Elizabeth Ferrell

Elizabeth Ferrell was born in St. Louis, Missouri and began her early training with Alexandra Zaharias.  At age 14, she was awarded a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet and upon graduation was chosen by Peter Martins to receive the Danish American National Cultures Exchange scholarship to study with the Royal Danish Ballet.  In 1985, Elizabeth was invited by Mikhail Baryshnikov to become a member of American Ballet Theatre where she danced from 1985 to 1998.  During that time she appeared in much of the classical and contemporary repertory and worked with such esteemed choreographers as Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Anthony Tudor, Lar Lubovitch, Glen Tetley, Mark Morris, Ben Stevenson, Natalia Makarova, Kevin McKenzie, Clark Tippet, Ronald Hynd, Twyla Tharp and Agnes de Mille.  She has also performed with the Pennsylvania Ballet, Eglevsky Ballet, New York City Opera, Alessandra Ferri’s “Stars of the American Ballet”, Papermill Playhouse, Muny Opera, Goodspeed Opera, and most recently Hong Kong Ballet.  She can be seen in five “Dance in America” broadcasts for PBS and appeared in Herbert Ross‘ movie “Dancers” and Frederick Wiseman’s documentary “Ballet.”  Elizabeth took part in the inaugural teacher training program of ABT’s National Training Curriculum and is now an ABT certified instructor.  She has taught at such institutions as Ballet Hispanico in New York, Danceworks in London, and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, as well as guest taught at ballet schools in the U.S., London and Hong Kong.  She is currently on the faculty of the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.