Greta Hodgkinson
During 2019/20, her final season at the National Ballet of Canada, Greta Hodgkinson appeared in Jiry Kilian's Petite Mort and danced one of her signature roles, Giselle, whom she never portrayed as a naive, love-struck weakling, making the mad scene chilling in its intensity.
(Gary Smith, The Hamilton Spectator) [9] “In the demanding title role, Greta Hodgkinson is a wonder, both as dancer and actress.” (Bob Clark, Calgary Herald) [10] “Her breezy jumps paint her as a confident, yet trusting woman, who initially has no reason to doubt her man.
The famed Japanese dancer from the Royal Ballet, Tetsuya Kumakawa, invited Ms. Hodgkinson to tour Japan dancing Swan Lake with him and his company, K-Ballet where they performed to critical acclaim.
Apart from Mr. Bolle and Mr. Kumakawa, Ms. Hodgkinson was sought after by many renowned artists including Carlos Acosta, Marcelo Gomes, Guillaume Côté, Massimo Murru, Laurent Hilaire, Federico Bonelli, Robert Tewsley, Zdenek Konvalina, Jason Reilly, Evan McKie, Steven McRae and Matthew Golding.
[15] As such, she helped create many of the lead roles in works that are now a part of The National Ballet of Canada's permanent repertoire, among them Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and The Firebird.
Hodgkinson also worked closely with such icons as William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Glen Tetley, John Neumeier, Wayne McGregor, Christopher Wheeldon, Crystal Pite and Alexei Ratmansky.
Over her 30-year career, Hodgkinson developed strong chemistry with frequent partners Rex Harrington, Aleksandar Antonijevic, Roberto Bolle and Guillaume Côté, "each one being wonderful in his own way".
She performed Hamlet’s mother in the Guillaume Côté-Robert Lepage adaptation of Shakespear’s play, which premiered at Festival des arts de Saint-Sauveur in July 2023 to critical acclaim.
I’m sitting there, just holding my breath, hoping my dancers are going to catch her!”[17] Greta Hodgkinson possesses "a rare daring and an ability to devour space with aplomb and intelligence.
[21] In 2017, she was invited by world renowned choreographer Alexei Ratmansky to stage his version of Romeo and Juliet for the famed Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, Russia.
In 2021, she founded Dance Mentoring by Greta, a unique and comprehensive mentorship program for dancers that addresses the challenges and demands artists face today.
Providing dancers with the tools, inspiration, opportunities and feed-back, Greta hopes to help them realize their goals and aspirations and enjoy a long and successful career.
Hodgkinson is a sought-after judge for international dance competitions worldwide, such as Youth America Grand Prix (Toronto and Indianapolis, 2023).
The TV special also featured Aleksandar Antonijevic (Prince Ivan), Rebekah Rimsay (Princess Vasilisa), and Rex Harrington (Kastchei the Demon).
[23] In 2004, she was in the filmed New Year’s Concert Gala reopening of the famous La Fenice theatre in Venice, Italy dancing with Roberto Bolle.
Other TV appearances include one episode of Opening Night (2001) and one in Baxter (2010), as well as the part of Roxana (2006) in a dramatic dance interpretation of Daniel Defoe's eponymous novel.
Greta Hodgkinson has worked with noted photographers Michael Thompson, Febrizio Ferri, Howard Schatz, Nick Krasnaii, Christopher Wahl, Max Abadian, Sian Richards and Cylla von Tiedemann, among others.
She is married to Etienne Lavigne, a principal character artist with the National Ballet of Canada as well as the Executive Director of Festival des arts de Saint-Sauveur and Côté Danse.
