Quick Facts

Born: Vancouver, British Columbia
Trained: DanceWest and Lavrova Classical Ballet Academy in Surrey, British Columbia and Canada’s National Ballet School
Joined: 2004
First Soloist since: 2015

Five Things to Know

1. 1In 2019, Jenna created the lead role of Eurydice in the world premiere of Orpheus Alive by Robert Binet. 
    
2. 2In 2015, she received the Rolex Dancers First Award for her outstanding performances in Wayne McGregor’s Chroma and as Bronislava in John Neumeier’s Nijinsky. 
    
3. 3Jenna performs soloist roles in two of her favourite ballets: Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis in Giselle, and Autumn in James Kudelka’s The Four Seasons.
    
4. 4
5. Jenna is a two-time winner of the Patron Award of Merit, which recognizes young dancers from the Corps de Ballet or RBC Apprentice Programme for their extraordinary progress.
6.  
7. 5
8. Jenna performs the female lead in James Kudelka’s The Man in Black, one of her favourite ballets.

Favourite Ballets

1. 1The Man in Black
    
2. 2The Nutcracker
    
3. 3The Four Seasons
    
4. 4Giselle
    
5. 5Angels’ Atlas

Full Biography

Jenna Savella was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and trained at Lavrova Classical Ballet Academy in Surrey, British Columbia and Canada’s National Ballet School. She joined The National Ballet of Canada as a RBC Apprentice in 2004 and was promoted to First Soloist in 2015. 

Most recently, Jenna danced Ancestor Amanda in the world premiere of Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM and in the Canadian premieres of David Dawson’s Anima Animus and Alonzo King’s The Collective Agreement. She has danced such roles as Dolly in Anna Karenina, the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, Bronislava in Nijinsky, Autumn in The Four Seasons, Elizabeth and Russian Dance in Swan Lake, L’Allumeuse in Le Petit Prince and the female leads in The Man in Black and Paz de la Jolla. Jenna’s repertoire also includes roles in Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Onegin, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Winter’s Tale, The Merry Widow, Don Quixote, An Italian Straw Hat, Manon, Pinocchio, A Streetcar Named Desire, Hamlet, Symphony in C, The Dream, Paquita, The Four Temperaments, Allegro Brillante, Russian Seasons, The Second Detail, Approximate Sonata 2016, Chroma, Emergence, Angels’ Atlas, Serenade, Symphony in C, Piano Concerto #1, Concerto, Frame by Frame, Being and Nothingness, The Dreamers Ever Leave You and Self and Soul.  

Jenna received the Rolex Dancers First Award in 2015, the David Tory Award in 2014 and the National Ballet’s Patron Award of Merit in 2007 and 2006. She was also the recipient of a British Columbia Arts Council Scholarship and the Vancouver Foundation Scholarship.