Mixed program marks the return of Vancouver-trained Principal dancer––The National Ballet of Canada’s Heather Ogden and Principal guest artists from San Francisco Ballet
Heather Ogden reaches Mount Olympus, then comes home to Vancouver to celebrate. The Richmond Academy of Dance alumna departed the city years ago to conquer the world’s biggest ballet stages, and now returns as guest Principal dancer to help launch Ballet Vancouver’s debut season, still holding her Principal rank with The National Ballet of Canada. She headlines Balanchine’s Apollo & Other Works, opening September 11, 2026 at the Vancouver Playhouse — a celebratory return that puts a hometown star at the centre of the city’s newest ballet company as it takes its first bow.
Ogden takes the stage in Apollo, Balanchine’s neoclassical masterwork tracing the God of Music’s ascent to Olympus, set to a driving Stravinsky score. Originally created for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes before entering the New York City Ballet repertoire, Apollo has anchored major companies worldwide for nearly a century — yet the ballet hasn’t touched a Vancouver stage in nearly four decades, since Ballet BC last performed it, and no Balanchine work at all has appeared in the city since Miami City Ballet’s visit in 2015.
This production carries serious pedigree: Peter Boal, Artistic Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet and a former New York City Ballet Principal, stages the work himself. Ogden shares the role with Jonatan Lujan, formerly of the Met Opera Ballet, Ballet Argentino, and Ballet Zurich; Stephanie Petersen, formerly of American Ballet Theatre; and rising company member Amanda Solheim, a Surrey-raised dancer who recently left her post as Second Soloist with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet to come home, alternating with Paula Cobo Botello, formerly of Ballet Edmonton.
Ballet Vancouver Artistic Director Joshua Beamish calls the moment a “homecoming,” noting that Ogden, like several of the new company’s dancers, trained in Vancouver before climbing to the world’s most celebrated stages. Her guest appearance lends the debut season instant international credibility. “For too long, classically-trained dancers in the city have had to leave home to pursue a professional career,” Beamish says, “and we’re proud to be changing that.” New company members Amanda Solheim and Paula Cobo Botello embody that shift directly, alongside newcomers from Alberta Ballet, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and Ballet BC, and emerging artist Nathan Bear — dancers who have relocated to build their careers in Vancouver rather than leave it.
Apollo shares the bill with two more headline-grabbing works. San Francisco Ballet Principals Sasha de Sola and Francesco Gabriele Frola tackle the Black Swan Pas de Deux, Marius Petipa’s thrilling Swan Lake duet built around the ballerina’s famous 32 rapid fouetté turns, set to Tchaikovsky’s electrifying score as the Black Swan seduces Prince Siegfried.
The program then closes with the Canadian premiere of Jorma Elo’s Slice to Sharp, praised by The New York Times as an “exhilarating exercise in flat-out virtuosity.” Elo, Boston Ballet’s Finnish-born resident choreographer, built the piece for New York City Ballet’s prestigious Diamond Project, pairing pulsing, frenetic contemporary movement with Baroque melodies from Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber and Antonio Vivaldi. Eight dancers push the work to its limits, led by Stephanie Petersen and Jonatan Lujan, with full casting still to come.
Ballet Vancouver is layering the run with access rarely offered elsewhere: pre-show talks in the Playhouse’s upper lobby before all three performances, moderated by Pia Lo. Opening night on September 11 at 6:45pm brings together Peter Boal, Jorma Elo, Nancy Euverink, and Beamish; the September 12 matinee talk at 1:45pm features Boal and Beamish; and the September 12 evening talk at 6:45pm pairs Beamish with Ainslie Cyopik, who danced the role of Terpsichore the last time Apollo appeared in Vancouver, 38 years ago.
Tickets start at $45.12, with student group rates from $29.40, for performances September 11 at 7:30pm and September 12 at 2pm and 7:30pm. Full details and tickets are available at balletvancouver.com. Vancouver hasn’t seen a dancer of Ogden’s stature take its stage in a homegrown production in decades — and this September, it won’t have to travel to see her dance.