Biography
Heather Ogden. Photographer: Bruce Zinger. Image Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada
Ms. Ogden attended The Richmond Academy of Dance, where she was taught by artstic director Annette Jakubowski for 10 years. She went to high school in the morning, then took dance classes in the afternoon. She took 25 hours of ballet and modern dance classes a week in her quest to become a professional dancer. Ms. Ogden graduated from both The Richmond Academy and Steveston Secondary School in 1998. Ms. Ogden joined the National Ballet of Canada as an apprentice the same year, and was named a member of the Corps de Ballet in 1999. She was promoted to Second Soloist in 2002 and to First Soloist after her third unscheduled performance of Swan Lake in 2003. In May 2005, she was made a Principal Dancer.
Ms. Ogden’s many roles include Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Tatiana in Onegin, The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Hanna in The Merry Widow, the title role in Cinderella, Alice in Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Grand Pas Classique, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Nikiya in La Bayadère, Principal roles in George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, The Four Temperaments, Apollo, Emeralds and Rubies and Diamonds in Jewels, & Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis in Giselle.
In 2005, Ms. Ogden was chosen by Suzanne Farrell to dance Dulcinea in a re-staging of Balanchine’s Don Quixote in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, she danced this role in Edinburgh (2006) and Toronto (NBoC premiere 2007). Canadian choreographer Matjash Mrozewski created a duet, Chopper, for Ms. Ogden and Guillaume Côté in 2007. Ms. Ogden has also performed at the Ruby Gala des Etolies (New Orleans 2010, Montreal 2006 & 2007).
Heather Ogden in Swan Lake. Photographer: David Cooper. Image Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada.
From the Richmond Review (22/09/05):
“[Annette] Jakubowski describes Ogden as “one of the most modest and sweet-natured dancers” she’s ever worked with. Even as a teenager, taking home countless awards and scholarships, Ogden remained level-headed… She’s a star, but she’ll be the last one to tell you that.”
Heather Ogden is sponsored through Dancers First by Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin.
