Katherine McDonnell has been teaching since 1990. Her dance career began in Virginia, where she trained from age 8 with Ballet Russe premier danseur Oleg Tupine. Upon graduation from the School of American Ballet, she was invited to dance with the Los Angeles Ballet company, where she rose to soloist ranks, and then as a principal with Nevada Festival Ballet. Additionally, she guested with Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet, was a leading dancer with Ballet Tucson, and ballet mistress for The Reno Ballet.
Katherine has danced many of the principal roles in the classical repertoire, as well as ballets by Balanchine, John Clifford, Vassili Sulich, and Ian Horvath, in addition to works by Peter Martins and production shows by Emmy Award-winning choreographer Michael Darrin.
Her teaching experiences include Nevada Festival Ballet School, Nevada Dance Theatre Academy, Ballet Arts, School of Ballet Arizona, Take Five Dance Academy, Dynamic Motion Dance Academy, and the University of Nevada, where she was fortunate to develop and deliver educational lectures on nutrition, weight management, and body image, in addition to dance and Yoga classes.
Since becoming a certified personal trainer in 1999 and a weight management consultant in 2006, Katherine has expanded her skills to teaching fitness & exercise, nutrition, Yoga, Pilates matwork, and the New York City Ballet Workout.
Most recently, Katherine was a guest teacher at summer dance intensives in Arizona and for The Jillana School in New Mexico. She is delighted to be teaching ballet this year at DMDA.