ERICA FISCHBACH
Colorado Ballet Academy Director Erica Fischbach enjoyed a 20-year professional ballet career with American Ballet Theatre and Pacific Northwest Ballet before embarking on her current teaching and directing career. Ms. Fischbach is fully certified in the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum as well as Pilates and the Gyrotonic Method. She has been on the faculty of the country’s leading professional schools and summer intensives including American Ballet Theatre, Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, the Cecchetti Council of America, and Colorado Ballet.
Since 2016, Ms. Fischbach has helped Colorado Ballet Academy grow into one of the country’s most sought-after schools for high caliber ballet training. CBA’s full-time faculty and staff has tripled during her tenure and includes former principal dancers and master teachers from American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Twyla Tharp Dance, Dutch National Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, and Diablo Ballet. Together with CBA’s team, Ms. Fischbach has established a robust after-school Academy and daytime Pre-Professional Division, with an average of six graduating students being awarded contracts with Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company each year.
Ms. Fischbach began her training in Ballet and Highland Dance with Theresa Bullard’s Kalamazoo Ballet Company at the age of seven. When she was 12, her family moved to Milwaukee, where she studied on scholarship at the Milwaukee Ballet under the direction of Ted Kivett and Basil Thompson and trained privately with former Israeli Ballet principal Mariana Sachs Laufer. At 15, Ms. Fischbach was awarded a scholarship to attend North Carolina School of the Arts for high school, now UNCSA, where she studied primarily with Balanchine’s muse Melissa Hayden, American Ballet Theatre’s Fanchon Cordell, and Ballet Russe’s Duncan Noble.
During her first months as a professional dancer, Ms. Fischbach had the privilege of dancing Balanchine ballets as a principal under the direction of Edward Villella before accepting a position with Pacific Northwest Ballet, where she rose in rank and danced many principal and soloist roles in the company’s repertoire.
In 1996 Ms. Fischbach was invited to join American Ballet Theatre under the direction of Kevin McKenzie, where she danced until 2005. Ms. Fischbach had roles created for her in world premier ballets by Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, and Kevin McKenzie and danced principal roles in ballets by Anthony Tudor, Twyla Tharp, Jiri Kylian, and Agnes DeMille. She also enjoyed featured roles in the company’s full-length classical repertoire. On September 8, 2001, Ms. Fischbach was featured as a principal guest artist for Twyla Tharp performing Tharp’s “Sinatra Suite” at the World Trade Center in New York City. Ms. Fischbach has appeared in several Dance in America films, the PNB Nutcracker, and Center Stage.
Ms. Fischbach transitioned to her teaching career in 2005, and in 2008, created a Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) program in which her students quickly gained a prominent presence by winning top placements and passing onto the NYC International Finals each year. YAGP awarded Ms. Fischbach the “Outstanding Teacher” award for several years, and when she introduced her program to Colorado Ballet Academy in 2016, within three years CBA was awarded the prestigious “Outstanding School” award and has earned this award each year since then. CBA has continued its upward climb for increased recognition, and recently was awarded top placements for pas de deux and classical ensemble in the International YAGP Finals.
Ms. Fischbach has been praised for her choreography and adaptations of the famous classic ballets to incorporate dancers of all ages. With the help of CBA’s outstanding faculty, she has choreographed and presented full-length iconic classical ballets such as The Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, Swan Lake, and Giselle at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Other works of note include The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Les Patineurs, and numerous original concert pieces for YAGP and community performances.
Under Ms. Fischbach’s direction, graduating students have been accepted into top-tier professional companies in addition to Colorado Ballet such as ABT and SFB, and top-tier schools and collegiate dance programs across the nation. Current students are often awarded scholarships to prestigious summer intensives and year-round programs including American Ballet Theatre, School of American Ballet, The Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Miami City Ballet.
Erica Fischbach is thrilled to be a part of Colorado Ballet’s leadership and the Academy’s team of dedicated, world-class professionals.