Cleighden Butler

dancer

Bio

Cleighden Butler is a Corps dancer in the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company, joining the RWB in 2022 as an Apprentice and being promoted into the Corps de Ballet in 2023.

Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Cleighden began his journey with ballet at the age of two and decided to pursue dance professionally at the age of 12. He began his training at Canada’s National Ballet School, where he performed in the National Ballet of Canada’s production of The Nutcracker from 2012 to 2015. Cleighden honed his technical and performance skills for five years there and a further three in the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Professional Division, eventually joining the RWB’s Anna McCowan-Johnson Aspirant Program.

Cleighden had his professional debut with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Rodeo for Ballet in the Park 2022. He also performed in Coppélia in the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School’s 2022 presentation of On the Edge, as well as in the 2022 production of The Handmaid’s Tale: Based on the Novel by Margaret Atwood.

Of the roles he has played, Cleighden has had the most fun with the Butler in Nutcracker. He aspires to one day perform the lead role of Romeo from Romeo & Juliet.