Elyssa Currey: Bridging Theatre and Ballet in the Streets

Editor 2021-10-292023-08-28

Elyssa Currey, a young ballet dancer from Canada, was born into a harmonious, artistically inclined family with several sisters. Her eldest sister, 14 years her senior, is a professional ballet dancer and dance teacher. Elyssa began her formal ballet training under her sister’s guidance at the age of two and has never stopped since. Even today, she maintains her dedication to three hours of ballet training daily. Much of her life has been devoted to training within the curriculum of the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD), with various training stints including private training at the Royal Academy of Dance in Canada (2001-2015), instruction at the Ontario-based Oakville School of Classical Ballet following the American Ballet Theatre syllabus (2015), apprenticeship with the Ontario-based ministry organization 1:11 Ministries (2008-2015), participation in the Arise School of Dance’s summer intensives in Ottawa (2014-2018), training with 1:11 Ministries (2011-2013), and training with Ballet Magnificat in Jackson, Mississippi, USA (2017).

She has earned the following professional grade certificates: RAD Intermediate (Distinction, 2011), RAD Advanced 1 (Distinction, 2013), RAD Advanced 2 (Distinction, 2015), American Ballet Theatre 5B (Highest Honors, 2015).

From 2016 to 2018, Elyssa was involved in external performances with 1:11 Ministries in Ontario. In 2016, she acted as a guest artist with the Oakville Ballet Company, rehearsing and performing in the renowned ballet “Paquita”. From 2019 onwards, she has accepted personal invitations for community and various commercial and individual performances.

Her key performances on stage include: “Incarnation” (2016), “Here With Us” (2017), “Paquita” (2017), “Fearless” (2017-2018), “The Christmas Chest” (2018), among others. She achieved victory in the competition “Niagara’s Got Talent”.

Since 2014, alongside her role as a private ballet teacher and offering online ballet classes, she has also been a lecturer at several ballet schools, art institutions, and dance teacher training courses in Ontario, guiding courses in ballet, choreography, jazz, contemporary, and stretching.

Elyssa initiated her motto, “Bringing theatre to the streets,” when she began personal commercial performances in 2019. She believes that art should be accessible to everyone, not just the “elite” or the upper class. As a professionally trained ballet dancer, she enjoys bringing a blend of unique classical and modern dance to the streets of Canada. Whether performing classical ballet en pointe or improvising to popular film scores, she strives to share the art of dance with audiences from all walks of life. As an amateur “street ballet dancer,” she has performed in many cities across Ontario, including Hamilton, Ottawa, St. Catharines, Burlington, Port Dalhousie, and Beamsville. She is frequently hired as a live performance dancer for various events, bringing unique artistic joy to the audience.

These images were taken by our journalist on October 28, 2021, on Yonge Street in downtown Toronto.