Spotlight on Leadership: Ellen Rosa-Taylor

By Associates of the Idyllwild Arts Foundation
Contributed

The Associates of the Idyllwild Arts Foundation continues its monthly series, Spotlight on Leadership. The Spotlight series introduces a member of the Idyllwild Arts Academy (IAA) leadership team, department chair, or a faculty member to our community.

This is an ideal opportunity to learn how the Idyllwild Arts Academy and Summer Program operate during the challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the hourlong presentation, the IAA leader will discuss the current challenges, provide examples of student work and host a question-and-answer session for those in attendance.

For the safety of the community, the Spotlight on Leadership presentations use Zoom. The Zoom link is provided in our monthly Spotlight on Leadership ad in the Town Crier. It can also be obtained by emailing the Associates at [email protected].

At 10 a.m. Monday, April 12, the Associates will present Ellen Rosa-Taylor, chair of the Dance Department at IAA and Summer Program. Rosa-Taylor’s topic is “Dancing Behind the Mask.” The presentation is open to all in our community at no charge. The Zoom link is https://idyllwildarts.zoom.us/j/91332026254.

Michael Slocum, president of Associates of Idyllwild Arts, says, “This is an ideal opportunity for you — our community — to learn how the pandemic has required change plus the future of post-pandemic learning at Idyllwild Arts. These perspectives are open to very few.”

Ellen Rosa-Taylor received her bachelor’s in ballet with an outside field (taking more courses in a field outside of one’s major — more courses than a minor but less than a major) in kinesiology from Indiana University.

While there, she trained with Patricia McBride, former principal ballerina of the New York City Ballet, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, former principal dancer of the Paris Opera Ballet and New York City Ballet, and Jacques Cesbron, former dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet.

She earned her MFA in dance from Florida State University, where she was the recipient of a Dean’s Teaching Fellowship for the School of Visual Arts and Dance, as well as a University Fellowship. She received additional training at the Pennsylvania Ballet and Boston Ballet summer programs where she was on scholarship.

Rosa-Taylor has performed as a ballerina with the Los Angeles Opera where she worked with Placido Domingo. She has also performed as solo dancer with the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center in their production of “La Rondine” and has performed with the San Diego Opera in their productions of “Samson and Delilah” and “Die Fledermaus.”

As a concert dancer, she has performed as principal dancer with City Ballet of Los Angeles, Media City Ballet (now Pacific Ballet Theater) and Chattanooga Ballet, where she served on the board of directors of the Tennessee Association of Dance.

She has also performed with La Danserie, Louise Reichlin and Dancers, Charleston Ballet Theatre and the Russian Ballet Theatre of Delaware. She was featured as the Bluebird in Disney’s “Snow White, an Enchanting Musical at Disneyland” and has toured nationally as a principal dancer in the multi-media cirque show “Dreamscapes.”

As a choreographer, Rosa-Taylor was selected to create a piece called “Weavings” for the 2001 Contemporary Music Symposium in Chattanooga.

She was a finalist in the 2006 Dance Under the Stars festival in Palm Desert and was invited to perform “Last Dance” in the Arabesque 2006 Dance Festival in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2008 she was commissioned by Media City Ballet to choreograph the education show “The Four Musicians.” Lewis Segal of the Los Angeles Times has praised her “unique jazz ballet style.”

As a dance educator, Rosa-Taylor is currently an American Ballet Theatre affiliate teacher for levels Primary through 7. She teaches all ages and levels of ballet, pointe, variations, pas de deux and dance conditioning. She has served on the dance faculties of Chattanooga Ballet School, Chattanooga Center High School Center for Creative Arts, Camarillo Academy of Performing Arts, Moorpark College and East Los Angeles College.

The Spotlight on Leadership speaker on Monday, May 10, will be Tara Sechrest, vice president of Enrollment Management and Strategic Partnerships for IAA. Wendy Winks, vice president of Marketing and Communications, will be the Spotlight on Leadership speaker Monday, June 14.

For additional information, please contact Michael Slocum at [email protected].