Rex Howard Harrington, (born October 30, 1962 in

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

) is a Canadian ballet dancer.Rex Harrington
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

. In 2000, he was made an

Officer of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. In 2005, he was inducted into

Canada's Walk of Fame Canada's Walk of Fame (french: link=no, Allée des célébrités canadiennes) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of Canadians who have excelled in their respective fields. It is a ...

. In 2006, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

and was made a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

. He is currently artist-in-residence at the National Ballet of Canada, and is a board member of the

Dancer Transition Resource Centre Founded in 1985 by former ballerina Joysanne Sidimus, the Dancer Transition Resource Centre (DTRC) is a Canadian charity that provides counselling and retraining grants to dancers making career transitions. In 2006, Joysanne Sidimus was awarded the ...

Dance career

Harrington studied 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, it is a provider of professional ballet tr ...

. He joined the

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

in 1983 and became a principal dancer in 1988. He partnered with many renowned ballerinas such as

Ekaterina Maximova Ekaterina Sergeevna Maximova (russian: Екатерина Сергеевна Максимова; 1 February 1939 – 28 April 2009) was a Soviet and Russian ballerina of the second part of the 20th century who was internationally recognised. Sh ...

Carla Fracci Carolina "Carla" Fracci (; 20 August 1936 – 27 May 2021) was an Italian ballet dancer, actress and ballet director. Considered one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century, she was a leading dancer of La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan, th ...

Karen Kain Karen Alexandria Kain (born March 28, 1951) is a Canadian former ballet dancer, and was the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 2005 - 2021. Early training and childhood Kain's mother enrolled her daughter in ballet training ...

Veronica Tennant Veronica Tennant, (born January 15, 1946) is a Canadian producer, director, and filmmaker and a former principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada. She was born in London, England and moved to Canada with her parents and sister in 1955. Da ...

Alessandra Ferri Alessandra Ferri OMRI (born 6 May 1963) is an Italian prima ballerina. She danced with the Royal Ballet (1980–1984), American Ballet Theatre (1985–2007) and La Scala Theatre Ballet (1992–2007) and as an international guest artist, before t ...

Susan Jaffe Susan Jaffe (born 1962) is an American ballet dancer and arts administrator. She is currently the artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre, where she had danced for 22 years and held the rank of principal dancer. She previously served a ...

and

Evelyn Hart Evelyn Anne Hart (born April 4, 1956) is a Canadian ballerina and former principal dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Life and career Born in Toronto, Ontario, Hart studied dance at the Dorothy Carter School of Dance in London, Ontario, Cana ...

. He has also performed with such companies as

La Scala Theatre Ballet The La Scala Theatre Ballet ( it, Corpo di ballo del Teatro alla Scala) is the resident classical ballet company at La Scala in Milan, Italy. One of the oldest and most renowned ballet companies in the world, the company pre-dates the theatre, bu ...

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Franc ...

Royal Winnipeg Ballet The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. History It was founded in 1939 as the "Winnipeg Ballet Club" by Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally (who also fou ...

, and

Stuttgart Ballet Stuttgart Ballet is a leading German ballet company. Dating back to 1609, then the court ballet of the dukes of Württemberg, the modern company was founded by John Cranko and is known for full-length narrative ballets. The company received the L ...

. Harrington's classical roles include Romeo in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'', Basilio in ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

'', Kastchei in ''

The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's ...

'', Eugene Onegin in '' Onegin'', and Apollo in Balanchine's ''

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

''.

James Kudelka James Kudelka, OC (born September 10, 1955 at Newmarket, Ontario), is a Canadian choreographer, dancer, and director. He was the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 1996 to 2005, now serving as the National Ballet's artist in ...

created several roles for Harrington, including Rothbart in ''Swan Lake'' (1999), Peter/The Nutcracker in ''The Nutcracker'' (1995), and the central role in ''The Four Seasons'' (1997). Choreographer

Glen Tetley Glen Tetley (February 3, 1926 – January 26, 2007) was an American ballet and modern dancer as well as a choreographer who mixed ballet and modern dance to create a new way of looking at dance, and is best known for his piece ''Pierrot Lunaire ...

also created the roles of Lewis Carroll in ''Alice'' (1992) and The Young Gentleman in ''La Ronde'' (1988) for Harrington. Harrington retired from the stage in 2004, although he came out of retirement to dance the role of Prince Gremin in the National Ballet of Canada's 2010 production of ''Onegin''.

Film, television and theatre

Harrington has appeared in

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (born July 21, 1926) is a retired Canadian film and television director, producer, and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. He has directed numerous feature films and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best D ...

's ''

The January Man ''The January Man'' is a 1989 American crime comedy directed by Pat O'Connor from a screenplay by John Patrick Shanley. The film stars Kevin Kline as Nick Starkey, a smart ex-NYPD detective who is lured back into service by his police commiss ...

'', as well as the film adaptation of ''The Four Seasons'', for which he won a Gemini Award in 2000. Harrington's television credits include the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

specials ''Karen Kain: Dancing in the Moment'' and ''Wild Hearts in Strange Times'', featuring dance artist

Margie Gillis Margie Gillis (born July 9, 1953) is a Canadian dancer and choreographer. Gillis has been creating original works of modern dance for over thirty-five years. Her repertoire includes more than one hundred pieces, which she performs as solos, duet ...

. In 2002, Harrington made his musical theatre debut in ''Robin Hood'' at Toronto's Winter Garden Theatre. In 2004, he had a guest role in an episode of '' Queer as Folk''."Behind the tutu"
, ''

Xtra! ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former pr ...

'', November 25, 2004. Harrington was also a recurring guest judge on ''

So You Think You Can Dance Canada ''So You Think You Can Dance Canada'' is a dance competition and reality show that aired on CTV. Based on the original American TV show ''So You Think You Can Dance'', the Canadian series showcased the best in Canadian dancing talent. Each seas ...

''. In summer 2014, Rex appeared as a contestant with his fiance, Bob Hope, on the second season of ''

The Amazing Race Canada ''The Amazing Race Canada'' is a Canadian adventure reality game show based on the international ''Amazing Race'' franchise. Following the premise of other versions of the format, the show follows teams of two as they race across Canada and aro ...

'', where he finished 7th.

Advocacy

Harrington's mother, who first encouraged him to dance, has

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

. He has spoken out against the stigma attached to mental illness, most notably through the "Transforming Lives" campaign of the

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH, pronounced , french: Centre de toxicomanie et de santé mentale) is a psychiatric teaching hospital located in Toronto and ten community locations throughout the province of Ontario, Canada. It re ...

in Toronto.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, Rex 1962 births Living people Canadian male ballet dancers Canadian people of Greek descent Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Officers of the Order of Canada LGBT entertainers from Canada People from Peterborough, Ontario National Ballet of Canada dancers LGBT dancers So You Think You Can Dance Canada The Amazing Race Canada contestants