Jacqueline Straughan | Prinicpal Dancer

Joined OBT in 2016

Oregon Ballet Theatre’s newest Principal Dancer Jacqueline Straughan is a native of Carson City, Nevada. She studied at the National Ballet School in Toronto, Canada where she was also the recipient of the Peter Dwyer Scholarship and Christopher Ondaatje Award for dance excellence.

Ms. Straughan began her professional career in 2000 with the National Ballet of Canada under the directorship of James Kudelka. While with the company she performed his works and others by John Cranko, Sir. Frederick Ashton, Sir. Kenneth MacMillan, Glen Tetley and Matjash Mrozewski.

In 2006 Ms. Straughan joined Ballet West where she quickly moved up the ranks to First Soloist, adding an array of classical, neo-classical and contemporary works to her repertoire. Ms. Straughan’s notable principal roles include the title role of Giselle, as well as principal roles in Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels, Jiri Kylián’s Forgotten Land & On An Overgrown Path, William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated and George Balanchine’s Rubies. Nicolo Fonte, OBT’s newly appointed Resident Choreographer, created Presto and several other ballets on Ms. Straughan during their respective time with Ballet West. She has also appeared in featured roles in ballets by Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Mark Morris, Ben Stevenson, Willam Christensen, Val Caniparoli, Mathew Neenan, Helen Pickett, and OBT’s founding Director James Canfield. While at Ballet West, Ms. Straughan simultaneously pursued her higher education goals, graduating in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Green & Sustainable Enterprise Management.