Whitney Jensen
American Whitney Jensen was appointed Principal Dancer after dancing the role of Kitri in Don Quixote in the spring of 2017, one year after joining the Norwegian National Ballet. She made her debut as Odette and Odile in Holmes' Swan Lake in 2018 and has since danced the roles of Nikiya and Gamzatti in Makarova’s La Bayadère, Kitty in Spuck’s Anna Karenina, Clara in Boyadjiev’s The Nutcracker, the lead role in Balanchine's Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux and Allegro Brillante, Juliet in the balcony duet from Corder’s Romeo and Juliet and the lead role in Giselle. She was part of the Norwegian premiere of McGregor's Chroma and the world premiere of Portner's islands and has danced prominent parts in Kylián's One of a Kind, Ekman's Cacti and Mats Ek's She Was Black.
As a choreographer, Jensen made her debut on the Main Stage with Afternoon of a Faun, co-created with Anaïs Touret in 2021. She has created dance to RAW and also created the duet To Fly in 2020. She is a member of the workshop company, a part of the Norwegian National Ballet’s choreography initiative.
Jensen joined the Norwegian National Ballet after being a member of the Boston Ballet, where she began in 2009 and was appointed Soloist in 2011 and Principal Dancer in 2014. She has danced as Michaëla in Scarlett’s Carmen, in Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, as well as Kylián’s Falling Angels, Sweet Dreams, Tiger Lily and Petite Mort. She has also danced in such classical ballets as Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, and in works choreographed by Ekman, Clerc and Robbins. Jensen moved from Salt Lake City to New York at the age of twelve to train with the Russian-American ballerina Valentina Kozlova. During her training, she participated in the 23rd Varna International Ballet Competition, where she was the first female American dancer to win the junior prize.
Performances
Selection of previous acts
- 1. pas de deux in MATS EK
- 1. pas de deux in MATS EK: She Was Black + A Sort Of
- 5 Solo Damer in Portner/Kylian/Balanchine
- Allegro Brillante in Lyset på Nasjonalballetten
- Aurora in Sleeping Beauty
- Cacti Soli Par in Ekman / Haagenrud / Kylián
- Chroma in A Night of Dance x 12
- Clara in The Nutcracker
- Clara in The Nutcracker
- Clara in The Nutcracker
- Damer in MATS EK …
- Gamzatti in La Bayadère
- Giselle in Giselle
- Gods & Dogs in A Night of Dance x 12
- Gods and Dogs in Ekman / Haagenrud / Kylián
- Hovedpar in Balanchine: Jewels
- Hovedpar in Diamonds: León & Lightfoot/Balanchine
- islands in A Night of Dance x 12
- Kingdom of the Shades - Nikiya in An Evening with the Masters: White Nights
- Kitty in Anna Karenina
- Mamma in MATS EK …
- Medvirkende in Alan Lucien Øyen: Nothing Personal
- Nikiya in La Bayadère
- Nikiya in La Bayadère
- One of a kind in Kylián: One of A Kind
- Ophelia in The Hamlet Complex Redux
- Ophelia in The Hamlet Complex Redux
- Ophelia.. in The Hamlet Complex Redux
- Passage Duet 4 in Crystal Pite
- Red in Portner/Kylian/Balanchine
- Resonance in Baroque Movement
- Romeo og Julie: Julie in Lyset på Nasjonalballetten
- Symfoni i C - 1. sats in An Evening with the Masters: White Nights
- Tatjana in Onegin
- Vespertine in Baroque Movement
- Wall Widow in Portner/Kylian/Balanchine