Avichai Scher, 26, was born in NYC and raised in Israel. He returned to New York to study on scholarship at the School of American Ballet for eight years. There he had the opportunity to perform Fritz and the Nutcracker Prince with New York City Ballet in The Nutcracker for four seasons. He completed his studies at the Miami City Ballet School in 2003.
A desire to work with many different companies and choreographers took him on a journey, dancing with eleven different companies in six years: Sacramento Ballet, Washington Ballet, Ballet San Jose, Joffrey Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, European Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, Carolina Ballet, Ballet X and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. Some standout roles have included: Puck in Ashton’s The Dream, working with Sir Anthony Dowell, “Red-Man” in Elemental Brubeck, choreographed and staged by Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris’s A Garden, Michael Smuin’s Shinju, Matthew Neenan’s Steelworks, and Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs.
Scher always had the desire to be a choreographer and his first professional commissions came at age 18, creating Jouons for American Ballet Theater Studio Company and The Perilous Night for Miami City Ballet. Since then his works have been seen at: Ballet West and Ballet West II, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Miami City Ballet School and San Francisco Ballet School’s annual showcases, Usdan Center for the Arts, Washington Ballet Studio Company, Harvard University, Festival Ballet Providence, Manhattan Youth Ballet, West Wave Dance Festival, Ballet Builders, Sacramento Ballet, and Shut Up & Dance: Dancers of Pennsylvania Ballet. Dance Magazine recognized his choreography by naming him one of the “Top 25 To Watch,” and he is a recipient of the Strassler excellence Award from Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.
In 2009 his company Avi Scher & Dancers debuted at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and danced its first NYC season at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater in April 2010 as well as appearing at the Kennedy Center later that year. In total the company gave 18 performances in 14 venues in its first year. Scher has created 6 works for the company and the performances have included several guest principal dancers from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Boston Ballet. In 2011, Avi Scher & Dancers will present another NYC season as well dance a new commission from the Guggenheim Works & Process series.
