Patricia Barker trained at Boston Ballet School with E. Virginia Williams and Violette Verdy, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School with Francia Russell, Perry Brunson and Janet Reed. Ms. Barker enjoyed an went on to an illustrious career with Pacific Northwest Ballet, also appearing as a guest artist with ballet companies and in many galas around the world. After retiring, she has staged works for the Balanchine Trust, the Slovak National Ballet and the Hungarian National Ballet. Ms. Barker is an entrepreneur, a dance advocate, a board member of the Tateuchi Center, a planned performing arts center in Bellevue, Washington, and a member of the advisory boards for Pointe Magazine, CriticalDance.com, California Ballet and Broadway Bound. Ms. Barker was the Artistic Director of Grand Rapids Ballet until spring 2017, when she was named Artistic Director of Royal New Zealand Ballet.