Elzbieta (Ela) Alabuszew-Kutek is an accomplished teacher, choreographer and professional dancer trained at the National Ballet School in Warsaw and Gdansk, Poland, with an MFA in Pedagogy and Choreography from the National Institute of Theater Arts in Moscow, Russia. Ela has performed, taught, directed, and choreographed in Poland, Russia, England, Germany, France, United States, Denmark, and Norway. Since she moved to USA in 1996, she taught at Danceworks from 1997-2006, at Mark Taylor School of Dance from 2006-2015, and continues her artistic efforts as a master teacher, choreographer, and director throughout the state, and nationally. Ela was co-Artistic Director of Lansing Chamber Dance, a recognized dancer/adjudicator for Dancing with the Local Stars, a member of the National Dance Education Organization, and is the Lansing area representative to the Michigan Dance Council. For 23 years she has served as a master teacher, choreographer, and director at Lansing Community College. In 2014 she joined the faculty and in 2015 was appointed Ballet Mistress of Children's Ballet Theatre of Michigan. Her prestigious awards include Special Contribution in Developing Education for Artists (Poland, 1994), Outstanding Choreography Achievements for a production and choreography of the full-length ballet Snow White and Seven Dwarfs” (1995), Meritorious Artist of Culture (Poland, 2000), Dance Teacher of the Year nominee (2004), and Inspirational Teacher Award of Support and Encouragement (East Lansing High School, 2014) Her students are performing, teaching and choreographing in dance theaters around the world. This year  Ela is celebrating 45 years of artistic work. She is happy to be a part of the Children’s Ballet Theatre of Michigan and Danceworks of Michigan, LLC again.