Ballet Mistress

Stephanie Murrish

Stephanie Murrish was born in Jackson, Mississippi.  She grew up in New Orleans where she began her training with Harvey Hysell, Gayle Parmelee and studied privately for one year with Maestro Vincenzo Celli, the last student of the legendary Maestro Cechetti.  She is an alumni of the Nutmeg Ballet.  As a result of the Prix de Lausanne, she was the first American to train on full scholarship at the Stedelijk Instituut Voor Ballet, directed by Madame Jos Brabants in Antwerpen, Belgium with Maria Metchkarova from Kirov Ballet.  As a student she had the opportunity to work with Madame Joy Newton from the Royal Ballet while performing the role of Princess Aurora in the Sleeping Beauty and toured with the Royal Ballet of Flanders.  She also received private coaching from Donna Bonasera, Xenia Kosorukov, Sasha Banderenko, and Bella Kovorskaya.

At the age of 16, she was an apprentice with the New Orleans Ballet, has been a Soloist with the Cincinnati Ballet, Principal Ballerina with the Ballet de Santiago in Chile, directed by Ivan Nagy, Charleston Ballet Theatre, directed by Jill Eathorne-Bahr, and for eleven years she and her husband, Daniil Gaifullin were Principal couple with the Sarasota Ballet of Florida, directed by Robert De Warren and coached by Pavel Fomin.

Her repertoire includes the principal roles in Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Chopinana, Coppelia, Paquita, Rayamonda, Walpurgis Night, Natalia Makarova’s La Bayadere, Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, the Nutcracker, Four Last songs, Chang Shu pas de deux, Robert De Warren’s Madame Butterfly, Firebird, Carmina Burana, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Echo and Narcissis, The Nutcracker, Zal and Rudebah, Jill Earthorne-Bahr’s Dracula, Balanchine’s Apollo, Rubies, Serenade, Four Temperments, Fleming Flindt’s The Lesson, Harold Lander’s Etudes, Sir Kenneth MacMillian’s Concerto, Jimmy Gammonet’s Nous Sommes, Vadim Fedotov’s Romeo and Juliet, Forever Mine pas de duex, Christopher Fleming’s Rock Opus and Romeo and Juliet, John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet, Vincente Nebrada’s Our Waltzes, Hilda Riveros’ Piaf, Recardo Bustemante’s Dvorak American, Stephen Mill’s Naughty Ones, and Paul Fomin’s Homage a Chopin and various Pas De Duex.  She has performed in various galas, tours within the USA and abroad.

She was a finalist in the  New York International Ballet Competition, during which a documentary was made following her throughout the competition.  It aired on the CBS show, “Dancing with a Dream” with Charles Karault.  She is in the edition of Who’s Who in Entertainment, received the award for “Artistic Achievement” from Personalities of America, competed in the USAIBC, and is the 2007 recipient of the YAGP “Outstanding Choreographer’s Award’.

As former Artistic Directors of the Lone Star Ballet and owner’s of the Ballet Amarillo Academy, she and her husband have staged/choreographed ballets such as The Nutcracker with the Amarillo Symphony, Firebird, Paquita, Gala of Stars, Alice in Wonderland, Aurora’s Wedding, Swan Lake and La Traviata with the Amarillo Opera and numerous outreach performances within the community.  She has also been guest teacher with various schools within the USA and was part of the guest teaching faculty at the 2010 International Dance School of the USA International Ballet Competition that is held every four years in Jackson, Ms.