Elizabeth was born and raised in Aruba before moving to Athens, Greece, Madrid, Spain, and Brussels, Belgium, and finally settling in London, England to train professionally at the Rambert School. Upon graduation, she danced professionally with the Hartford Ballet in Connecticut, Syracuse Ballet Theatre, the Saeko Ichinohe Dance Company in NYC, and made guest appearances in Europe and the U.S.  While dancing, she furthered her training with former New York City Ballet dancers, Melissa Hayden and Wilhelm Burmann, in New York City.  She pursued her studies in modern dance under the tutelage of Ms. Ernestine Stodelle, the world-renowned authority, at the time, on modern dance pioneer, Doris Humphrey.

Her professional teaching career includes Syracuse Ballet Theatre and the Istanbul State Conservatory in Istanbul, Turkey.  She met her former husband in Turkey and married in 1982. Upon moving back to the USA, she founded the Waterbury School of Ballet in Waterbury, CT, in 1985 which became a non-profit organization in 1989, now known as Brass City Ballet.

She has choreographed several original, full-length ballets such as the The Night of the Magic Ornaments, The Party and The Fantastic Toyshop, as well as modern dance works for Brass City Ballet.  Her work with St. Mary’s Children’s Theatre in Waterbury has included such works as Grease, Fiddler on the Roof, and Peter Pan.  In 1993, she received the Arts Recognition Award from the City of Waterbury. She has served on Waterbury’s Community Visions Task Force and the School and Community Fine Arts Committee of Waterbury. In 1993, her work was selected for the New Dance, New Haven Choreography Competition.  In 1999, she conceived and co-founded the first Connecticut Choreographer’s Forum and co-directed the subsequent three Forums. Ms. Barisser served on the Advisory Board of the CT Dance Alliance.  In 2006, she became a founding member of the Arts and Culture Collaborative of the Waterbury Region and currently chairs its Governing Council.

Ms. Barisser taught at The Taft School as Director of Dance from 2001-2008. From 2009-2011, she was adjunct facultjy at Westover School in Middlebury, CT. She serves on the CT Arts Alliance Network, a statewide arts advocacy organization

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Julio Alegria is a passionate dance and ballet teacher and mentor to young professional dancers.  His positive and “happy” attitude toward dance and life and his work ethic reflect on stage in both his own performances and in those of the students he instructs.  Mr. Alegria joined Brass City Ballet as Associate Artistic Director in September 2023.

Julio was born and raised in Mexico City and received his training from the National Arts Center and the Centro de Educacion Artistico Frida Kahlo.  Upon moving to the United States, he entered the Joffrey Ballet School’s training program on scholarship and has also studied at the Boston Ballet School, The Banff Center for the Arts in Canada, Ballet Hispanico, Ballet Academy East, and Ballet Austin.  Among the famed instructors Mr. Alegria has studied with are Gelsey Kirkland, Eleanor D’Antuono, Cheryl Yeager, Darla Hoover, Nadege Hottier, Karina Elver, Elizabeth Walker, Eva Evdokimova, Reyna Perez, David Howard, Fabrice Herrault, Peter Frame, and Richard Bowman.

Julio has danced for companies and choreographers in Mexico, Canada, Europe, and the United States, including Dance Theater of Harlem, Alabama Ballet, Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Gelsey Kirkland Studio Company, Eglevsky Ballet, Atlantic City Ballet, Merce Cunningham Trust, Ardentia, Bronx Opera Company, and Compañia Nacional de Danza (Mexico City).  Previously, Mr. Alegria served as Ballet Faculty Instructor & Rehearsal Master at Ballet Theatre of Scranton; Ballet Faculty Instructor at Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley; Assistant Director at Scranton Civic Ballet; and Head Dance Instructor and Supervisor at Dwana Smallwood Performing Arts Center and the Brighter Choice Community School in Brooklyn.  Mr. Alegria also was Founder and Artistic and Executive Director of NEPA Ballet in the Poconos, Pennsylvania.

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Alison Rose began ballet lessons at the age of six and continues to train as an adult.  She studied many years with Balanchine dancer Dorothy Burdette and European soloist, Marthe Krueger.  Her training continued at Hofstra University with Joffrey II ballet master, Lance Westergard.  Other influential teachers have been Muriel Stuart, Karen Festog, Dan Sas, Linda Freyer, Dieter Riesle, and Mimi Wallace.  In addition to many other roles, Alison has performed the lead roles of Clara, Snow Queen, and Sugar Plum Fairy in Danbury Music Centre’s Nutcracker. During her time as a member of the Danbury Ballet Company, she also performed in various other ballets, including Graduation Ball and Stars and Stripes.  Mrs. Rose enjoys all dance forms and has also studied jazz, lyrical, modern, tap, ballroom, and flamenco.

Mrs. Rose is a CT state-certified teacher and has taught English in local secondary schools.  She has been teaching ballet for thirteen years to students ages 5 through adult at various studios in Connecticut including Academy of Dance Arts, Sas School of Dance, Freyer Academy of Ballet, and now Brass City Ballet.  In addition to recital pieces, Mrs. Rose has choreographed several ballet productions, including The Nutcracker, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Danse Macabres, and Rodeo.

Mrs. Rose truly enjoys teaching and encourages all students to reach their full potential.  She believes the art of ballet can help instill self-discipline and foster a sense of achievement and confidence in her students that will carry over to other aspects of their lives.

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Mrs. Russo began dancing at 18 months, studying tap, jazz, and ballet for the first sixteen years, and then continuing her dance education at Naugatuck Valley Community College’s dance program with Professor Elena DelVecchio Rusnak. While at NVCC Mrs. Russo studied modern,  dance pedagogy, social/ballroom, jazz, and ballet. Along with her studies she attended master classes with Lori May, Jim May (both of the Anna Solokov Company), Jim Clark (Bob Fosse extraordinaire), Earl Mosley’s Diversity of Dance, and Pilobolous. Mrs. Russo attended Central Connecticut State University where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in English and a minor in Psychology and later received her Master’s Degree and Certification in Elementary Education from the University of Bridgeport. 

Mrs. Russo was one of the first in the State of Connecticut to attain her Unique Endorsement in Dance Education and holds her CT Teaching License in Dance in both Elementary and PreK-12 grade. Mrs. Russo spent four years, from 2009-2013, as an instructor at Kinsella Magnet School of Performing Arts in Hartford, CT where she taught creative movement, tap, jazz, ballet, social/ballroom, modern, and cultural dance to students ages 3-16. She also helped facilitate the development of the curriculum for dance education in the state, co-created numerous original works including: The Polar Express, Beatles ‘Love’, Westside Story, The Wizard of Oz (ft. music from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon), and implemented arts integration into her everyday lessons.