Harrison James was born in Paraparaumu, New Zealand and trained at San Francisco Ballet School's Trainee Program in California and the New Zealand School of Dance. Harrison danced with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Béjart Ballet Lausanne before joining The National Ballet of Canada in 2013 as a member of the Corps de Ballet. Harrison was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2016.
Most recently, Harrison made his debut as Crake in the world premiere of MADDADDAM by Wayne McGregor and the Canadian premieres of David Dawson’s Anima Animus and Alonzo King’s The Collective Agreement. A refined dancer with a sensitivity to character and drama, Harrison has danced such lead roles as Siegfried in Karen Kain’s Swan Lake, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty, Prince Charming in Cinderella, Lensky in Onegin, Albrecht in Giselle, Peter/The Nutcracker in The Nutcracker, James in La Sylphide, Count Danilo Dailowitch in The Merry Widow, the title role in Apollo, Jack/The Knave of Hearts and Raj/Caterpillar in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Leontes and Polixenes in The Winter’s Tale, Vronsky in Anna Karenina, L’Aviateur in Le Petit Prince, Des Grieux in Manon, Oberon in The Dream and Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire. His repertoire includes Paquita, The Second Detail, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Genus, Watch her, Angels' Atlas, Emergence, Carousel (A Dance), Piano Concerto #1, Paz de la Jolla, Spectre de la Rose, After the Rain, Elite Syncopations, Concerto, Being and Nothingness, Frame by Frame, The Sea Above, The Sky Below, The Dreamers Ever Leave You and Soul.
In 2023, he was the recipient of the David Tory Award and in 2019, Harrison won the Rolex Dancers First Award for his performance as Alexei Vronsky in Anna Karenina, Oberon in The Dream and the title role in Apollo. In 2015, Harrison was awarded the Patron Award of Merit by the Patrons’ Council Committee of The National Ballet of Canada.
