Born in Hamilton Ontario, Stephana Arnold attended the National Ballet School of  Canada for 7 years, where she received the prestigious Peter Dwyer Award.

Upon graduation, she danced and worked closely with choreographer Xing Bang Fu and several  small companies before being asked to join the National Ballet of Canada in 1992-95. In  1996, Stephana joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and quickly rose through the ranks to  First Soloist. With her dynamism and dramatic stage presence, she danced a wide and  eclectic variety of Principal and Soloist roles in Concerto Barocco, Nutcracker, Queen of  Spades, Giselle, Pillar of Fire, Without Words, Apollo and Symphony of Songs to name a  few. She has worked with such names as James Kudelka, Eduoard Lock, Jiri Kylian, Ohad  Naharin, Shawn Hounsell, Septime Webber, Gioconda Barbuto and Kevin O’Day and  many others. Stephana was invited to dance at many Gala evenings such as tributes to  Celia Franca and Evelyn Hart and has toured extensively, performing in places such as  Kennedy Center, City Center N.Y., Spoleto Festival, throughout Canada, the U.S. & Europe,  Brazil, Israel, Mexico and Asia.  

2003 brought her to Ballet British Columbia where she danced a diverse array of Principal roles, including the “Woman” in Mark Godden’s Conversation Piece, John Alleyne’s Faerie  Queen/ Orpheus & “Stella” in Streetcar Named Desire, Kylian’s Petit Mort and lastly, Jean Grand-Maitre’s Carmen to rave reviews in 2007. While still dancing she became a Ballet  B.C. Company Teacher from 2004-09. And in 2010, came out of retirement to dance in the  Opening Ceremonies for the Vancouver Winter Olympics.  

With a dance career spanning twenty-two years, Stephana loves to bring her wealth of knowledge to her coaching and teaching. Her students have been finalists at prestigious competitions such as YAGP, NYCDA and the Margot Fonteyn Awards (formerly the Genees) and have been accepted to world renowned Schools, Post-Graduate programs and  gone onto their own dance careers.  

She is former Director of the Dance Conservatory, Co-Director/Founder of the Dance  Conservatory West Vancouver, former Resident Choreographer for CatchingArt  Contemporary Ballet Theatre, Senior Teacher at Pro Arte Centre, Resident Teacher at Ballet BC and Arts Umbrella.  

Currently, Stephana is an Award winning Ballet and Contemporary Choreographer, highly  respected Guest Master Teacher, choreographer for Arts Umbrella Dance Company, Coastal City Ballet and a popular instructor at Oxygen Yoga & Fitness. She is also an Adjudicator for many Canadian national festivals and the Youth American Grand Prix Semi-finals  since 2022.