Tanya Howard was born in Uitenhage, South Africa and trained at The National School of the Arts in South Africa and Canada’s National Ballet School. She joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1998 and was promoted to First Soloist in 2007. Ms. Howard’s repertoire includes Alice and the Queen of Hearts in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, Stepsister inCinderella, Paulina in The Winter’s Tale, Summer and Autumn in The Four Seasons and La Rose in the world premiere of Le Petit Prince. Her repertoire also includes feature roles in Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Don Quixote, The Taming of the Shrew, Les Sylphides, Opus 19/The Dreamer, Elite Syncopations, Serenade, Jewels, Symphony in C, Monotones II, Voluntaries, Désir, Glass Pieces, Chroma, The Four Temperaments, Genus and The Second Detail. In 2016, Ms. Howard was awarded the David Tory Award, and was awarded the William Marrié Award for Dramatic Excellence for her role as the Queen of Hearts in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 2011.