Katlyn Addison

Houston Ballet
Ballet West: Principal (2011-present)
Scottish Ballet: Guest (2019)

Katlyn Addison was born in Ontario, Canada. She began her professional ballet training at the age of ten with the National Ballet School of Canada and continued her training with Quinte Ballet School of Canada, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Ballet, and the Houston Ballet Ben Stevenson Academy.

Katlyn joined Houston Ballet’s corps de ballet in 2007. In 2008, she was awarded the Sarah Chapin Langham Award at Youth America Grand Prix and was invited to perform at the prestigious YAGP Gala the same year. In 2011 Katlyn joined Ballet West where she was promoted to Demi-Soloist in 2014, Soloist in 2016, and First Soloist in 2018. In 2021 Katlyn made history when she became the first black, female Principal Artist in Ballet West’s 58-year history. Also in 2021, Katlyn was awarded the Performing Arts Fellowship Award by the Utah
Division of Fine Arts & Museums.

Katlyn has danced classical, neoclassical, and contemporary works throughout her career including adaptations from John Cranko’s Romeo & Juliet (Juliet) and Onegin (Tatiana); Adam Sklute’s Swan Lake (Odette/Odlie), Sleeping Beauty (Aurora), and Giselle (Myrtha); George
Balanchine’s Prodigal Son, Jewels, The Four Temperaments, and Concerto Barocco; William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated; Jiri Kylian’s Petite Mort, Return to a Strange Land, and Falling Angels; Ben Stevenson’s Dracula, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and La Bayadere; and many other ballets. She has also performed in several world premieres to include Christopher Bruce’s Grinning in Your Face; Stanton Welch’s Medieval Babes; Val Caniparoli’s The Lottery and Dances for Lou; Nicolo Fonte’s Rite of Spring and Carmina Burana; and Africa Guzman’s Sweet and Bitter.

In 2016 Katlyn was the first black principal ballerina to perform the role of the “Sugar Plum Fairy” in Willam Christensen’s The Nutcracker. Katlyn performed for attendees of the 68 th United Nations Civil Society Conference, dancing the role of Mother Earth in The Way of the Rain – Earth Movements – A Symphony for Ballet with choreography by Emily Adams. Throughout the fall and winter of 2019-2020, Katlyn performed the principal/soloist roles at the Scottish Ballet in Glasgow Scotland including Tituba in Helen Pickettes’ The Crucible and Snow
Queen choreographed by Christopher Hampson, Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet. She returned to Scotland in the Fall of 2022 for a repeat tour of Snow Queen.

In June of 2022 Katlyn was featured in Reframing the Narrative at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. where she performed a lead role in a new ballet created by renowned choreographer Donald Byrd.

Katlyn has also worked to find her choreographic voice. In 2015, Katlyn was chosen to choreograph a work, which she titled The Hunt for Ballet West’s Choreographic Festival Program. She was again selected to create new works for the festival in 2018 (Hidden Voices) and in 2021 (Eden). She also created new ballets for the Utah Arts Festival (Unnamed), the
Ballet West Academy, and the University of Utah Dance Department (Saint-George, The Composer, Frenchmen, and Creator). In early 2022 Kansas City Ballet premiered Katlyn’s new work Sanctuary, and in December of 2022 her work The Cuban Cavalier was premiered with the Gateway Chamber Orchestra. In May of 2023 she created a work for Bayou Ballet (Poem). Her work for Ballet Jorgen, which also premiered in May 2023 (There Were TWO), is currently
touring throughout Canada.

Katlyn has appeared in numerous publications, programs, and films. In 2015 Huffington Post named her as one of the top “26 black female dancers you should know”, and she has been featured in Pointe Magazine, Dance Magazine, and Black Entrepreneur. Katlyn danced and
acted in Miu Miu Woman’s Tales, a short film that premiered at the 2017 Venice Film Festival and appeared on the Prada Miu Miu website. She was also featured in an episode of “Let’s Talk Utah” produced by the Utah Office of Tourism in the fall of 2021 and in an episode of the
Conversations in Dance podcast in February of 2024.

Katlyn is an Advance 2 Honours/Diploma holder of Cecchetti Method of Dance as well as an American Ballet Curriculum Teacher for levels Primary to Level 7. Her strengths in details of movement, articulation of the feet, pointe work, and versatility, knowledge and experience within different styles of dance have all influenced her teaching methods. Katlyn enjoys working with students of all ages, and she is thankful for the opportunity to share her love of dance and years of experience with others. She is currently a member of the adjunct faculty in the University of Utah Dance Department and regularly teaches for the Ballet West Academy. She is in high demand to teach at various intensives during the summer teaching for both university and ballet academy programs.

In early 2022, Katlyn was included as an honoree in Microsoft’s virtual interactive museum, The Legacy Project, and she was also featured in the Utah Black Chamber’s book Black Utah: Stories of a Thriving Community.

Katlyn is involved in many passion projects and is dedicated to using her platform to give back to her community and to help raise the voices of other minority artists. Katlyn has volunteered her time for the Redlining Project; Ballet West’s I CAN DO Program, and Curly ME. She also serves on the board of directors for the Utah Black Artist Collective.

Sources:

Katlyn Addison
Roster for 21/22 Season Announced, Ballet West
Ballet West Promotes Katlyn Addison and Hadriel Diniz to Principal; 8 Others Say Farewell, Pointe Magazine