Artistic Director, Juneau Dance Theatre
Originally from Loysville, Pennsylvania, Mr. Hench began his training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet where he studied for eight years. He attended summer intensives at the School of American Ballet in New York and completed his pre-professional education at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington D.C. Mr. Hench danced as a principal with Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and Pennsylvania Ballet. Over the course of his 22 year career, he performed leading roles in ballets such as Swan Lake, Giselle, Le Corsaire, La Sylphide, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, and La Fille mal gardée. His extensive neoclassical and contemporary repertoire included works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, and Nacho Duato, among many others. Mr. Hench originated roles in ballets by choreographers such as Christopher Wheeldon, Twyla Tharp, and Helgi Tomasson, and performed throughout the world as a guest artist. He has coached students for performances and competitions, and has been invited to teach master classes and summer intensives across the country.
Mr. Hench served as a union delegate while dancing at Pennsylvania Ballet, facilitating communication between dancers and management and representing his colleagues during contract negotiations. The company then invited Mr. Hench to join the artistic staff as Ballet Master, and he successfully led the organization through a critical period of internal transitions. Mr. Hench joined Juneau Dance Theatre as its Artistic Director, in 2015. His experience, professionalism, creativity and passion for JDT has afforded new and expanded programming for the organization. Under his leadership, our students experience professional training, unique performance opportunities and collaborations, and access to world-renowned guest faculty and choreographers. Mr. Hench is married to Julie Diana Hench, Executive Director of American Repertory Ballet and Princeton Ballet School.
