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Christopher Ellis
Christopher Ellis was born in Chicago, Illinois and began his training with Maniya Barredo at the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, receiving the Mannie Rowe Memorial Scholarship.
At the age of 18, Ellis joined the Orlando Ballet as a company member, under the direction of Fernando Bujones. During his four seasons with Orlando Ballet, Ellis danced a variety of soloist and principal roles including Prince Charming and the Jester in Cinderella, the Cavalier and Prince in The Nutcracker, King Arthur and Mordred in Camelot, and the Don Quixote pas de deux. Ellis has also performed in several of Bujones’ classical and contemporary choreographic works, as well as George Balanchine’s Agon, Who Cares?, Allegro Brillante and the Stars and Stripes pas de deux.
In 2005, Ellis competed in both the New York and Helsinki International Ballet Competitions. He also performed with his wife, Caitlin Valentine-Ellis, as her non-competing partner at the 2006 USA International Ballet Competition. Later that year he traveled to Japan to perform as a guest artist in the Okayama Ballet Festival.
Since joining Colorado Ballet in 2007, Ellis has enjoyed performing Benvolio and Paris in Romeo and Juliet, Quincey in Dracula, Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Black Murphy in Peter Pan, Benno in Swan Lake, Aqua in Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 and the Cavalier and Prince in The Nutcracker. He has also worked with and performed in pieces by numerous choreographers including Dwight Rhoden, Jessica Lang, Amy Siewert, Edwaard Liang and Twyla Tharp, among others.
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