About MMPAC

Faculty

Katherine Morris received her early ballet training in Bethesda, Maryland, where she studied with both Vaganova and Royal Academy instructors, passing major examinations in each with honors. She was a summer scholarship student at the School of American Ballet in New York, and the Pennsylvania Ballet School in Philadelphia. She joined the Pennsylvania Ballet in 1976, where she performed in a wide range of roles including works by Balanchine, Tudor, Limon, Butler, Van Manen, Sappington, and Robbins. She retired in order to earn a BA in European History from the University of Pennsylvania. She transitioned into teaching and choreography when she was invited to join the faculty of the Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet in 1986, a position she held for 15 years.

Ms. Morris also taught in many area schools, and was ballet maser of the West Chester Ballet Theatre for a decade, where she set many original pieces, and restaged the classics. She was involved in several outreach programs which introduced the arts to inner city youth.

In addition, Ms. Morris has been a faculty member of several colleges. She taught ballet technique and choreography at Bryn Mawr College and at Swathmore College. She taught movement to opera singers are the renowned Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, and was their resident choreographer. She taught history of dance at Cabrini College, and currently teaches at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland.