A native of Toronto, Sonia Rodriguez studied dance in Madrid with Pedro de la Cruz and at the Princess
Grace Academy in Monaco. She joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1990 and was promoted to Principal
Dancer in 2000 and retired as the longest raining principal of the company after a 32 year carrer.
Sonia is an acclaimed artist of pure elegance who has performed virtually every leading role in the classical
repertoire including Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Manon, La Fille mal gardée,
The Merry Widow and Marguerite and Armand. Her repertoire includes numerous George Balanchine ballets,
including Apollo, Mozartiana, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Theme and Variations, Serenade, The Four
Temperament Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds from Jewels. Sonia has performed in works by contemporary
choreographers such as Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, John Neumeier, Wayne McGregor, Jorma
Elo and Crystal Pite, including Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Winter’s Tale, Nijinsky, Anna Karenina,
A Streetcar Named Desire, among others. Sonia has also had numerous roles created on her, including the title
role in Cinderella, Princess Vasilisa in The Firebird and roles in An Italian Straw Hat and The Four Seasons.
Sonia has performed internationally as a guest artist, including the Stars of the 21st Century Gala in New
York City, International Ballet Gala in Madrid, Gala of International Dance Stars in Cincinnati,
International Ballet Festival of Miami, Houston Ballet Gala and the Fstival Dance Gala in Charleston, West
Virginia. In 2005, she danced the role of Dulcinea in the world premiere of Suzanne Farrell’s re-staging of
Balanchine’s Don Quixote at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 2017, Sonia was the recipient of the
Rolex Dancers First Award for her role as Blanche DuBois in the Canadian premiere of John Neumeier’s A
Streetcar Named Desire.
In 2014, she was named one of “The 100 Spaniards” being honoured for her success abroad and was inducted
into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2012. In 2011, she was honoured with Spain’s Officer’s Cross of the Civil
Merit and wrote her first children’s book, T is for Tutu: A Ballet Alphabet
Currently Sonia continues to perform with Côte Dance and is a private coach and guest teacher at Nacho Duato
Academy.