National Ballet of Canada Principal Beckanne Sisk Shares Her Daily Routine
Despite only having moved to Toronto four months ago, National Ballet of Canada principal Beckanne Sisk is feeling very at home. She and her husband, fellow principal Chase O’Connell, joined NBoC during the 2025–26 season, after careers at Houston Ballet and Ballet West.
Below, Sisk shares her rehearsal routine, and how she spends a typical performance day and a day off.
5:45 am: Sisk sets her alarm to go off by 5:45, but she says she hits snooze until about 6 am. After she showers and has breakfast, she takes her dog, Panda (an Old English sheepdog and poodle mix), for her first walk of the day at a nearby dog park. Then she drinks her daily coffee. “I like it unsweetened with just almond milk, but I use high-quality beans that I grind right before I brew,” says Sisk. For breakfast, she has been enjoying a few eggs and another source of protein, like sausage or bacon.
8:30 am: Sisk, O’Connell, and Panda all head to the National Ballet of Canada studios. “Panda gets to stay in the dressing room,” she says. Panda’s BFF right now is Coda, principal Genevieve Penn-Nabity’s dog. “He’s another large doodle, and they’re both such chill dogs.”
9:30 am: Company class begins. Sisk warms up with some light stretching and ab work before the hour-and-15-minute class.
10:45 am: The company gets a 20-minute break after class, so Sisk briefly takes Panda outside.
11:05 am: Rehearsal blocks with the whole company typically last for three hours, and coaching for principals can be around an hour or two. Right now, Sisk is rehearsing the role of Perdita in Christopher Wheeldon’s The Winter’s Tale. “It’s my first Wheeldon ballet, so I’m really excited,” she says. She’s also begun rehearsing for The Nutcracker.
2 pm: Sisk gets an hour for lunch. NBoC has a canteen, but Sisk is used to bringing food from home, usually a chicken breast and some greens. “I also love a good hard-boiled egg.” She, O’Connell, and Panda like to spend the hour outside, although autumn has arrived in Toronto. “It just got kind of cold,” she says. “But when it’s not, there’s a little balcony we sit on, which is so lovely, because the studios are right on the water.”
3 pm: Rehearsals resume and run until about 6 pm.
6 pm: Sisk usually cooks nightly, rather than prepping for the whole week. “I got a Dutch oven recently, and that’s changed my life. I’ve been trying new chicken thigh recipes.”
7:30 pm: After dinner, Sisk and O’Connell take Panda for another walk, this time to a different dog park. “She’s lost, like, 10 pounds since we’ve moved here, because she’s so active and happy. Toronto is so dog-friendly that now I’m that girl who takes her dog everywhere.”
9:30 pm: Sisk unwinds with a bath, some stretching, and TV. Lately she’s been watching “Gilmore Girls.” She also uses the skin-care regimen recommended by her favorite esthetician back in Utah, where she used to dance for Ballet West. “It’s the only thing that works for my sensitive skin.”
10 pm: She heads to bed. “I’m like an old lady and love to be in bed early.”
Performance Day
Company class is later on performance days, so Sisk likes to sleep in and work out before class. Then she drops Panda at home, eats a good meal, and takes a bubble bath or an Epsom-salt bath before returning to the theater. After performing, Sisk often takes another bath. “I find it’s difficult for me to wind down after a performance. My mind goes over every single thing,” she says. “Getting in the tub and letting myself do that before getting in bed helps me to actually fall asleep.”
Day Off
Sisk, O’Connell, and Panda enjoy exploring their new city on their days off. “It’s been so fun for us on the weekends to walk around and find all these cute local shops.” They often visit their local farmers’ market. They also like to visit an area called The Beaches, a neighborhood on Lake Ontario, for its dog park. “Panda doesn’t swim, but she’ll wade in the shallow water,” Sisk says with a laugh. “She’s a big girl, and not the most agile.”
