Staff

Elizabeth DeFanti
Elizabeth DeFanti is currently Co-Artistic Director of Montana Ballet Company and Director of The Academy. Ms. DeFanti danced professionally for the Festival Ballet of Rhode Island where she was noted for her principal roles in The Nutcracker, Cinderella, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Eaters of Darkness. She was also a member of the Cleveland/San Jose Ballet where she danced soloist roles and received critical acclaim for her portrayal of “Maria” in The Nutcracker. Ms. DeFanti made guest appearances with the Mobile Ballet, the Sea Coast Ballet in New Hampshire, and with the Worcester Youth Ballet. She performed in Charleston, South Carolina’s Piccolo Spoleto Festival where she received praise for her portrayal of “Kitri” in the wedding pas de deux of Don Quixote and “Juliet” in the balcony pas de deux of Romeo and Juliet. She also appeared as a principal dancer in two nationally broadcast television commercials.

Ms. DeFanti began her classical dance training at Festival Ballet with her parents, Christine Hennessy and Winthrop Corey, and subsequently studied at the National Ballet School in Toronto and the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. Following her career as a dancer, Ms. DeFanti returned to Rhode Island and assumed the role of Artistic Director of Festival Ballet. She also assumed ownership of The Dance Center, School of Festival Ballet, taught extensively in the school and served as Adjunct Faculty for Rhode Island College’s Dance Department, specializing in ballet technique.

Ms. DeFanti went on to graduate with honors from Brown University with a degree in Psychology. She also holds both a Masters of Arts and Masters of Education in Psychological Counseling from Columbia University’s Teachers College, and had the privilege of working as a primary therapist in the department of psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.

Ms. DeFanti now resides in Bozeman with her husband and two children and is delighted to be a part of the dance community here.

Amy Lynn Stoddart
Amy Lynn Stoddart is currently Co-Artistic Director of Montana Ballet Company, a faculty member of The Academy, and owner of Bridger Pilates. Ms. Stoddart began her performance career with the Lake Erie Ballet in 1990 and throughout her professional career has danced principal roles with the Empire State Ballet, Ballet Caravan, Opera Colorado, Boulder Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Oregon. She has toured both nationally and internationally while performing varied repertory from Romantic and Classical Era Ballets as well as contemporary works by George Balanchine. Ms. Stoddart has also performed contemporary modern works by Bella Lewitzky and was a principal dancer with Rita Honka Dance.

Ms. Stoddart holds a BA in ballet from Mercyhurst College, an MFA in dance performance and choreography from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and is a STOTT Pilates Certified Instructor. She has trained at professional organizations such as Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Conservatory, and was a full-scholarship student at Tulsa Ballet Theatre and the David Howard Dance Center in New York City.

Ms. Stoddart has actively choreographed for universities, professional organizations, and ballet companies throughout the United States. Her 2003 commissioned work Night Divides The Day was created for the Illinois Ballet and resulted in a feature article in the Chicago Tribune. She has also created original works for Empire State Ballet, Youth Ballet Colorado, Eugene Youth Ballet, Boulder Ballet, University of Colorado, Boulder, University of Oregon, The UO-Repertory Dance Company, and most recently the Montana Ballet Company.

Ms. Stoddart served as a professor of dance specializing in ballet technique and dance history at the University of Oregon from 1998 – 2008. Additionally, Amy has presented and published her scholarly research through the Society of Dance History Scholars, the National Dance Education Organization, the Congress On Research in Dance, and Dancing in the Millennium organizations.

Ms. Stoddart is happy to be back in the Rocky Mountains with her husband and two children and to be co-directing the Montana Ballet Company again this season.