Graydon George
GRAYDON GEORGE was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and began his formal ballet training at Kansas City Ballet School at the age of 8. He continued his studies at Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto, Ontario, graduating from the Professional Ballet Academic Program in 2022, training under Mavis Staines, Raymond Smith, Alexander Gorbatsevich, and James Kudelka. He furthered his training for a year in Canada’s National Ballet School’s Company Life Program. Performance highlights of his time at Canada’s National Ballet School include performing the lead man in excerpts of James Kudelka’s The Four Seasons, originating soloist roles in Robert Binet and Esie Mensah’s The Call for the Assemblee Internationale Dance Festival in 2023, and receiving the distinct honor of performing the lead role in Jera Wolfe’s Arise for the Fall for Dance North Festival.
In 2023, George joined the National Ballet of Canada as an apprentice. As an apprentice, he performed corps de ballet roles in productions like John Cranko’s Onegin, James Kudelka’s The Nutcracker, Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice in Wonderland, and Carlos Acosta’s Don Quixote. As an apprentice, he also participated in the National Ballet’s outreach program, YOU Dance, performing for 20,000+ children across the Greater Toronto Area. His YOU Dance repertoire includes Robert Binet’s Ever New, Alyssa Martin’s Sugar Water, Sir Peter Wright’s Giselle Pas de Deux, and Hanna Kiel’s Until You See Me, a contemporary solo created specially for him.
In 2024, George was invited to join the prestigious San Francisco Ballet School Trainee Program under Grace Holmes and Pascal Molat. His performance highlights as a trainee include being a part of the world premiere of Esteban Hernandez’s 1941 on tour in Ketchum, Idaho, for the Ballet Sun Valley Festival, performing David Justin’s A Boy and a Girl Pas de Deux in Golden Gate Park, and performing the principal couple in Lew Christensen’s Vivaldi Concerto Grosso on the SF War Memorial Opera House Stage for the SFBS Spring Festival. As an SFBS trainee, he also received the opportunity to perform corps de ballet roles in San Francisco Ballet company productions like Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, Tamara Rojo’s Raymonda, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Broken Wings, and Liam Scarlett’s Frankenstein.
He is beyond excited to continue his budding professional career with BalletMet 2 for the 25/26 season!