Media Release
Ben Rudisin and Hannah Galway Winners of the 2025 Dancers First Award
September 15, 2025… Hope Muir, Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, shared today that Principal Dancer Ben Rudisin and First Soloist Hannah Galway are the recipients of the 2025 Dancers First Award. They are recognized for their stellar performances in the North American premiere of Silent Screen by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot. Rudisin is also recognized for his debut as Alexei Karenin in the North American premiere of Christian Spuck’s Anna Karenina. The award was presented by at a dinner and presentation tonight in Toronto.
“Hannah Galway and Ben Rudisin are two extraordinary artists who lit up our 2024/25 season,” said Muir. “Hannah blazed in Silent Screen, delivering a fearless performance of cinematic intensity and emotional depth. Ben devastated in his commanding portrayals – both in the turbulent world of Silent Screen and as the soul-tormented Alexei Karenin in Anna Karenina. These are works of immense complexity, physically demanding and emotionally charged, and both Hannah and Ben delivered with artistry that was unforgettable. I am so proud to celebrate them as this year’s Dancers First Award recipients.”
The Dancers First Award recognizes outstanding performances in the previous season and is juried by a committee of members of the National Ballet’s Artistic Staff. At the ceremony, Rudisin and Galway were each presented with a cash award of $5,000 generoudly provided by John Covingter Jr. and Robert Lukey.
Ben Rudisin was born in Woodbridge, Virginia and trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem and Houston Ballet II in Texas. He joined The National Ballet of Canada as an RBC Apprentice in 2013 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2021. An elegant dancer with pristine technique, he was a standout in Silent Screen, sinking “into the choreography with intensity and ease. His movements are snake-like and dark, and his spine articulates through each vertebra” (Dance Debrief). Rudisin repertoire includes such roles as Diaghilev in Nijinsky, Siegfried and Rothbart in Swan Lake, Prince Gremin in Onegin, the title role in Romeo and Juliet, Hilarion in Giselle and more.
Hannah Galway was born in Comox, British Columbia and trained at Canada’s National Ballet School. She joined The National Ballet of Canada as an RBC Apprentice in 2017 and was promoted to First Soloist in 2024. A versatile artist known for her extraordinary range and dramatic depth, the Globe and Mail wrote of her performance in Silent Screen, “Galway stands out as a real actor… Every quiver, tremour, jolt and scream feels rooted in something real – she is grounded, sensitive and able to surprise herself.” Galway has performed the title roles in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Emma Bovary as well as the Other Stepsister and Blossom in Cinderella, Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Princess Betsy Tverskaja in Anna Karenina, Amour in Don Quixote and more.
Hannah Galway's Biography
Rudisin and Galway will next appear onstage in Toronto during the National Ballet's Fall Season which opens with the world premiere of Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber’s Procession, November 1 – 8 and Christopher Wheeldon’s The Winter’s Tale, November 14 – 21.
Since 2017/18, Rudisin has been sponsored through Dancers First by Sylvie Allard & Brian O’Keefe and Galway has been sponsored through Dancers First by Alison & Alan Schwartz since 2019/20.
The National Ballet of Canada is grateful to the 24 donors who currently support our dancers through the Dancers First programme with funds for artistic development, performance opportunities and health and wellness resources.
The National Ballet would like to acknowledge the generous support of Gretchen Ross for the Dancers First Dinner and John Covington Jr. and Robert Lukey for the Dancers First Award.
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Season Sponsor: BMO Financial Group
Procession is supported by The Volunteer Committee of The National Ballet of Canada, The Anna McCowan-Johnson New Creations Fund and The Producers' Circle. Additional support is provided by The Azrieli Foundation.
The Producers’ Circle (2026): John & Claudine Bailey, Indra & Rags Davloor, Laura Dinner & Richard Rooney, Gail Drummond & Bob Dorrance, Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin, Anna McCowan-Johnson & Donald K. Johnson, O.C., Judy Korthals & Peter Irwin, Mona & Harvey Levenstein, Jerry Lozinski, O.C. & Joan Lozinski, O.C., The Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain, C.C., Julie Medland, Sandra Pitblado, C.M. & Jim Pitblado, C.M., The Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation and Alexander Younger & Sarah Richardson.
Lead philanthropic support for The Winter's Tale is provided by Richard M. Ivey, C.C. Additional support is provided by an anonymous friend, The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation and The Producers’ Circle.
The National Ballet of Canada gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of the Canada Council for the Arts; the Ontario Arts Council; the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council; the Government of Canada – Department of Canadian Heritage with the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Culture and Identity; and the Government of Ontario with the Honourable Stan Cho, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming and Minister of Sport.
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