C. Round Ballet Works

Wordle 947 3/6*

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Forgot to put this lovely lady's profile in last time I posted...
MEET ELENA CASTELLANOS…

Elena came to C.Round Ballet Works just this year, already a beautiful dancer. She started ballet at the age of three, danced all through high school, and studied abroad with Scottish Ballet, until she was sidelined with a broken foot that she injured during a grand allegro exercise. Elena started dancing again after the pandemic, and, in additional to her journey of becoming a dance/movement therapist, she has been a thriving ballerina ever since.

What attracts you to ballet and what do you find hardest about ballet?
Ballet has always been part of my life. It always feels like home to me. Dancing has always been beneficial to my mental health. I do find that it’s difficult to achieve some of the technicality in ballet that I could do when I was sixteen, and it’s also harder to get rid of old/bad habits from when I was younger.

What is your favorite ballet? Who is your favorite ballet dancer?
I loved the choreography of La Syllphide. The pointe work in that ballet was amazing.

My favorite ballerina is Elisa Carrillo Barrera, who is a principal dancer with Berlin State Ballet and co-director of the Mexican Dance Company. She has always been a role model for me and love it that she is a Mexican ballerina. She has amazing technique that is very versatile. When you see her dance, you see that she is not married to one school or style of ballet, yet still very beautiful, flawless, and smooth.

What do you love (and not love) about performing?
I love the feeling of standing in the theatre onstage and looking out at the audience. That alive feeling is different from just taking class. I also love the feeling of unity with the audience. The connection of communicating or talking with the audience. The only thing I dislike about performing is if I dance, and I have not been properly warmed up beforehand.

Do you find any similarities between dance/movement therapy and ballet?
I believe that ballet is truly seeing people as they are. I feel that there are aspects of that in dance/movement therapy. I like helping people diagnose issues in a nonverbal way that can help them heal and reconnect, both mentally and physically.

Elena is performing on Friday, December 1st & Saturday, December 2nd at Lineage Performing Arts Center in Pasadena, CA. ALL SHOWS SOLD OUT!