City Ballet of Iowa

Daily Classes in Intermediate/Advanced Ballet Technique

City Ballet of Iowa web site

City Ballet of Iowa offers dance training for the most serious students who are interested in pursuing a career in dance.

However, students whose paths lead to non-dance careers still gain immeasurably from our program by developing self-motivation, self-discipline, poise, grace, physical adroitness and a life-long appreciation for the arts.

Faculty

Edith Barragán

Edith was born in México City and trained with the Escuela  Nacional de Danza in México, the Boston Ballet, and graduated  from the National Ballet School in Havana, Cuba. She also studied privately with Mme. Francetti, the director of the Paris Opera Ballet  School.

Her professional career began with Ballet du Quai in Brussels, Belgium, and the Royal Ballet of Wallonie in Charleroi, Belgium. She also performed as a soloist with the Festival Ballet of Guanajuato and Ballet Company of US Terpsichore. Edith has studied the teaching of dance through Master Classes in Dance Instruction with David Howard, Debra Wayne, and Mme. A Lara (prima ballerina of Maurice Bejart’s Ballet of the Twentieth Century).

She was a professor and DEO for the Ballet Department at the University of California-Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Mexicali, Mexico, and is excited to begin teaching here in  Iowa City with her family.

Eloy Barragán

Eloy was born in México City and trained with the Escuela Nacional de Danza in México, Royal Academy of Dance in London, Boston Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet in New York. His professional career began with Joffrey II and the Washington Ballet before he became a soloist for Compañía Nacional de Danza in Mexico City.

His career led him to Europe where he was a soloist for the Ballet Royal de Wallonie, Mainz Stattheater, and Dortmundt Stattheater. He then returned to México to perform as a soloist for Ballet de Monterey. Upon returning to the United States, he danced for Rebecca Kelly Dance Co. and New York Theater Ballet before he finally became a principal dancer, regisseur, and Ballet Master from 1996 through 2002 for the Eugene Ballet Company and Ballet Idaho.

Throughout his career as a dancer, Eloy worked closely with numerous master choreographers, notably Vincente Nevrada, Youry Vamos, Anne Marie De Angelo, Jorge Lefebre, and Choo-San Goh. These influences led Eloy to a choreographic career of his own. Eloy has created new works for Ballet Idaho and Eugene Ballet; Caras, Danza Danzon, Blues Man, and Encuentros, Utah Ballet; Between Signs and Vuelo Conmigo, American Repertory Company; Dancer to Dancer. Eloy’s most recent work includes pieces for Beijing Dance Academy, Primer Paso (China), Y Por Tí… for the Richmond Ballet, and a collaborative performance with the Maia Quartet at Hancher Auditorium, Evermore.

Eloy was awarded the 2000 Lifetime Career Fellowship by the Idaho Commission of the Arts. He has also received a choreographer’s fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Boise Arts Council to create new work for the Eugene Ballet Company and Ballet Idaho.

Sarah Barragán

Sarah was born in Dayton, Ohio. She began her ballet training at the age of 9 with Jon Rodriguez and the Dayton Ballet School. She was a scholarship student at the Washington Ballet School, Boston Ballet School, the Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet, and Chautauqua Dance School. Mrs. Barragán entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of the New York City Ballet, in the fall of 1995. While a student at SAB, Mrs. Barragán studied with Suki Schorer, Kay Mazzo, Susan Pilarre, Stanley Williams, Antonina Tumkovsky, Jock Soto, and Andrei Kramarevsky. She also performed in the annual SAB spring workshops in George Balanchine’s Valse-Fantaisie, and Symphony in Three Movements before dancing with the Colorado Ballet.

Ms. Barragán has a M.F.A. in Dance from the University of California, Irvine, and a B.S. in Ballet Performance from Indiana University. Sarah has taught ballet and pointe technique at Ballet Pacifica and Focus Dance Center in southern California, and was the Artistic Director of the University of Iowa Youth Ballet from 2007-2008. She is soon to be certified in the new American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum – a program for the development and training of young students that embraces sound ballet principles and incorporates elements of the French, Italian and Russian schools of training. This curriculum strives to provide dance students with a rich knowledge of classical ballet technique and the ability to adapt to all styles and techniques of dance.

More about City Ballet of Iowa

For more information contact Sarah at cityballetofiowa@gmail.com