Ellie grew up in New Jersey and trained in classical ballet at the New Jersey School of Ballet and North Carolina School of the Arts. She danced with the New Jersey Ballet in high school and continued her training at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music with Violette Verdy. Upon graduation, after much reflection and several injuries, she stepped away from dancing and attended graduate school at IU in Early Childhood Education. She taught kindergarten and preschool for several years before feeling the itch to return to the world of physical movement. In 2009 Ellie completed a 600 hour comprehensive pilates certification course. The following year she embarked on her yoga teacher training, eventually teaching yoga full time at Vibe Yoga Studio in Bloomington, IN and receiving her E-RYT 500. For the next several years Ellie taught public and private classes, workshops and segments of yoga teacher training. In 2016 she and her husband relocated to Washington DC where Ellie continued to teach yoga at Faith Hunter’s studio Embrace Yoga DC. She began taking open ballet classes for fun at Washington Ballet and almost immediately found herself immersed in paid projects including the first ever site specific performance at The Kennedy Center with Company E. She decided to pour herself fully back into the world of ballet and became a founding company and board member of Stuart Loungway’s Terra Firma Dance, a contemporary ballet company based in DC. In July 2020, Ellie and her husband welcomed their first child, Hank, into the world. Currently Ellie is focusing on writing, dancing, and attempting to sleep as much as possible.

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many years ago a numerologist told me i had the attention span of a gnat, but that if i harnessed this quality and channeled it appropriately, it would become one of my greatest assets. at the time i didn’t understand what she meant, but it is crystal clear to me now. my interests are extremely varied, oddly specific, and my drive to pursue them is nothing short of rabid. my intention these days is to find creative ways to link everything together. i continue to teach yoga workshops — everything from guided meditation and yoga nidra to handstand and arm balancing workshops. i’ve worked closely with everyone from professional athletes to chair bound seniors. i have a passion for multimedia dance based projects — i choreographed and danced in a music video for country music star zac brown, was part of the kennedy center’s first ever site specific dance performance, i collaborated with danceon, the #1 youtube dance channel, on with a music video release, and have performed as a dancer in several other site specific art venues. while my career has swung wildly from one end of the spectrum to the other, one thing has always remained true and that is my love and intrinsic need for creativity. i often can’t explain what i want to do until i’m doing it, but i trust my creative process and it’s always led me to the most interesting, unexpected, and fulfilling places. 

Contact

ellie@elliebernstein.com