Hometown: Damascus, Maryland

Ellen Grocki was born in Rockville, Md. and grew up in Damascus, Md. She started ballet at the age of 3 and trained under the direction of Florence Gardner for six years in Damascus. She then spent seven years studying with Patricia Berrend at Berrend Dance Center in Olney, Md. During her high school years, she attended summer programs at Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell, the School of American Ballet, Miami City Ballet School, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. At the 2012 MCB Summer Intensive, Grocki was offered a scholarship to train in the School’s year-round program. She left home at 16 and moved to Miami for the 2012-2013 school year. She became a student apprentice with the Company for the 2013-2014 season and received the Toby Lerner Ansin Scholarship Award in 2014. She graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School and joined MCB as a corps de ballet member in 2014 at age 18.

Toby Lerner Ansin Scholarship Award Recipient

Roles since joining MCB

George Balanchine
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia, Lead Butterfly)
Apollo (2 Sisters)
Ballo della Regina
Bourrée Fantasque
Concerto Barocco
Divertimento No. 15
Episodes
Firebird
George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™ (Sugar Plum Fairy)
Jewels (Emeralds pas de Trois)
La Source
La Valse
Raymonda Variations
Serenade (Russian Girl corps)
Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
Swan Lake
Symphony in Three Movements
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2
Theme and Variations (Demi Soloist)
The Four Temperaments (Melancholic demi soloist)
Walpurgisnacht Ballet (Faust)
Who Cares?

John Cranko
Romeo and Juliet

Peter Martins
Barber Violin Concerto

Justin Peck
Year of the Rabbit
Heatscape

Jerome Robbins
The Concert
West Side Story Suite (Anita)

Alexei Ratmansky
The Fairy’s Kiss
Concerto DSCH

Paul Taylor
Arden Court
Company B (Rum and Coca Cola)
Mercuric Tidings
Sunset

Twyla Tharp
In The Upper Room
Nine Sinatra Songs (Softly, as I Leave You)

Twyla Tharp/Jerome Robbins:
Brahms/Handel

Brian Brooks
One Line Drawn

Classical Repertoire
Don Quixote, Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky
Giselle, Marius Petipa

Jerome Robbins
I’m Old Fashioned (demi-soloist)

Alexei Ratmansky
Symphonic Dances

* Miami City Ballet School Alumni