Veronica Tennant

Prima  Ballerina with The National Ballet of Canada for 25 years, Veronica Tennant has won hearts and accolades performing with the ‘greats’, including Rudolf  Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Now an internationally recognized filmmaker, director/producer and writer, her shows have garnered several Gemini Awards and the prestigious International Emmy Award for Karen Kain: Dancing In The Moment. Forming Veronica Tennant Productions in 1997, Tennant has produced and directed extensively for CBC and Bravo!, including her most  recent, A Pairing of SwanS with Evelyn Hart and Rex Harrington, and Shadow Pleasures, which was inspired by and collaborated with author Michael Ondaatje.

Tennant holds five Honorary Doctorates, has written two children’s books, is an inductee of Canada’s Walk of Fame, and is National Ambassador for UNICEF. Selected honours in 2004/5 include the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts, as announced by the Canada Council, and the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement. 

Veronica Tennant was the first dancer to be appointed to the Order of Canada as Officer in 1975, and elevated to the rank of Companion – the country’s highest honour – in 2004.