Greta Hodgkinson

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Greta Hodgkinson (Born in Providence, Rhode Island) is a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada.

Greta Hodgkinson was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She began her dance training at the Festival Ballet of Rhode Island and later attended Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto, graduating in 1990.

Ms. Hodgkinson joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1990 and was promoted to Second Soloist in 1993. Immediately following her debut as the Swan Queen/Black Swan in Erik Bruhn’s Swan Lake in 1995 she was promoted to First Soloist. In 1996 she was promoted to Principal Dancer.

Ms. Hodgkinson’s many lead roles include Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, the title roles in Cinderella, Giselle and Manon, The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Kitri in Don Quixote, Hanna in The Merry Widow, Tatiana in Onegin, Nikiya in La Bayadère, and Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew. Ms. Hodgkinson has an extensive Balanchine repertoire including Terpsichore in Apollo, as well as lead roles in Diamonds and Rubies from Jewels, and lead roles in Theme and Variations, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, The Four Temperaments and Serenade. Other lead roles include Makarova’s Paquita, Glen Tetley’s Voluntaries, Alice, La Ronde, and Sphinx, Victor Gsovsky’s bravura pas de deux, Grand Pas Classique, Harald Lander’s Etudes, and multiple works by Jiri Kylián, including Dream Dances.

Ms. Hodgkinson has created many lead roles including Odette/ Odile in Swan Lake (1999), the title role in The Firebird (2000), the lead role in the Summer variation in The Four Seasons (1997), the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker (1995) and Anaïs in An Italian Straw Hat (2005), all choreographed by James Kudelka. Ms. Hodgkinson created the role of Isolde in John Alleyne’s Tristan and Isolde (2003) as well as roles in Jean-Pierre Perreault’s The Comforts of Solitude (2001), Matjash Mrozewski’s A Delicate Battle (2001), John Alleyne’s Septet (1999), Dominique Dumais’ one hundred words for snow (1999) and the weight of absence, Glen Tetley's Oracle (1994) as well as and John Alleyne's Interrogating Slam (1991). Ms. Hodgkinson danced in the company premieres of Kudelka’s Désir (1998), Terra Firma (1997) and Cruel World

(1996). In 1994 she danced in Jean Grand-Maitre's Frames of Mind. In 1993 Ms. Hodgkinson danced the pas de deux in the company premiere of William Forsythe's Herman Schmerman and in John Neumeier's Now and Then . She also danced a lead role in the company premiere of Jerome Robbins’ Opus 19, The Dreamer (2004).

In 2004, Ms. Hodgkinson was invited to perform at the prestigious re-opening of La Scala Opera House in Milan, dancing in the Gala des Etoiles. In July 2004, Ms. Hodgkinson worked with Jiri Kylian at the Netherlands Danse Theatre and toured Italy with Roberto Bolle, Resident Guest Artist with both Teatro alla Scala and The Royal Ballet, performing Kylian’s Petit Mort, William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, and Excelsior, choreographed by Luigi Manzotti.

Ms. Hodgkinson made her debut as part of the Kirov Ballet’s Fourth International Ballet Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2004. In the summer of 2003, Ms. Hodgkinson toured to Japan, performing in K Ballet’s Swan Lake with Tetsuya Kumakawa. She also performed with Roberto Bolle at The World Ballet Festival in Tokyo, and in Sicily and Milan at outdoor galas. In 2002 and 2005 Ms. Hodgkinson performed in the Gala of International Ballet Stars in Cincinnati. In 2001, 2002 and 2003, Ms. Hodgkinson performed in Gala des Etoiles with Rex Harrington and Carlos Acosta of the Royal Ballet.

In 2001 Ms. Hodgkinson made her debut with Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy, dancing the role of Hanna in The Merry Widow. She has also performed with them in The Nutcracker and in 2005, danced Giselle with Roberto Bolle. In 1999 she performed the Summer pas de deux from The Four Seasons and a pas de deux from Tagore for the opening of the Royal Opera House in London.

In 1998 Ms. Hodgkinson performed a pas de deux from Désir and the Summer pas de deux from The Four Seasons at a Tribute to Ulanova in Paris. In 1997 she danced the Grand Pas Classique and the Summer pas de deux from The Four Seasons at the Stars of the 21st Century International Ballet Gala at the Hummingbird Centre in Toronto. In 1997 Ms. Hodgkinson performed the Summer pas de deux from The Four Seasons at the John Cranko Gala for Stuttgart Ballet. In 1996 she travelled to Sydney, Australia and danced in William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated with the Australian Ballet.

In 2000 Ms. Hodgkinson was nominated for the prestigious Prix Benois de la Danse, an international award for excellence in ballet, for her role as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. In 2000 and 2001, Dance Europe voted her Best Performance by a Female Dancer for her interpretation of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake and for Summer in The Four Seasons. Ms. Hodgkinson danced Herman Shmerman pas de deux and Grand Pas Classique in The National Ballet of Canada’s inaugural performance in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in 2006.

In 1993 Ms. Hodgkinson, represented The National Ballet of Canada in the third Erik Bruhn Prize Competition performing Grand Pas Classique and Vittoria, a pas de deux specially created for the occasion by James Kudelka. In 1998 Ms. Hodgkinson graced the cover of Dance Magazine with a featured article, twice appeared on the cover of Dance International, and was also featured in two issues of the fashion magazine, GQ Italia.

Ms. Hodgkinson’s film credits include the starring role in The Firebird, Summer in The Four Seasons, A Dancer’s Story : 50 Years of The National Ballet of Canada, performing The Sleeping Beauty pas de deux, as well as a featured role in The Rings of Saturn. She is also featured in the film of the New Years Concert 2004 from the re-opened Teatro La Fenice in Venice, produced by Rai Trade. In 2005 she starred in the film Roxanna, based on the novel by Daniel Defoe, to be released in 2006.