Karen Kain

Kain's mother enrolled her daughter in ballet training because she believed it would improve her postural alignment, poise, and discipline.

The family moved from Ancaster to Erindale Woodlands, Toronto Township when Kain was in grade 6 (age 11, 1962) so she could begin training at the National Ballet School of Canada.

During her career, she performed in many ballets from classical and modern repertoire including among others Swan Lake (Erik Bruhn) Coppélia, The Sleeping Beauty (Rudolph Nureyev), Giselle, Romeo and Juliet (John Cranko), La fille mal gardée, Onegin (John Cranko), The Taming of the Shrew (John Cranko), Pastorale (James Kudelka), Carmen (Roland Petit), Concerto Barocco (Balanchine), A Month in the Country (Frederick Ashton) and Nutcracker in which she was often paired with dancer Frank Augustyn.

[4] The talent of Kain and Augustyn came to the attention of the public and peers as soon as 1973 when they won prizes at the 1973 Moscow International Ballet Competition.

In 1996, Kain reunited with Frank Augustyn to appear in her husband Ross Petty's panto production of Robin Hood at Toronto's Elgin Theatre.

[19][20] Kain has been married since 1983 to Ross Petty, a stage and film actor, and producer of theatrical pantomime productions in Canada for over 20 years.

In 1976, Kain appeared in a televised version of the ballet Giselle in the highly coveted title role, alongside Nadia Potts, Frank Augustyn, and Anne Ditchburn.

Kain was also alluded to in the 2003 movie directed by Denys Arcand, The Barbarian Invasions, when Rémy Girard reminisced about his past love affairs.