From childhood Heather Ogden wanted to be a ballerina, seeing Giselle on stage inspired her towards a career that has been filled with a strong yearning to succeed at what she does and reaching those milestones with elegance and grace.

National Ballet of Canada’s Principal Ballerina Heather Ogden on Giselle, Polyphonia and more…

By: Kindah Mardam Bey

September 2007 

A ballerinas’ career may be short, but it seems that Heather Ogden is making the most of the time she has on stage. One of the principal dancers for the most prestigious ballet companies in Canada (The National Ballet Of Canada) Ogden appears to have broken in her point shoes around the same time she was taking her training wheels off her pre-school bike. From childhood Ogden wanted to be a ballerina, seeing Giselle on stage inspired her towards a career that has been filled with a strong yearning to succeed at what she does and reaching those milestones with elegance and grace. I spoke with Ogden about her career, her love of the classic story ballets and more contemporary pieces; on the verge of a Canadian tour of the classical ballet Giselle paired with the fused contemporary-classic piece by acclaimed choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s Polyphonia, Ogden reflects on the arts.

Within a nine year time frame, Ogden has been at the National Ballet Of Canada and performed innumerable roles, she has originated the role of Dulcinea in the restaging of Balanchine’s Don Quixote, she created a role in Matjash Mrozewski’s Monument and also danced in the premiere of Wheeldon’s Polyphonia and now Ogden will be bringing the latter to the Canadian stage.

However, Heather Ogden’s first principal role was in Romeo and Juliet, a part she holds dear as she considers it her ‘big break,’ but she seems insatiable in her desire to reach certain markers of the ballet industry; which is probably why she has had such an illustrious career at such a young age. Ogden is what’s known in layman’s terms as ‘a go getter;’ she tells me ‘I’ve always been ambitious, I wanted to work at the National Ballet of Canada, then it became important to me who I worked with, then the amount of stage time I got, and this all feeds you to do more and more. This is such a hard career both physically and emotionally that you have to try to remember to love it and enjoy it as it is short; it’s important to savour those moments on stage and those milestones along the way.’

Ogden is exceptionally pleased to be playing Myrtha, Queen Of The Willis in this tour of the classic ballet Giselle this September. Ogden explains ‘Story ballets are so romantic, dramatic, and Giselle is also a story about forgiveness, I think those are the aspects that audiences enjoy about the classics, like Giselle.’

Coupled with Giselle is the national premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s Polyphonia, and if contemporary ballet is not exciting for you, this may be the antidote, as Wheeldon is known for morphing contemporary ballet with classical. For example, Polyphonia is performed to ten piano pieces by Gyogy Ligeti. Heather Ogden elaborates ‘Wheeldon is such a smart man, he is entirely an original. The clothing is very simple, but the music is complex. Wheeldon is constantly trying to find that balance between contemporary and classical – and he does it! He is about accuracy and he is always looking for shapes and patterns for the dancers to perform. He is redefining ballet as we know it. The music is very interesting as I said, and Polyphonia has four couples doing four segments (Joke/Wedding/Main/Waltz) and we have solos, we are in groups at times, two men dance together…Wheeldon is all about exploring variety! I think we need to bring the classics into the future to keep the younger audiences interested and Polyphonia seems to be a focus in the right direction.’

Ogden seems to be naturally drawn to both classical and contemporary ballet and I wandered where the commonality was for her that she could glide easily between the two; she explains ‘I try to interpret and act in both forms. Even though contemporary pieces don’t usually have a character, I still find one within myself to express the performance through. I think that relays to the audience. I also find that the key to both contemporary and classical ballet is the music. Follow the music!’

Towards the end of the interview we discuss the importance of the arts and I haphazardly discover what it is that has Ogden so captivated and consumed by ballet, she tells me ‘the arts are so important; the arts help us to express originality, the arts touch us and are fundamental to inspiration and beauty.’ A quotable and all too true comment.

To look for Heather Ogden in Giselle and Polyphonia, simply check out the dates for the tour: click here

To Read The Polyphonia review Click Here

To Read The Giselle Review Click Here