Russell Ian Kerr ONZM QSM (10 February 1930 – 23 March 2022) was a New Zealand ballet dancer, choreographer, and producer.

[1] As a boy he suffered from muscular rheumatism and received medical advice that taking up dancing would help.

[1][7] Kerr and his wife returned to New Zealand in the late 1950s, and he became director of the Nettleton-Edwards-Kerr School, along with working for the Auckland Ballet Theatre.

[2][5][4] Together with Poul Gnatt he invited other New Zealanders who were performing overseas to return to the country and form a company, the United Ballet.

[5] Raoul Neave, chairman of the latter, said of Kerr in 1999: "I think he's one of those people who just contribute an enormous amount, not only with what he's achieved personally, but the work he's done with young dancers, choreography, and directing throughout the country.

The latter was a new full-length ballet based on the life of Hans Christian Andersen, with music by Richard Strauss and Dmitry Kabalevsky.

[20] In the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to ballet and dance.