Quick Facts

Born: Tokyo, Japan
Trained: Canada’s National Ballet School
Joined: 2007
Principal Dancer Since: 2015

Naoya Ebe is sponsored through Dancers First by Gretchen Ross.

Five Things to Know

1. 1Naoya started in gymnastics at the age of three and added ballet lessons several years later to complement his training. Eventually, he preferred ballet and gave up gymnastics entirely.
    
2. 2Naoya learned of The National Ballet of Canada from his ballet teacher in Japan and subsequently moved to Toronto to train at Canada’s National Ballet School. Naoya’s mother was working for the Canadian embassy in Tokyo at the time.
    
3. 3In 2011, when he was still a young member of the Corps de Ballet, Naoya was selected to represent the National Ballet at The International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize.
    
4. 4Naoya was a Second Soloist when he was chosen to dance the lead role of Romeo in Alexei Ratmansky’s Romeo and Juliet. The role opened the door for Naoya’s promotion to Principal Dancer and, today, Romeo is one of his signature roles.
    
5. 5He performs a wide range of classical and contemporary roles with the National Ballet, including Albrecht in Giselle, Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty, Prince Charming in Cinderella, Peter/The Nutcracker in The Nutcracker and featured roles in Wayne McGregor’s Chroma and Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort, among others.

Favourite Ballets

1. 1Romeo and Juliet
    
2. 2Giselle
    
3. 3La Fille mal gardée
    
4. 4Bella Figura (Jiří Kylián)
5.  
6. 5La Sylphide

Videos