On finishing his lndustrial Design studies John Otto (New Zealand) worked with the New Zealand Opera Ballet Company and also the Australian Opera at the Sydney Opera House. He was awarded a scholarship to study under Margaret Harris at the Motley Design Course in London and made his design debut with Darius Milhaud's Les Malheurs d'Orphée with the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam.His designs for opera, ballet and theatre have since appeared on many stages including: Teatro alla Scala Milan, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Norwegian National Ballet Oslo, Polish National Ballet Warsa National Ballet of Canada Toronto, Vancouver Opera, San Francisco Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet, Pacifie Northwest Ballet Seattle, Athens Festival, Ho/land Festival, Wexford Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Semperoper Dresden, Staatsoper Hannover, Deutsche Oper am Rheln Düsseldorf, Scottish Ballet Glasgow, Crucible Theatre Sheffield, Sadler's Wells Theatre, Almeida Theatre and Lyric Theatre Hammersmith London, Dutch National Ballet Amsterdam, Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, Dutch Nationale Re/sapera and Ballet & Opera Vlaanderen Antwerp.Designs for David Dawson: The Disappeared, The World According to Us, Sweet Spell of Oblivion, The Third Light, dancingmadlybackwards, Empire Noir, Swan Lake, Legacy Variations and Anima Animus, Empire Noir will shortly be seen with Dutch National Ballet, Holland Festival 2026 and Ballet de l'Opera de Lyon, 2027.