Siphesihle November (born ) is a South African ballet dancer. He joined the

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca, the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

in 2017 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2021, at age 22.

Early life and training

November was born in Zolani,

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

. He is the youngest of five children. As a child, he danced

kwaito Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, between the late 1980s and 1990s. It is a sound that features the use of African sounds and samples. Kwaito songs occur at a slower tempo range than other styles of h ...

, a form of street dance with his brothers. He was spotted by a dance teacher, who invited him to her ballet classes. In 2009, he met a Canadian couple on sabbatical, who recognised November's talents. The following year, with the permission of his dance teacher and mother, the couple brought the eleven-year-old November to Toronto, where he studied at

Canada's National Ballet School Canada's National Ballet School, also commonly known as the National Ballet School of Canada, is a classical ballet school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Along with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, it is a provider of professional ballet tr ...

on scholarship.

Career

In 2017, November was invited to join the

by artistic director

Karen Kain Karen Alexandria Kain (born March 28, 1951) is a Canadian former ballet dancer and was the Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Canada from 2005 to 2021. Early training and childhood Kain's mother enrolled her daughter in ballet trainin ...

, without completing an apprenticeship first. In his first year, he danced as Bluebird, a short but technically demanding role, in '' The Sleeping Beauty''. The following year, he was cast as Puck in Ashton's '' The Dream'', sharing the role with three other colleagues, including two principal dancers. He was included in

Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" is an annual list published by ''Dance Magazine'' of leading young dancers and choreographers, as well as new dance companies and trends in dance. The list is printed in the January issue of the magazine each year. ...

the same year. In 2019, he and colleague Jeannine Haller represented the National Ballet at the Erik Bruhn Prize by dancing a pas de deux from ''

La Sylphide ''La Sylphide'' (; ) is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. Bournonville's is the only ve ...

'' and Alysa Pires's new work ''The Other Side'', with him winning the male category. Later that year, he was promoted to second soloist. He is also the subject of Vikram Dasgupta's 2019 documentary ''Beyond Moving''. The production began in 2015, while November was still a student. In 2020, he was promoted to first soloist. In 2021, November was named principal dancer. At age 22, he tied

Guillaume Côté Guillaume Côté (born September 17, 1981) is a Canadian ballet dancer, choreographer, composer and artistic director. He is a principal dancer and a Choreographic Associate at the National Ballet of Canada. In February 2024, he announced that t ...

's record of being the youngest principal dancers at the company. He is also the company's second black principal dancer, after Kevin Pugh. His first appearance since his promotion was in Pite's ''Angels' Atlas'', though his debut as Peter/The Prince in ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'' was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He will also choreograph a new work for the company, which is scheduled to premiere in March 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:November, Siphesihle 1990s births Living people People from the Western Cape South African male ballet dancers South African ballet dancers National Ballet of Canada principal dancers 21st-century ballet dancers South African expatriates in Canada