Karen Kain: Well, I actually saw Celia Franka dance, and now she founded the National Ballet of Canada. And she was dancing in my hometown — Giselle, and I was taken for my birthday, and I saw her dance, (I) fell in love with it, and I started taking ballet lessons, and then at one point … I think it was around ten … my teacher said that I should audition for the National Ballet School, which is a full-time academic and ballet training facility here in Toronto. It’s one of … I think it’s the only one in North America. I mean, it’s the same set-up as the Paris Opera, the Bolshoi, the Leningrad … you know, that they have the school affiliated with the Company. And you take all your academic training as well as your dance training. So she told me that I should audition for that, and I did. And when I was eleven years old I went to the ballet school for seven years till I was eighteen, graduated from high school and I joined the National Ballet.
Tom Boyd: Now you were married fairly recently, weren’t you?
Karen Kain: It’ll be three years next month, yes.
Tom Boyd: Is touring and so forth hard on married life? I believe your husband’s an actor, isn’t he?
Karen Kain: Yes, he is.
Tom Boyd: So you’re probably both away quite a lot.
Karen Kain: We’ve been very fortunate. We’ve managed to stay together most of the time. The longest we were separated was when I was on tour with the National Ballet in Europe last spring, and I was gone for six weeks, and he was making a television series and he was in Australia for six weeks. So we have been separated a few times, but most of the time we manage to be together. We’ve just been very fortunate.
Tom Boyd: Throughout the year … how much time do you have off away from the dance?
Karen Kain:Very little. I’m trying to make sure that I get one week in June this year, because I have not had more than two days free since a year ago January. So I’ve been working very very hard, and I feel that I really need one week free, you know.
Tom Boyd: How long can a ballerina go on before she should start thinking of retiring?
Karen Kain: I hope that I have another ten years at the most to dance.
Tom Boyd: What would you do after that? Would you leave the ballet completely or go into teaching, or choreography?
Karen Kain: I don’t think choreography, I don’t think I have any talent in … you know … I have no desire, no talent. I like to teach, I like to coach young dancers. I don’t think I would leave the ballet world entirely, but I may try something else. You never know. I’m interested in other things and I have done some sorts of musical comedy work, and I’ve enjoyed it very much — just to expand myself a little and to look around. And this Christmas again I’ll be playing Cinderella in an English pantomime — which is great fun for me. I really have fun and it’s not serious dancing, you know, and I get to speak and act and everything. So I don’t know. I would also like to have a family, so I have lots of things that I may do.
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