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Biography

Born in Dalian, China, former Principal Dancer Xiao Nan Yu danced with The National Ballet of Canada for 22 years before retiring from the stage in 2019. In 2021, Nan joined the company’s Artistic Staff, accepting the position of Artistic Coach and in 2022, she was promoted to Rehearsal Director and Principal Coach. In her new role, Nan will help train and prepare today’s dancers for the stage mentally and physically, giving them invaluable insight that she has garnered from her career and a unique opportunity to learn with her. Prior to this appointment, Nan served as Ballet Mistress and assisted choreographers on many ballets and from 2019 to 2021, she was a Guest Teacher for the senior students of Canada’s National Ballet School and remains a frequent visitor.

Nan trained at the Shenyang School of Dance and the Beijing Dance Academy in China before receiving a scholarship for and attending Canada’s National Ballet School. She danced with the National Ballet from 1996 to 2019, becoming Principal Dancer in 2001. Her radiant, standout performances as Odette in Swan Lake, the title role in Giselle, Paulina in The Winter’s Tale, Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow, Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Tatiana in Onegin, among other leading roles, made her an audience favourite. She also performed many works by George Balanchine and created new roles in ballets by James Kudelka, Aszure Barton, Matjash Mrozewski, Jean-Pierre Perreault and Dominique Dumais. In addition, Nan has also worked with many world-renowned choreographers.

Nan has appeared as a guest artist with the Hamburg Ballet, working closely with John Neumeier, and in Stars of the 21st Century. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honours, having won the Gold Medal at the Taoli Cup Ballet Competition in China, Silver Medal at the All Japan International Ballet Competition, Rolex Dancers First Award and Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto’s 21st Century Youth of the Year Award. She was named Top 30 Under 30 by Maclean’s Magazine and won the Outstanding Profile – Arts and Best of the Best Awards at the Mandarin Profile Awards in Toronto.

Read a Q&A With Nan