You Should Know: Florrie Geller

Sixteen-year-old Florrie Geller understands what it means to chase a dream. Born in Jamestown, RI, she moved to Pennsylvania at age 10 to train at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. After spending three years honing a solid technical foundation, she transferred again—this time to Tampa, FL, to study under Peter Stark as a member of Straz Center for the Performing Arts’ pre-professional company, Next Generation Ballet. In 2014, she brought all those experiences with her to the Youth America Grand Prix Finals in NYC—and her exquisite performance, combining technique, artistry and storytelling, prompted yet another move. In addition to making it into the Top 12 junior women, Florrie was named the first-ever recipient of the Gillian Murphy Endowed Scholarship, which sent her to Winston-Salem, NC, to continue her training at University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

(photo by Brian Mengini, courtesy the Gellers)

“Dancing the role of Giselle is one of my dreams. It would be a real

accomplishment to capture the emotional range the character demands.”

Fast Facts

Birthday:
March 4, 1999

Nicknames:
“Laszlo Berdo, who taught at CPYB, used to call me Petunia—and Peter Stark of Next Generation Ballet calls me Florrie Dory or Princess Florine.”

Favorite parts of ballet class:
pliés and tendus

Pre-performance ritual:
“I try to get into character as soon as possible. I ask myself: Who am I? Where am I Coming from? What are my intentions?”

Favorite food:
lentils

If she had a super power,
it would be…
flying. “It’d be like taking pointe to the next level!”

Dance mentor:
Gillian Murphy

Non-dance hobbies:
“I love to knit, though I rarely finish my projects. And I’m very interested in studying cosmology.”

Choreographers she’d love to work with:
Jorma Elo or Alexei Ratmansky