Elisa Clark (she/her) is an award winning artist, educator, and administrator from the Washington, DC area, who trained at the Maryland Youth Ballet, under Tensia Fonseca, Eric Hampton and Michelle Lees, amongst others, before receiving a BFA from The Juilliard School, under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy, with guidance from Carolyn Adams.

As a dancer, Ms. Clark has toured all over the world and was a founding member of Robert Battle’s Battleworks Dance Company, where she also served as Company Manager.  She is a former company member and featured dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Peridance Ensemble, Mark Morris Dance Group and Monica Bill Barnes & Company, and also performed with Nederlands Dans Theater and The Metropolitan Opera, in works by Jirí Kylián, and Crystal Pite, respectively.  Her extensive performing career has also included appearances guesting with Buglisi Dance Theater, performing in the Off-Broadway production of Rogers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, as an actor in several Samuel Beckett plays directed by Mark Morris for Northern Ireland’s Happy Days Festival, and in an original film directed and choreographed by Breton Tyner-Bryan.

Ms. Clark is currently on the ballet faculty at the Ailey School, Mark Morris Dance Center and the Taylor Center for Dance Education, as well as for VIEW Dance Convention in Canada. As an educator and mentor, she has also held residencies and faculty positions at the Ailey School/Fordham University, Alabama School of Fine Arts, American Dance Festival, Bard College, Brown University, George Mason University, Gibney, Indiana University, Jacob’s Pillow, Marymount Manhattan College, MOVE NYC, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, New World School of the Arts, University of Oklahoma, Princeton University, Steps on Broadway, and the University of the Arts.  Furthermore, Ms. Clark has taught company classes for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, Ballet Hispanico, Gibney Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Limón Dance Company, the Met Opera Ballet and Mark Morris Dance Group.  As a repetiteur/stager and rehearsal director, Ms. Clark frequently sets the works of Mr. Battle and Mr. Morris and has served as Mr. Battle’s artistic assistant for new and existing dances for over 20 years.  She has been the Rehearsal Director for Mark Morris Dance Group, and a Guest Rehearsal Director for Gibney Company.

Ms. Clark is a Princess Grace Award Winner and a certified Life Coach, often leading seminars, empowering artists to navigate their respective field. She is on the advisory panel for Ballet Championships of America, and has also been a panelist for dance and choreography for the Princess Grace Foundation.