Fancy Feet

On the eve of her retirement, a look at ballet star Karen Kain’s one-of-a-kind career

- Emily Landau

FROM THE MOMENT she first pirouetted across the National Ballet stage in 1969, at age 18 (pictured), it was clear that Karen Kain was unlike any ballerina Canada had seen before. She became a household name for her ties to Russian ballet legends, for schmoozing with the likes of Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol, and for towering above other dancers (she’s 1.7 metres tall). Kain might have disappeared when she stopped performing at 46 years of age. Instead, she became the company’s artistic director in 2005 and used her star power and international connections to turn it into a dance-world powerhouse.

The only thing she hasn’t done is create her own ballet—until now. This month, on the eve of her retirement, she’ll debut a sparkling new production of Swan Lake. The ballet, about a young woman cursed to live as a swan and the prince who loves and betrays her, is the epitome of oldfashioned ballet, but Kain is re-adapting it for today, drawing on the natural world for inspiration. In honour of Kain’s, ahem, swan song, here’s a look back at the most memorable moments from her 50 years of national treasuredom.

1971 (top)

Kain met the Russian ballet icon Rudolf Nureyev when they danced together in The Sleeping Beauty. “Even though I was too tall for him, he handled me superbly,” she says. “I was brave with him. He’d give me a charge and I’d charge him right back.”

1980 (bottom)