New Zealand dancer and choreographer Corey Baker was BOTD in 1990. Born in Christchurch, he grew up in rural Canterbury, developing an early interest in dance. He left school at 14 to join a ballet school, and won a scholarship to study in Basel, Switzerland, partially funded by a bequest from ballet superstar Rudolf Nureyev. He danced professionally in Europe for two years before moving to England, where he worked for BalletBoyz, and moved into contemporary dance. Eventually retiring from dance due to injury, he began a career as a choreographer, creating dance pieces for the Cultural Olympiad London during the 2012 Olympic Games and the International Dance Festival Birmingham. In 2015, he choreographed Kapa Haka Tale for the Ngāti Rānana Māori dance troupe, performed as part of the Rugby World Cup festival in London. A huge success, it later toured in the United Kingdom and Europe. Settling in Birmingham with his then-boyfriend, he established the Corey Baker Dance Company. In 2018, he returned to New Zealand to work as a resident choreographer for the Royal New Zealand Ballet. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he was commissioned by the BBC to choreograph and direct Swan Lake Bath Ballet, a short film featuring 27 ballet dancers performing in their homes. In 2022, he was appointed chief choreographer and movement director for the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Birmingham. He has also choreographed for reality TV series Strictly Come Dancing, Ru Paul‘s Drag Race Down Under and Joe Lycett vs the Oil Giant, and created a series of dance pieces focusing on climate change (including one performed in Antarctica) which were filmed for television. In 2024, he choreographed the dance sequences for Tim Burton’s film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Openly gay since forever, Baker was married for three years and later in a relationship with actor Jonathan Groff. His current relationship status is unknown.