Ellen McCollister

In 1995, Ms. McCollister graduated with honors from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, with a BFA in modern dance. During her four years at The University of the Arts, she studied, on scholarship, at Philadanco where she caught the eye of Milton Myers of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, for whom she was classroom demonstrator in the Horton technique.
After graduation, Ms. McCollister moved to Atlanta to begin her professional dance career with the Kris Cangelosi Dance Project. With KCDP she performed extensively, including the Fringe Festival in Atlanta and New York City, the Jazz Dance World Congress in Buffalo, NY, and the Modern Atlanta Dance Festival. Currently Ms. McCollister is in her ninth season with Zoetic Dance Ensemble, one of Atlanta’s most popular contemporary dance companies, sits on their Board of Directors, and serves as the Coordinator of Education and Outreach. Ms. McCollister is also on faculty for Zoetic, teaching professional level contemporary dance classes.
Since the fall of 2002 Ms. McCollister’s choreography has been seen in Zoetic’s concerts during the First Glance Festival in Atlanta, at Dad’s Garage Theater, at The Beam, at Seven Stages and also during the Modern Atlanta Dance Festival at the 14th Street Playhouse. In 2006 Ms. McCollister completed a 200-hour certification to become a registered yoga teacher (RYT) through the Yoga Alliance.
Mrs. McCollister has taught and choreographed at many different Metro Atlanta area dance studios throughout the last ten years and is currently a graduate student at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee working toward her MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in dance.
Mrs. McCollister is so excited to start her first year at Brookwood High School working with so many talented dancers!!