Olivia Clark Omardien

Olivia Clark Omardien

Rehearsal Director, BalletMet 2 Associate Director

Olivia Clark Omardien is originally from Bellville, Ohio. She received her ballet training in Columbus, Ohio as part of the BalletMet Dance Academy Pre-Professional Program, where she was recipient of the Lucy Porter Scholarship. Her dance career included work with Festival Ballet of Rhode Island, Nashville Ballet and BalletMet, where she was a company member for 18 seasons. With BalletMet, she performed roles such as Mina in David Nixon’s Dracula, the Solo Girl in George Balanchine’s Rubies, the principal role in Maurice Hines’ High C, Clara in The Nutcracker, Fortuna in Dwight Rhoden’s Carmina Burana, Autumn in James Kudelka’s The Four Seasons, and the title role in Amadeo Amodio’s Carmen among many others. She was also in the original cast of James Kudelka’s Man in Black. In 2006, Olivia performed in Poland as part of the International Contemporary Dance Festival, and in 2010 toured with BalletMet to perform in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia. Also in 2010, she was awarded the Violetta Boft Memorial Award in recognition of personal achievements and dedication to the world of dance. In addition to onstage efforts, in 2007 she began to take on the duties of an Assistant Ballet Mistress for BalletMet. Throughout the rest of her career, she assisted with the staging and rehearsing of company productions including work on Jimmy Orrante’s The Great Gatsby, James Kudelka’s Man in Black, Gerard Charles’ The Nutcracker and others. In 2013, she assisted James Kudelka as he created his world premiere Rite of Spring for the BalletMet Company. Oliva is married to former Company Dancer Hisham Omardien and together they have two kids, Safiyyah and Zayn.