Chalnessa Eames (born 1978) is a ballet dancer who performed with the

Royal Winnipeg Ballet The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. History It was founded in 1939 as the "Winnipeg Ballet Club" by Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally (who also fou ...

and the

Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is an American ballet company based in Seattle, Washington. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004. The company consists of 49 dancers and hosts ...

Early life and education

Eames was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. She is one of five children born to Rebecca (Becky) and David Eames. From the age of three, she grew up in

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

, where she studied ballet at the Nancy Whyte School of Ballet and the Morca Academy of Performing Arts. She then moved to Eugene (Oregon) to work with Kathleen Smith Epstein, who taught using the Vaganova syllabus. She worked with her for two years, from ages 12–14, when she started high school. She auditioned for Harid Conservatory and received a two-year scholarship. She attended summer programs at the

School and the School of

, and completed her final year of training at Winnipeg.

Career

In 1996, at the age of 18, she joined

, as an apprentice and was promoted to the ''

corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French language, French for "body of the little dance") is the group of ballet dancer, dancers who are not principal dancers or Soloist (ballet), soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and ...

'' the following year. She joined the

as a member of the ''corps de ballet'' in 2001, where she was promoted to soloist in 2007. Eames left the Pacific Northwest Ballet in June 2011. She currently performs with Olivier Wevers' Whim W'Him dance company.

Leading roles

Eames has danced leading roles which include: *

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...

's ''Agon'', ''Coppélia'', ''Emeralds'', ''The Four Temperaments'', ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (Butterfly), ''Rubies'', ''Serenade'', and ''Symphony in C'' * Todd Bolender's ''Souvenirs'' *

Ulysses Dove Ulysses Dove (January 17, 1947 in Columbia, South Carolina – June 11, 1996 in Manhattan) was a choreographer. Dove began his dance training at Boggs Academy in Georgia. Dove gave up his premedical studies at Howard University to transfer t ...

's ''Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven'', ''Serious Pleasures'', and ''Vespers'' *

Nacho Duato Juan Ignacio Duato Barcia, also known as Nacho Duato (born 8 January 1957) is a Spanish modern ballet dancer and choreographer. Since 2014, Duato has been artistic director of the Berlin State Ballet. He is openly gay. Career Nacho Duato st ...

's ''Jardí Tancat'' and ''Rassemblement'' * William Forsythe's ''Artifact II'' and ''One Flat Thing, reproduced'' *

Ronald Hynd Ronald Hynd (born 22 April 1931) is an English choreographer, and in his youth was a ballet dancer. In the Royal Ballet in the late 1940s he began to dance with Annette Page, whom he later married. Page died on 4 December 2017. They have a daugh ...

's ''The Sleeping Beauty'' (Bluebird pas de deux, Gold and Silver pas de trois) *

Jiri Kylian Jiri () is a municipality in Dolakha District in the Bagmati Province of central Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 13,638 people. Jiri, which lies about 190 kilometers from Kathmandu, is the main gateway to the ...

's '' Petite Mort'' *

José Limón José Arcadio Limón (January 12, 1908 – December 2, 1972) was a dancer and choreographer from Mexico and who developed what is now known as 'Limón technique'. In the 1940s, he founded the José Limón Dance Company (now the Limón Dan ...

's ''The Moor's Pavane'' *

Jean-Christophe Maillot Jean-Christophe Maillot (born 1960) is a Monaco-based, French-born dancer and choreographer. He has been the choreographer-director of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo since 1993. Early life and education Maillot was born in Tours. He studied at the ...

's ''Roméo et Juliette'' (Nurse) *

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

' ''Dances at a Gathering'' and ''Fancy Free'' *

Kent Stowell Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is an American ballet company based in Seattle, Washington. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004. The company consists of 49 dancers and hosts ...

's ''Cinderella'' (Stepsister), ''Delicate Balance'', ''Nutcracker'' (Clara, Flora), ''Quaternary'', and ''Silver Lining'' *

Twyla Tharp Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1965 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance, which merged with American Ballet Theatre in 1988. She regrouped the compa ...

's ''Afternoon Ball'', ''In the Upper Room'', and '' Nine Sinatra Songs'' *

Christopher Wheeldon Christopher Peter Wheeldon (born 22 March 1973) is an English international choreographer of contemporary ballet. Early life Born in Yeovil, Somerset, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dancer at th ...

's ''Variations Sérieuses'' She also originated the leading roles in: *

Benjamin Millepied Benjamin Millepied (; born 10 June 1977) is a French dancer and choreographer, who has lived and worked in the United States since joining the New York City Ballet in 1995, where he became a soloist in 1998 and a principal in 2002. He has als ...

's ''3 Movements'' *

Susan Stroman Susan P. Stroman (born October 17, 1954) is an American theatre director, choreographer, and performer. Her notable theater productions include ''Oklahoma!'', ''The Music Man'', ''Crazy for You (musical), Crazy for You'', ''Contact (musical), Co ...

's ''TAKE FIVE ... More or Less'' *

's ''Opus 111'' *

Olivier Wevers Whim W'Him, Seattle Contemporary Dance is a Seattle-based contemporary dance company founded by Olivier Wevers in January 2009. Programs Whim W'Him offers 3 productions each season. The company has performed original works by Danielle Agami, Ju ...

' ''Shindig''

Other work

Eames danced in

Guy Maddin Guy Maddin (born February 28, 1956) is a Canadian screenwriter, director, author, cinematographer, film editor and installation artist. He is known for his fascination with lost Silent film, Silent-era films and for incorporating their aestheti ...

's 2002 film Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary.

Personal life

Eames is married to Ash Modha, the CEO and co-founder of the Mondetta Clothing Company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eames, Chalnessa 1978 births Living people American ballerinas Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancers Pacific Northwest Ballet soloists