Dorothy grew up training at Ballet Austin, and began dancing corps de ballet roles with the company at the age of 14. In the Department of Dance at SMU she studied ballet, Graham, jazz, and composition/choreography with Shelley Berg, Karen Kriete, Bob Beard, Nathan Montoya, Myra Woodruff, Jeremy Blanton, among others. Dorothy went on to dance with Colorado Ballet, David Taylor Dance Theater, Ballet Nouveau Colorado (now Wonderbound), Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and California Ballet. Dorothy moved to New York in 2004, where she danced with Fugate/Bahiri Ballet NY, Dances Patrelle, John-Mark Owen, Brain Carey Chung, Jennifer Lott, and studied with David Howard, Zvi Gottheiner, Nancy Bielski, Christine Wright and many other incredible dance educators. When Dorothy moved back to Austin in 2013, she teamed up with Magdalena Riley and Sara Paul to create Austin Community Ballet. In January of 2017 she founded Red Nightfall Dance Theatre which specializes in crafting immersive performances that create new mythologies for modern audiences.
One day in Summer of 2018, after class at ACB, Dorothy had an exciting conversation with fellow dancer AJ Garcia-Rameau, who had been considering founding a new dance company in Austin. This company became Ventana Ballet , and Dorothy has been Artistic Advisor since its founding. Ventana Ballet’s inaugural performance took place in 2018, in collaboration with Dorothy’s company, Red Nightfall Dance Theatre. This production, The Watchmaker’s Song, is an immersive, inclusive reimagining of The Nutcracker now in its sixth year of production.
Photos by David Heisler
Photos by Rosalie O’Connor, with James Pierce III - Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York. Choreography by Brian Carey Chung.