Local Ballerina Makes it Big

Elizabeth Murphy, a 22-year-old Chelmsford native has worked hard to make her sport her career. Murphy, a professional ballerina for about five years, is living in Seattle and working for Pacific Northwest Ballet, in the Corps de Ballet.

“What I like so much about it is that it can never be perfect, so you are working towards something that may not even be created yet,” she said. “I also enjoy the acting, that’s something I’ve really grown to love in my professional career.”

Murphy began dancing when she was just a toddler, following in her older sister’s footsteps.

“I started dancing when I was 2. I only started because Becca was doing it, and I always liked to do what she did,” said Murphy.

At the age of 7, Murphy enrolled in the Academy of Ballet Arts on Boston Road in town, a more serious dance studio. She also participated in prestigious summer dance camps throughout her middle school years.

“I remember the day I learned you could be a professional dancer. I was in disbelief; I always thought of it as a hobby. As soon as I realized that it could be a career, and I could do it forever, I started to get more serious about it. That’s when I buckled down," she said.

Murphy’s dance instructor, Judith Koeckhoven helped her get into the Rock School, a pre-professional ballet academy in Pennsylvania.

“I went there for high school,” Murphy said.  “It’s an online academics program, and you dance all day. I really liked the training there, and I feel like they helped me get a lot stronger.”

Murphy said that attending a ballet focused high school just seemed like a natural series of events in her life, because she participated in The Rock's summer programs for several years before highschool.

Upon graduation, Murphy joined Ballet West in Salt Lake City. She started in the second company, a typical step for a high school graduate, and the following year was promoted to the main Ballet West Company. Just a few months ago, Murphy auditioned for Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. She earned the spot, and started practicing with the company in July.

This fall, her company will put on shows including All Wheeldon, Love Stories, and The Nutcracker. In the off season, the dancers have worked to iron out every detail for performance time. In addition to dancing six hours every day, Murphy does cross training on easier days, to prepare herself for the trying season in the fall.

“I swim, I do palates, and I go to the gym,” she said. “They are all parts of keeping your body healthy, because dance is quite hard on it.”

A typical ballerina can dance until his or her early thirties. For Murphy, remaining a part of the ballet world is important. She said that she would like to look into a career in the sports medicine field when she retires from dance.

“I definitely want to have as long of a career as I can, because I do love it. I think I always want to stay close to it, because it’s such a big part of my life," she said.