Karen Kain discovered ballet, and it embraced her

In 1959, Karen Kain, an eight-year-old Ancaster girl, attended a National Ballet touring production of the melodrama Giselle" with her parents and it changed the her life.

She was enraptured. Within three years, she enrolled in the National Ballet School of Canada. She graduated in 1969 and joined the National Ballet of Canada becoming a principal dancer in 1971.

Kain went on to become one of the country's most well-known ballet dancers. She has performed around the world. She didn't dance for four years after 1977, but returned in 1981, performing for 15 more years, spending more than a half century with the National Ballet.

In 2005, she became artistic director, a post she held until January 2021 retired and was named Artistic Director Emeritus. She officially retired on July 2.