Ballet founder to retire

#MiddleburyCT #BrassCityBallet

Elizabeth Fisk Barisser teaches l to r, Victoria Datlow of Southbury, Ryle Krn of Oxford and Sophia Persson of Woodbury. Barisser is retiring from Brass City Ballet, which she founded 40 years ago. (Dearmore Photography photo)

Elizabeth Fisk Barriser

After 40 years of visionary leadership, artistic excellence, and unwavering dedication, Elizabeth Fisk Barisser, the founder and artistic director of Brass City Ballet, has announced her retirement effective June 30, 2025. Brass City Ballet is a nonprofit dance educational organization whose mission is to provide the art, technique, and joy of dance.

To celebrate both the organization’s 40th anniversary and Barisser’s retirement, a special performance Sunday, June 8, 2025, at 3 p.m. at the Palace Theater in Waterbury will be followed by a post-show reception open to audience members and supporters. For more information on the upcoming celebration and the future of Brass City Ballet, please visit www.brasscityballet.org.

Asked what she planned to do in her retirement, Barisser said, “Other things, but I’m going to let those things come to me for at least a year. After moving for 40 years, I need to let life come to me for a bit.” In the short term, she is planning to spend a month and a half in France this fall. And she is looking forward to visiting her son and his family in Texas without having to arrange those visits around the “Nutcracker” production schedule. Now she plans to sit and be still for a while.

Since the founding of Brass City Ballet in 1985, Barisser has been a driving force in shaping the cultural landscape of the Greater Waterbury region through dance. What began as a small, grassroots initiative has flourished into a vibrant nonprofit organization serving hundreds of dancers annually and reaching thousands through public performances, educational programs, and community outreach.

“Since the start of Brass City Ballet, I have crossed paths with countless lives, all through the transformative power of dance,” said Barisser. “In 1985, when I opened the school in the Parish Hall of the First Lutheran Church in downtown Waterbury, all I wanted to do was teach dance. Little did I know that, in return, I was creating a community that would eventually teach me so much about life. I am endlessly grateful to our dancers, families, staff, collaborators, and supporters who have made this journey so meaningful.”

Barisser, whose father was an oil executive, lived in Aruba, Greece, Spain, and Belgium before training pre-professionally in London, England, at the Rambert School. She then moved to the United States and continued her studies at the School of the Hartford Ballet.

She joined Hartford Ballet Company in 1973 under the direction of Michael Uthoff, and later danced with Syracuse Ballet Theatre in upstate New York and the Saeko Ichinohe Dance Company in New York City. She also made guest appearances in Europe and across the United States. Deepening her passion for modern dance, she studied under Ernestine Stodelle, a world-renowned dance scholar, educator, choreographer, and authority on modern dance pioneer Doris Humphrey.

She has taught professionally with the Syracuse Ballet Theatre, Saeko Ichinohe Dance Company, and the Istanbul State Conservatory in Turkey, where she lived for two and a half years. In 1985, she returned to the United States and founded the Waterbury School of Ballet. It became a nonprofit in 1989 and its name eventually became Brass City Ballet.

Throughout her career, Barisser has choreographed and collaborated on numerous original, full-length children’s ballets and has also choreographed modern dance work including Signs of Life, which was selected for the New Dance/New Haven Choreography Competition in 1993. She also has taught in area schools, including The Taft School, where she served as Director of the Dance Department from 2001–2008, and Westover School, where she was an adjunct dance faculty member from 2008–2011.

Julio Alegria, who joined the leadership team at Brass City Ballet in 2023, has been appointed by the Board of Directors to take the helm of the organization as artistic director after Barisser steps down. In addition to his role at Brass City Ballet, Alegria is a 2024-2025 School of American Ballet National Visiting Fellow.

“Brass City Ballet’s next steps will be under the expert guidance of Julio Alegria,” said Barisser, “whose integrity and love of dance ensures that the legacy of Brass City Ballet’s vision and values will be upheld. I know this community will be in good hands!”

“We will deeply miss Elizabeth’s visionary guidance and passionate dedication to dance,” says Tatiana DaSilva, Board Chair and alumna of Brass City Ballet. “She leaves behind a legacy that will continue to inspire generations to come. At the same time, we are excited and confident that under Mr. Alegria’s stewardship, Brass City Ballet will continue to be a haven for artistic excellence.”

Tickets for the 40th Anniversary Performance and Post Show Reception are available now at the Palace Theater box office by calling 203-346-2000 or visiting their website at www.palacetheaterct.org.