Amy Russell hails from Paw Paw, Michigan. She started dancing at the age of 4 and began a life-long love of dance. This passion has driven her to recognition as a prima ballerina for a semi-professional company. There, she partnered and collaborated with professional artists from the Grand Rapids Ballet Company and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Amy’s choreography has been featured in ballets such as “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Water Street Ballet.” Her favorite roles as prima ballerina include the lead in Giselle, Odette in Swan Lake, and Swanhilda in Coppelia.
Amy’s goal to present new art to the Kalamazoo community has been realized through her numerous and varied connections in the arts community. Her life’s passion is the need to share her love for ballet in hopes of inspiring others on their journey of discovery. Amy is currently a partner in the ballet company Leap of Grace Ballet and in September 2016 will be launching her own ballet company called Ballet Kalamazoo that will focus on her ABT training and passion for helping others. Amy is very well connected in the dance community. In her training she has met fellow dancers from all over the United States, with a variety of backgrounds in dance; professional dancers from Ballet San Jose, Dance Theatre of Harlem and The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago to name some of the nationally acclaimed dancers. She currently takes class in contemporary ballet and modern dance at Wellspring Cori Terry and Dancers with Rachel Miller and ... view more »
Amy Russell hails from Paw Paw, Michigan. She started dancing at the age of 4 and began a life-long love of dance. This passion has driven her to recognition as a prima ballerina for a semi-professional company. There, she partnered and collaborated with professional artists from the Grand Rapids Ballet Company and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Amy’s choreography has been featured in ballets such as “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Water Street Ballet.” Her favorite roles as prima ballerina include the lead in Giselle, Odette in Swan Lake, and Swanhilda in Coppelia.
Amy’s goal to present new art to the Kalamazoo community has been realized through her numerous and varied connections in the arts community. Her life’s passion is the need to share her love for ballet in hopes of inspiring others on their journey of discovery. Amy is currently a partner in the ballet company Leap of Grace Ballet and in September 2016 will be launching her own ballet company called Ballet Kalamazoo that will focus on her ABT training and passion for helping others. Amy is very well connected in the dance community. In her training she has met fellow dancers from all over the United States, with a variety of backgrounds in dance; professional dancers from Ballet San Jose, Dance Theatre of Harlem and The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago to name some of the nationally acclaimed dancers. She currently takes class in contemporary ballet and modern dance at Wellspring Cori Terry and Dancers with Rachel Miller and classical ballet at Ballet Arts with Deb Norton. Amy is passionate about collaborating with other artists. Most recently Amy hosted Soli Deo Gloria Contemporary Ballet of Holland, MI and Ballet 5:8 of Chicago to offer professional master classes to local students. The students came from local dance studios from the Kalamazoo community to train with professional ballet dancers. She is still in contact with many classmates who are proving to be excellent sources of professional advice and support.
Amy is committed to continuing education and preserving the high standard of technique required as a ballet teacher and dancer. Amy Russell is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Amy most recently attended Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 4 day Intensive Teacher Training Seminar April 2016 in Seattle, Washington. She completed the If I Was a Bird Yoga Teacher Training in San Diego, California and is certified to teach yoga to children ages 2-13 years old. Amy and her Husband Kirk have a daughter named Sylvia born March 2015.
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