ELIZABETH FERNANDEZ
Creator, choreographer, and the executive and artistic director of Rocky Mountain School of the Arts and Rocky Mountain Dance Theatre
Creator and choreographer Elizabeth Fernandez creates space for performing artists in Cody, Wyoming.
“The arts to me is an avenue of reflection, it’s an avenue of creating perspective, and I think it’s the best avenue for those two things—reflection and perspective—and if we don’t do that, then I’m not sure what we’re doing.”
Listen to Elizabeth’s story.
Dancer, teacher, and choreographer Elizabeth Fernandez creates a space for performing artists in Cody, Wyoming as the Executive and Artistic Director of Rocky Mountain School of the Arts (RMSA) and Rocky Mountain Dance Theatre (RMDT). After graduating with honors from the University of Northern Colorado in Dance Teaching/Movement Analysis and Dance Kinesiology, Elizabeth moved home to open her own dance school and performing arts company. Under her direction, RMSA and RMDT train students of all ages in the arts of dance and theatre, focusing on building dancers with strong foundations in the technical and performance aspects of ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, and musical theatre.
In addition to teaching full-time, Elizabeth creates and choreographs; projects include The Nutcracker Ballet and an original musical, the Wild West Spectacular, which is about Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. She is a lifelong learner and certified at the highest level through the Russian American Foundation’s Bolshoi Ballet Academy.
Through her work cultivating opportunity for young people in the performing arts, she inspires young dancers and actors to strive for excellence in technique, self-discipline, self-confidence, individuality, and artistic expression, while promoting the performing arts as a vital force of reflection and perspective in Wyoming.
Founder, executive and artistic director of Rocky Mountain School of the Arts and Rocky Mountain Dance Theatre in Cody, Wyoming, Elizabeth’s mission is to create opportunities for reflection and perspective with the arts.
“I think in the beginning what drew me to ballet was the discipline, the exactness, and the preciseness of what ballet is. Why I felt compelled to pursue dance as a career— it was the only place I felt like home. Even to this day, I feel most comfortable in a dance studio.”
“I get up every day to be challenged. I get up every day to see what this day will bring and what life has in store. May everybody feel that in some way. I think we all have to be driven to make ourselves better people and to contribute to society in a positive way. For me, this is how I do it.”
Through her work cultivating opportunity for young people in the performing arts, Elizabeth inspires young dancers and actors to strive for excellence in technique, self-discipline, self-confidence, individuality, and artistic expression.
