About Me.
Elsie Neilson is a dancer, choreographer and instructor originally based in Philadelphia, PA and now located in Los Angeles, CA. She received her BFA in Dance and Choreography at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) while graduating Summa Cum Laude and holds her Teacher Certifications in the Elemental Body Alignment System (EBAS) Levels I and II, as well as her certification in Thai Bodywork. Elsie currently dances professionally for Spector Dance Company and has continued her performance career as a freelance dancer in multiple festivals including Psychopomp Dance Theater’s Chaos Festival Vol. II, the SoCal Dance & Choreography Festival, Psychopomp Dance Theater’s Chaos Festival, and Spector Dance Choreographer’s Festival. She served as an apprentice for Psychopomp Dance Theater during the summer of 2024 and was also an accepted resident in the Brockus SHIFT/WEST choreographic residency in 2024.
Elsie’s own choreographic works have been presented in many festivals such as Psychopomp Dance Theater’s Chaos Festival Vol. II, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers 43rd Annual Inhale Performance Series, the 6th and 7th Richmond Dance Festival, Starr Foster’s Mid-Atlantic Showcase, and Small Plates Choreography.
She has continued to maintain her connections on the East Coast and enjoys returning as a Guest Teacher and Choreographer to studios throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey during the summer months and continues to teach and choreograph throughout the LA area.
In addition to her dance career, Elsie works as the Executive Assistant to the Co-Artistic Directors of Urban Bush Women and is the personal assistant to inter-disciplinary artist, Daniel Alexander Jones. During the winter season, she serves as the Media and Communications Consultant to Schuylkill Valley Regional Dance Company, a non-profit organization based in Pennsylvania.
During her time in Philadelphia, she worked as the assistant to Interim Executive Director of PHILADANCO from 2019-2020 and administrative intern with Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers. She performed as a company member with the Philadelphia based company, Opus 1 Contemporary from 2019-2021.
While attending VCU, Elsie had the pleasure of performing works choreographed by Jenna Riegel, Helen Simonaeu, Autumn Proctor, Melanie Richards, and Eric Rivera.
Elsie has attended multiple dance intensives and workshops such as Psychopomp Summer Intensive, MashUp Winter Intensive, Rebecca Lemme’s Focused Study 6 & 7, Doug Varone and Dancers Winter Workshop, Bates Dance Festival, BalletX, and Princeton Ballet. Both years attending Bates Dance Festival she received a partial scholarship for a work/study position in technical production.
