Quick Facts

Born: Toronto, Ontario
Trained: Richmond Academy of Dance in British Columbia
Joined: 1998
Principal Dancer since: 2005

Heather Ogden is sponsored through Dancers First by Ira Gluskin and Maxine Granovsky Gluskin.

Five Things to Know

1. 1Heather was an athletic child and grew up playing softball in addition to dancing. In 2017, she revived her softball skills when she threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Toronto Blue Jays baseball game.
    
2. 2She has worked extensively with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet and considers it to be her second ballet home.
    
3. 3Heather starred in the short films Lost in Motion II (2014) and Lulu (2020), choreographed by her husband and fellow Principal Dancer Guillaume Côté. Lulu won Best International Short Film at the 2020 Milan International Film Festival Awards.  
4.  
5. 4When Heather joined the company, she was three inches shorter than she is now. As a result, she has danced all the Snowflake roles In The Nutcracker, small, medium, tall and Snow Queen.
    
6. 5Heather married her first Romeo, Principal Dancer Guillaume Côté, in 2010. They have two children with whom they like to go on adventures in their spare time.

Favourite Ballets

1. 1Romeo and Juliet
    
2. 2Swan Lake
    
3. 3Nijinsky
    
4. 4…black night’s bright day…
    
5. 5Mozartiana

Full 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. 

Heather is a powerful dancer of extraordinary depth and range and she has performed nearly every lead role in the classical repertoire. She shines equally in contemporary work and has long been a favourite of visiting choreographers. Most recently, Heather debuted as Toby in the world premiere of Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM. Heather’s repertoire with the National Ballet includes principal roles in Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Onegin, Nijinsky, The Merry Widow, La Bayadère, Cinderella, The Winter’s Tale, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Anna Karenina, Le Petit Prince and Carmen. She has an extensive George Balanchine repertoire and has danced in many contemporary works, including new creations by such choreographers as Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor, Crystal Pite and Jorma Elo. Heather has danced lead roles in ballets by James Kudelka including the title role in Cinderella, Summer in The Four Seasons and Hélène in An Italian Straw Hat.  

As a guest artist, Heather has performed with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, The Hamburg Ballet, Munich Ballet and various galas such as The Hamburg Ballet’s 40th Anniversary Gala, Gala des Étoiles, Stars of the 21st Century Gala, The Banff Centre’s 60th Anniversary Gala and the International Ballet Festival in Havana Cuba.  

In 2011, Heather was chosen by Evelyn Hart for the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Mentorship program. In 2014, she became an ambassador for Rolex Canada along with Principal Dancer Guillaume Côté. 

Heather starred in the short film Lost In Motion II, choreographed by Guillaume Côté, which debuted at the Dance on Camera Festival in New York City in 2014. In 2021, Lulu, a film created as part of The National Ballet of Canada’s Expansive Dances series, choreographed by Guillaume, directed by Ben Shirinian and produced by Lookout, that featured Heather won Best International Short Film at the 2020 Milan International Film Festival, MIFF Awards. 

Videos