FIRST Soloist

“... Harrison James as the White Rabbit moved flawlessly.” –Review Vancouver, 2011

Harrison James was born in New Zealand and started his ballet training with a local ballet studio at the age of five. Since then he has trained in two major dance schools, the New Zealand School of Dance and the San Francisco Ballet School's Trainee Program. Here, as well as at the ballet program in the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival he received training from the likes of Jean-Yves Esquerre, Parrish Maynard, Anna-Marie Holmes, Amanda McKerrow, Adam Sklute and Nikolaj Hubbe. During these years he has performed a variety of works including Balanchine's Theme and Variations, Tomasson's 7 for Eight Pas de Deux and Sleeping Beauty.

James has also performed with the San Francisco Ballet as a student in Helgi's own Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet and Nutcracker, John Neumeier's The Little Mermaid and Jerome Robbins' The Concert.

James joined the RWB last season dancing in Dracula, Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, In the Upper Room, In Tandem and Moulin Rouge® – The Ballet. He also had the opportunity to perform the role of White Rabbit in Shawn Hounsell’s Wonderland. For the 2011/12 season he has been promoted to second soloist.