Elizabeth Gaither, of Miami, Florida, is in her fifth season with The Washington Ballet after dancing with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) for seven seasons. She began her ballet studies with her mother Gloria Gaither and received three years of high honors in the Royal Academy of Dance examinations. She continued her training at the Houston Ballet Academy, joining the Houston Ballet Company at age 15 and later, Memphis Ballet. Ms Gaither was a finalist at the 1990 Jackson International Ballet Competition and won the Amilita Hoffman Award. Ms. Gaither has performed numerous roles during her career including Zulma in Giselle; the pas de deux in Fancy Free; Blue Bird, Puss in Boots and Silver Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty; Clara, Snow Queen and Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker; cygnets in Swan Lake; and in George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, Symphony in C and Symphonie Concertant. She has worked with renowned choreographers such as Mark Morris, Paul Taylor, Lar Lubovitch and Twyla Tharp. Her roles with The Washington Ballet include In the Middle Somewhat Elevated, Titania and Lover in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Swanilda in Coppélia, Giselle in Giselle, Juliet in Romeo and Julie, Dark Angel in Serenade, Balanchine’s In the Night, Nacho Duato’s Na Floresta & Septime Webre’s Oui/Non and Juanita & Alicia. Her second passion is yoga and she is now certified teacher in vinyasa yoga.