Jillian Vanstone is a Canadian ballet dancer. She joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1999, was promoted to principal dancer in 2011, and retired from performing in 2022.

Early life

Vanstone was born and raised in

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...

, British Columbia. She started ballet at age six. At age 13, she moved to Toronto to train at

Canada's National Ballet School Canada's National Ballet School, also commonly known as the National Ballet School of Canada, is a classical ballet school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Along with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's ...

Career

Vanstone joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1999. In 2011, she was chosen by choreographer

Christopher Wheeldon Christopher Peter Wheeldon OBE (born 22 March 1973) is an English international choreographer of contemporary ballet. Life and career Born in Yeovil, Somerset, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dan ...

to dance the role Alice in the North American premiere of '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. She won the Rolex Dancers First Award for that role. Later that year, she was promoted to principal dancer. She had portrayed Perdita in the North American premiere of '' The Winter's Tale'' and Stella in the Canadian premiere of ''A Streetcar Names Desire'', and danced lead roles in productions such as '' La fille mal gardée'', '' The Sleeping Beauty'', ''

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was first ...

'', '' Apollo'', and works by Wheeldon,

Guillaume Côté Guillaume Côté (born September 17, 1981) is a Canadian ballet dancer and choreographer. He is currently a principal dancer and a Choreographic Associate at the National Ballet of Canada. Early life Côté was born in Lac Saint-Jean, Quebec. Bo ...

, Alexei Ratmansky, John Neumeier and Jerome Robbins. In 2019, she celebrated her 20th anniversary with the company after a performance of ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...

''. Vanstone retired from performing in 2022. Her final performances was in Wheeldon's ''

After the Rain After the Rain may refer to: Film and television * ''After the Rain'' (film), a 1999 film by Takashi Koizumi * ''After the Rain'' (TV series), a 2000 Iranian series * ''After the Rain'' (TV special), a 2009 Christmas special by Regine Velasquez * A ...

'', which the company acquired especially for this occasion.

Selected repertoire

Vanstone's repertoire with the National Ballet of Canada includes:

Awards

*2011: Rolex Dancers First Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanstone, Jillian Living people Canadian ballerinas National Ballet of Canada principal dancers People from Nanaimo Canadian female dancers 21st-century ballet dancers Year of birth missing (living people)