Anna Donovan

Principal Ballet Master

A native of Ireland, Ms. Donovan joined the Texas Ballet Theater artistic staff in 2000.  At the age of ten, Ms. Donovan won a scholarship to train at the Royal Ballet School in England.  From there, she went to Elmhurst Ballet School where she passed all the Royal Academy Examinations with Honors. She joined the Irish National Ballet in 1973 and was rapidly promoted to Principal Dancer.  During her sixteen-year tenure with INB, she toured extensively in Ireland, Europe and the United States and was recognized for her dramatic abilities and technical prowess.  Ms. Donovan has worked with many notable choreographers including Sir Anton Dolin, John Gilpin, Hans Brennaa, Peter Darrell, and Domy Reiter-Soffer.  She also had works created for her, one called The Playboy of the Western World, featuring music of Irish group The Chieftains.  In 1989, she focused her energies toward teaching and was instrumental in establishing the Professional Dance Diploma Course in Dublin.  She joined the staff of Ballet Dallas in 1991 serving as Principal Ballet Mistress/Repetiteur and instructor of the Dallas Conservatory of Ballet. While with Ballet Dallas, she collaborated with Lorraine Graves (Dance Theatre of Harlem), Fernando Bujones, James Clouser, Vivi Flint, and Peter Anastos.  Ms. Donovan has been invited by many organizations nationwide as guest instructor and was nominated and is included in The Who’s Who of Teachers in America 2000, 2001, and 2005.