the show we’re doing here".[28] For Illinoise, Peck won his second Tony Award for Best Choreography. [29]
In 2013, Peck's Year of the Rabbit was a nomination for the Benois De La Danse.
In 2015, Peck's Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes received a Bessie Award for Outstanding Production.[43] This work received a nomination for the Benois De La Danse in 2016.
^"2019 Summit Highlights Photo". National Medal of Arts recipient Edward Villella presents the Golden Plate Award to Justin Peck, a recipient of the Tony Award for Choreography, at the Banquet of the Golden Plate gala held at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City.
