Biography
Heather Ogden was born in Toronto and trained at the Richmond Academy of Dance in British Columbia before joining The National Ballet of Canada in 1998. She was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2005.
Ms. Ogden’s repertoire with the National Ballet includes principal roles in Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Onegin, The Merry Widow, La Bayadère and Cinderella. She has an extensive George Balanchine repertoire and has danced in many contemporary works, including new creations by choreographers such as James Kudelka, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor, Crystal Pite and Jorma Elo.
Ms. Ogden represented the National Ballet at The Sixth International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize with Guillaume Côté in 2002. As a guest artist, Ms. Ogden has performed with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, The Hamburg Ballet, Munich Ballet and various galas such as the Gala de Étoiles, Stars of the 21st Century Gala, Banff Centre’s 60th Anniversary Gala and the International Ballet Festival in Havana Cuba.
In 2011, Heather Ogden was chosen by Evelyn Hart for the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Mentorship program.
Heather Ogden is sponsored through Dancers First by Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin.
Quotes
Theme and Variations
“ravishingly radiant lead ballerina, Heather Ogden.”
The Toronto Star, 2011
Swan Lake
“When Heather Ogden first floats onstage as the vulnerable swan Odette, she literally takes your breath away… At the rate they're going, the Ogden-Cote partnership will enter the history books in the ranks of Nureyev and Fonteyn and Kain and Augustyn.”
The National Post, 2010
Feature Article
“Audiences have taken to Ogden’s unaffected charm and the sheer physical daring of her movement — she never holds back.”
Pointe Magazine, 2009