Debora Broderius

Debora Broderius believes in dancing forever.

After receiving her degree in classical ballet from the University of Utah—under Willam Christensen, Bruce Marks, Danish ballerina Toni Lander—she performed The Nutcracker with Ballet West and later Boston Ballet.

Director Thalia Mara chose her for Jackson Ballet Company. Later, Debora joined State of Alabama Ballet Company under the world-famous ballerina Sonia Arova.

When Debora and her husband moved to the Northeast, she became the principal dancer of Ballet New England, dancing leading roles such as Sugar Plum Fairy, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Swanhilda in Coppelia, and Cinderella.

She and her dance partner Tim Martin created a contemporary duet company, Dance Theatre Consort, and toured nationally from Boston to New York City, and internationally, including Paris, France; Florence, Italy; and Chania, Greece. They won the Boston Artists Foundation Choreography Fellowship which led to performances at Jacob's Pillow.

A rather accidental choreographer, Debora has created works in such diverse arenas as:

Television - Choreographing and dancing classical ballet in the popular Boston detective TV show Spenser for Hire.
Opera - Choreographed Baroque dance and staging for Opera singers for the premiere of the opera The Petticoat in Washington, D.C.
College dance department - Choreographed a contemorary ballet for the student concert at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut.
Preparatory school dance department - Taught a 6-week workshop, culminating in a performance of Middle Eastern dance at The Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Connecticut.
High school theatre department - Choreographed and staged Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical Cinderella at Olathe, Kansas.
Local dance studios - Choreographed a complete production of The Nutcracker for the Glastonbury Dance Center, Glastonbury, Connecticut.

Gently introducing movement and dance into liturgical settings, Debora has created numerous pieces for ordinations, Christmas and Easter services, and other special church holidays. She has danced and choreographed using professional dancers, dance students, non-dancer youth groups, and congregation participants. To facilitate these performances, she formed the youth liturgical dance company Dance Magnificat.

Her “second prime” of dance embraced tango, bellydance and yoga. She and her partner have performed her choreography of fusion tango/ballet at the Connecticut Tango Festival and at several local studios.

She has performed with the bellydance troupe “Venus Rising” and has choreographed numerous solos for a variety of performances.

“Avalon Body” is her newest creation, a unique series of movement classes including “Stretch Serenade,” “Chair Concerto Fitness,” “Prelude Yoga,” and “Bella Ballet.” These group and private classes are precisely designed, not only to help older dancers keep dancing youthfully, but also to be extremely beneficial for keeping people in any profession moving freely.

When not stretching, she can be found working on her book Enchanted Table Theatre or weeding her European-inspired garden.