Lawrence Pech, Choreographer/Artistic Director,
Lawrence Pech Dance Company (Guest Teacher)
Currently in his sixth year as Ballet Master and resident choreographer for the San Francisco Opera, Larry is adept at choreographing major productions. He has also choreographed dozens of ballets to considerable acclaim during his tenures as artistic director of the Diablo Ballet (1993-95) and the Lawrence Pech Dance Company (1995-present), as well as many theater productions and prestigious special events.
Larry was formerly a principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet, where he was choreographed upon by James Kudelka, David Bintley, Val Caniparoli, Helgi Tomasson, and Lisa deRibere, and performed principal roles in ballets by Balanchine and others. Before that, he danced with American Ballet Theater, where he was choreographed upon by such masters as George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Anthony Tudor, Agnes DeMille, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Jirí Kylián, Karole Armitage, David Gordon, Eric Bruhn, Natalia Makarova, and Mark Morris. While there, he danced opposite such artists as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Natalia Makarova, Ivan Nagy, Cynthia Gregory, Fernando Bujones, Gelsey Kirkland, Cynthia Harvey, Martine Van Hamel, and Kevin McKenzie, among others.
Originally from Denver, Larry began his ballet training with the Colorado Concert Ballet. At 16, he won First Prize in the Colorado Council for the Arts Choreography Competition, and the following year went on to study (on full scholarships) at the Joffrey and American Ballet Theatre schools, the School of American Ballet (New York City Ballet), and Mudra (Maurice Bejart’s Ballet of the 20th Century in Brussels).
Larry holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and is passionate about teaching—whenever he can fit it into his hectic schedule. He spends a good part of each summer in Austin, Texas on the faculty of the American Ballet Theater School, and also teaches/choreographs for Pacific Ballet Academy and the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance.