Mark Godden, C.M.

honour roll inductee

Biography

Mark Godden first joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet as a student in the RWB School Professional Division. He was drawn to the training offered by the School and to the tutelage of David Moroni, C.M.. Despite being a latecomer to dance (Mr. Godden took his first dance class at the age of 21), he received a full scholarship to the RWB School Professional Division after being noticed by Arnold Spohr.

In 1984, Mr. Godden joined the corps of the RWB Company. He quickly rose through the ranks to become a leading soloist, partnering Evelyn Hart in stand-alone pas de deuxs such as Hans Van Manen’s Piano Variations and Peter Martins’ Valse Triste.

Mr. Godden’s greatest, and most lasting role at the RWB is that of choreographer and he began choreographing while still a student.  His choreographic career began with creations for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Professional Division students. One of Godden’s first creations was Forms of Distinction, which premiered at the RWB School’s Dance Spectrum in 1988. Forms of Distinction was later performed by the company of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet at the biennial Canada Dance Festival in Ottawa.

Since then, Mr. Godden has created many original works for companies across the globe, including Boston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre (studio company), Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and Les Grands Ballet Canadiens, to name a few. Mr. Godden is the Permanent Guest Choreographer with the Harid Dance Conservatory and was previously Resident Choreographer with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

Many of Mr. Godden’s ballets have won awards; his Myth and La Princesse et le Soldat won Top Honors in the international ballet competitions of Varna, Bulgaria, and Helsinki, Finland. He is a recipient of the notable Choo-San Goh Award and Godden’s full-length ballet Dracula was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award. Dracula was adapted for film in 2001 (directed by Guy Maddin) and won an Emmy Award for Best Performing Arts Film. Godden was awarded Best Choreography at The Monaco Film Festival for Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary. Mr. Godden’s The Magic Flute, was produced into film (directed by Barbara Willis Sweete) and won a Gemini for Best Ensemble Performance.

In 2006, Mr. Godden had the great honour of representing Canada by directing and choreographing the Canadian portion of the Olympic Games Closing Ceremonies in Torino, Italy.

Most recently, Godden created Going Home Star – A Story of Truth and Reconciliation for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, a ballet that received national critical acclaim.

In 2019, Godden was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.