Photo by Cathryn Farnsworth

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Ellery Donlon is a dancer and emerging choreographer who is completing her BFA in dance at USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Originally from Chandler, Arizona, she grew up training in competitive dance spaces, later graduating from the School of Ballet Arizona’s high school pre-professional ballet and contemporary programs in 2023, before continuing her undergraduate studies at USC in Los Angeles. Ellery has expanded her training by participating in intensive programs at institutions such as the School of Jacob’s Pillow, Company Wayne McGregor, Orsolina28, Gaga Labs, Alvin Ailey, Chuthis, Gibney Company, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Throughout her dance career, Ellery has had the privilege to perform the works of artists like Azure Barton, Marco Goecke, Crystal Pite, Ohad Naharin, Christopher Wheeldon, d. Sabela Grimes, Peter Chu, Barak Marshall, Yusha Marie Sorzano, Wayne McGregor, Nacho Duato, JA Collective, Medhi Welarski, Andrea Miller, Johan Inger, Jirí Kylian, Bobby Gene & OR Smith, Spenser Theberg, Shahar Binyamini, and Mthuthuzeli November. Beyond her passion for performance, she currently serves as the program coordinator for USC’s Kaufman Connections program, allowing students to develop meaningful relationships with street dance. In her movement, Ellery is greatly inspired by everyday occurrences and dances with curiosity, a sense of community, and a problem-solving mindset, as she seeks to understand how dance can be approached as a practice of life affirmation. In the future, Ellery hopes to join a concert contemporary dance company as a performer, and strives to choreograph for contemporary dance & STEAM spaces.