Elise Filo was born in New Orleans in 1993. She started her ballet studies at Ballet Hysell Academy in New Orleans, LA. She studied with Harvey Hysell until age 13. In 2007, Elise joined Western Ballet in Mountain View, CA, under the artistic direction of Alexi Zubiria. While at Western Ballet, she had the opportunity to perform many principal roles including Black Swan, Sugarplum, and Kitri.
Elise started her professional career with Charlotte Ballet as an Apprentice. There she performed in Jean Pierre Bonnefoux’s Sleeping Beauty as one of Aurora's friends, and the corps de ballet of his Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty. She also performed with the second company in their Interactive Series and various outreach performances.
She went on to earn her BFA in Dance Performance from Butler University. She was part of its Chamber Ballet’s Eastern European Tour where she performed in Poland, Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. During her time at Butler she danced in various contemporary pieces and many full length ballets including the role of Odette in Swan Lake.
Elise is currently a company dancer with American Contemporary Ballet where she has had the opportunity to perform in a variety of pieces ranging from Balanchine repertoire to Petipa's original Sleeping Beauty choreography. She has danced with the corps de ballet as well as soloist roles.
