Karen Kain

Dancer, born in Hamilton, Ontario, SE Canada. After training with the Canadian National Ballet School in Toronto she joined the company in 1969, becoming principal dancer in 1970. Canada's most popular ballerina, she has danced the major classical leads as well as interpreting roles in works by contemporary choreographers.

Karen Kain, CC (born on March 28, 1951) is a Canadian ballet dancer.

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Kain began training to become a ballet dancer at the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto in 1962. She became principal dancer in 1971, dancing central roles in a wide array of ballets, eventually becoming the most well-known dancer in Canada.

In 1973, she won silver in the women's competition and another silver for Best pas de Deux (with Frank Augustyn) at the second International ballet competition.

She worked as a guest artist with Roland Petit's Le Ballet National de Marseilles, the Bolshoi Ballet, the London Festival Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Hamburg Ballet, the Vienna State Opera Ballet, and the Eliot Feld Ballet.

In the late 1970s Kain stopped dancing for a period, but in 1980 resumed dancing with the National Ballet of Canada, where she stayed for a further 15 years.

In 1976, she became an Officer of the Order of Canada and was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1991.

In 1998, Kain returned to the National Ballet of Canada as part of the senior management team.

Kain's brother, Kevin Kain, is a noted tropical medicine expert based in Toronto, Ontario.