Ella Dorman was raised in Traverse City, Michigan and began dancing at the age of 3 at The Dance Center. She continued her training at Interlochen Arts Academy under Joseph Morrissey and Cameron Basden. After graduating, Ella danced with A&A Ballet in Chicago, where she danced works by Alexei Kremev, Justin Allen, and Ronn Stewart, including Cinderella in Kremnev’s adaptation of Cinderella. Ella spent summers with ABT NY, Gelsey Kirkland Academy, Joffrey Chicago, and Joffrey NYC. In 2017, she attended Oklahoma City Ballet’s Summer Intensive then joined OKCB II before being promoted to the Main Company. Her repertoire with the company includes Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, The Little Mermaid, Romeo and Juliet, Septime Webre’s Alice in Wonderland, La Sylphide, Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, Helen Pickett’s Petal, and Michael Pink’s Dracula, as well as new works by Penny Saunders, Robert Mills, Penny Askew, and Michael Bearden. 

Ella is currently a freelance dance artist and dance teacher and choreographer for several studios in the Chicago and Traverse City area. She has choreographed pieces for Des Plaines School of Dance, Design Dance Company and The Dance Center in Traverse City, where her choreography has placed 1st and earned Industry Dance Awards “Outstanding Recognition” for her piece in 2021. She is passionate about teaching the art form of dance in supportive and empowering ways, and is a strong advocate for dancer’s needs as people and as artists. Ella most recently finished a contract with The Traverse City Dance Project, where she danced contemporary and contemporary ballet works by Mauro Di Candia, Jennifer Lott, and Kara Wilkes.