Meet Caitlin

Photography by Sergio Carrasco

Caitlin Elledge (they/them) is a fourth-generation ballet dancer, choreographer, educator, and visual artist. They are the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of ATX Artists for Social Impact and its resident company, Capital Contemporary Ballet, and full-time faculty at Central Texas Youth Ballet.

Originally from rural southern Mississippi, Caitlin trained in the Vaganova Method under Henry Danton of The Royal Ballet for eleven years before relocating at sixteen to train full-time at Nashville Ballet under Artistic Director Paul Vasterling and faculty Nick Mullikin, Nicole Koenig, Kate Kastelnik, Krissy Dodge, and John Upleger. There, they performed works by Balanchine, Vasterling, and Chris Stuart, alongside classical repertoire including the Peasant Pas de Deux from Giselle, Pas de Trois from La Bayadère, and Aurora's Friends from Sleeping Beauty, and earned scholarships to Nashville Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, and Texas Ballet Theater.

Caitlin began their professional career with Nashville Ballet Second Company, then choreographed for Vanderbilt University Ballet Theatre, performed with Blue Moves Modern Dance Company, and founded and led X-Contemporary Dance for three seasons. Since relocating to Austin in 2022, they have performed with Ventana Ballet, Central Texas Youth Ballet, and East Side Performing Arts, and choreographed for the 5×7 Dance Festival, The Barefoot Ball Gala, and Earth Night. In 2025, they co-founded ATX Artists for Social Impact and Capital Contemporary Ballet, and recently choreographed and directed the Duke Ellington Nutcracker — a sold-out jazz ballet production featured in CBS Austin and the Austin Chronicle.

With over a decade of teaching experience, Caitlin specializes in Vaganova-based ballet pedagogy that integrates anatomy-informed, injury-preventative practices. Their teaching spans ballet, pointe, character, and contemporary, with a focus on building artistic maturity, technical precision, and sustainable movement habits across all levels, genres, and ages. Their students have earned scholarships and trainee opportunities at Houston Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet Chicago, Alabama Ballet, The Rock School for Dance Education, the Bolshoi Ballet Summer Intensive in New York, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Huntsville Ballet, BalletMet, and the College of Charleston Performing Arts Program Currently, Caitlin develops curriculum and teaches at Central Texas Youth Ballet, and offers private coaching and affordable classes through ATX Artists for Social Impact's Dance for All program — developed in partnership with Foster Village and The Sensory Club to provide free dance classes to underprivileged youth and children with special needs.

In June 2026, Caitlin directed and premiered Embodied: Celebrating 55 Years of ATX Pride — an interdisciplinary, multicultural production highlighting Austin-based BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ visual artists, musicians, and dancers. The City of Austin formally recognized the event with a mayoral proclamation commemorating Austin’s first Pride Arts & Heritage Week. For Embodied, Caitlin choreographed works set to their own visual art and poetry, with music by Shostakovich, Ben Johnston, and Mozart. The performance culminated in the world premiere of Caitlin’s original dance short film, All This Flesh.