Tene Ward. Photo by Karolina Kuras.
Quick Facts
Born: Sydney, Australia
Trained: Canberra Festival Ballet School in Australia, The Australian Ballet School and the European School of Ballet in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Joined: 2018
Corps de Ballet since: 2019
Tene Ward is sponsored through Dancers First by Michelle & Duncan Sinclair.
Five Things to Know
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- Tene travelled from her hometown of Sydney, Australia to complete her dance training at the European School of Ballet in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Her background is Sri Lankan, African American and Cherokee Indian.
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- Tene was thrilled to receive her very first pair of pointe shoes that matched her skin tone from Freed of London in 2020. The moment was captured on video by a fellow dancer and it has since been viewed over two million times.
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- In 2021, she appeared in a commissioned film of Robert Binet’s The Dreamers Ever Leave You directed by Ben Shirinian. The film was part of the National Ballet’s first ever virtual season.
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- Her repertoire includes The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Anna Karenina, The Dream, Paquita, Angels’ Atlas and Piano Concerto #1, among other works.
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- Tene is passionate about the environment. She loved marine biology as a child and took an introductory course to Environmental Law during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Full Biography
Tene Ward was born in Sydney, Australia and trained at Canberra Festival Ballet School in Canberra, Australia, The Australian Ballet School and European School of Ballet in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Tene joined The National Ballet of Canada in 2018 as a RBC Apprentice and became a member of the Corps de Ballet in 2019.
Most recently, Tene danced in the Canadian premiere of Alonzo King’s The Collective Agreement. Her repertoire includes Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Giselle, Anna Karenina, Cinderella, A Streetcar Named Desire, MADDADDAM, Angels’ Atlas, Serenade, Symphony in C, Concerto, The Dream, Paquita, Crepuscular, Alleged Dances, The Dreamers Ever Leave You and On Solid Ground.