Biography

Elizabeth Ahearn
Department: Dance
Title: Chair, Founding Director of The Pilates Center at Goucher College (1990)
Degree: B.F.A., M.F.A., Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
Office: SRC
Email: elizabeth.ahearn@goucher.edu
Website: http://www.goucher.edu/dance

ELIZABETH LOWE AHEARN dancer, choreographer, dance educator, and Certified Authentic Pilates® Instructor is chair of the Dance department, professor of dance, director of The Pilates Center of Goucher College and on faculty at Carver Center for Arts and Technology. She also serves as a permanent faculty member at Virginia School of the Arts and recently served as a guest artist at the University of Central Oklahoma.  Ahearn received her B.F.A. and M.F.A. from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, under the direction of Larry Rhodes.  Originally from Oklahoma, she received her early training from Yvonne Chouteau, Joy Feldman, Conrad Ludlow, Edward Villella, and Bojan Spassoff.  She continued her studies in New York with Bettijane Sills, Sarah Stackhouse, Rachel List, Larry Clark, Valmai Stretton, Linda Tarnay, Gus Solomons, Jr., Milton Myers, and Rosanna Seravalli.  Ahearn has performed with the Metropolitan Ballet Company under the direction of Conrad Ludlow, Ballet Oklahoma under the direction of Bojan Spassoff and Edward Villella, the Second Avenue Dance Company in New York City, Kinetics Dance Theatre, Surge Dance Comapny of Baltimore, and Ordinary/Extraordinary Dance Theatre.  Her repertory has included experimental, contemporary, and classical works by choreographers such as Mark Morris, Agnes de Mille, Conrad Ludlow, Robert Gladstein, Daniel Levans, Doris Humphrey, June Finch, Jan Van Dyke, Eleanor King, Mel Wong, Arnie Zane, and Bill T. Jones. Her choreography has been presented on both the East and West Coasts, including Washington, District of Columbia, New York, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Virginia, and New Jersey, as well as Canada. Most recently, Ahearn has been researching and rehearsing the historical solos and work of Eleanor King for the Eleanor King Centennial Concert and Art of the Solo.  Her most recent article, "The Pilates Method and Ballet Technique-Applications in the Dance Studio," was recently published in the Journal of Dance Education.  Prior to her move to Baltimore, Ahearn was an assistant professor at the University of Washington in Seattle.  In 1995 she completed her teacher certification in Authentic Pilates under the tutelage of Romana Kryzanowska and Sari Mejia-Santo and in 2004 received her Level 5 IITP Pilates Teacher Certification from Romana's Pilates.