Karen Kain
 |
Karen Kain, 1970 |
Karen Kain,
CC (born on
March 28,
1951) is a
Canadian ballet dancer.
Born in
Hamilton,
Ontario, Kain began training to become a ballet dancer at the
National Ballet School of Canada in
Toronto in 1962. After graduation in 1969, she joined the
National Ballet of Canada. She became principal dancer in 1971, dancing central roles in a wide array of ballets, eventually becoming the most well-known dancer in Canada.
In 1973, she won silver in the women's competition and another silver for Best
pas de Deux (with
Frank Augustyn) at the second
International Ballet Competition.
She worked as a guest artist with Roland Petit's Le Ballet National de Marseilles, the
Bolshoi Ballet, the
London Festival Ballet, the
Paris Opera Ballet, the
Hamburg Ballet, the
Vienna State Opera Ballet, and the
Eliot Feld Ballet.
In the late 1970s Kain stopped dancing for a period, but in 1980 resumed dancing with the National Ballet of Canada, where she stayed for a further 15 years. Kain retired from dancing in 1997.
In 1976, she became an Officer of the
Order of Canada and was made a Companion of the
Order of Canada in 1991. She holds honourary degrees from the
University of Toronto,
York University,
McMaster University,
Trent University, and the
University of British Columbia. In May of 1998, the French Government named her an Officer of the
Order of Arts and Letters. Among Kain's other honours are the
Performing Arts Award (1992) and the
National Arts Centre Award (1997). In 1996, she became the first Canadian to receive the
Cartier Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 1998, Kain returned to the National Ballet of Canada as part of the senior management team. In 2005, she succeeded
James Kudelka as
artistic director[
1].
Kain is the president of the
Dancer Transition Resource Centre.
In 2004 she was appointed chair of the
Canada Council for the Arts.
Her autobiography,
Movement Never Lies, was published in 1996 by
McClelland and Stewart.
*
FOOTNOTES - Karen Kain*
Karen Kain: Canada's Prima Ballerina*
The Ballerina Gallery - Karen Kain*
le Gala des étoiles - Karen Kain*
The Canadian Encyclopedia - Kain, Karen featuring a clip of Karen's performance in the National Ballet of Canada's 1976 production of
Giselle*
Canada's Walk of Fame: Karen Kain*
CBC Digital Archives: Karen Kain, Prima Ballerina
