Meet our Artistic Director
Lake Erie Ballet Company, Artistic/Executive Director
Christina Maria Adelhardt is considered one of the leaders in dance of Erie, PA. She arrived here, after dancing with Boston Ballet, as one of the first members of the professional company at Lake Erie Ballet. The Erie Times News reviews, “Christina Maria, with her musicality and relaxed stage presence, was the pin that held…succeeds in one of dance’s toughest challenges-projecting warmth and personality from the stage…gives the impression of not simply repeating what she has been taught, but expressing something she really feels.” In addition, she was the Artistic Director of the Lake Erie Ballet for nine successful years, retiring in 2004, as well as being instrumental in bringing dance in the Greater Erie area together in the first Erie Festival of Dance. Training dancers to excel and capture the love of dance is her greatest passion.
Early training began at Charmaine’s School of Dance in Roseville, MI. Christina eventually moved to Dallas, TX to train with Natalia Krassovska, former prima ballerina Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo then later to Dallas Metropolitan Ballet, Honor Company of the Southwest Regional Ballet Festival under the direction of Ann Etgen and Bill Atkinson. She also received training during the summers at School of American Ballet, San Francisco Ballet School and after graduation she joined Boston Ballet II. She has also appeared with Boston Ballet, Et Tois, Tu Danses (Milwaukee, WI) and several other guest performances in the nation. She danced with Lake Erie Ballet for 14 years before retiring to raise and home school her children. During her time at Lake Erie Ballet, she created many original ballets for the Company which were toured throughout the region. She is widely respected in the dance community and has taught and advised in several area schools as an independent instructor including adjunct faculty for the Mercyhurst University Dance Department and Gannon University.
In 2014, she founded Sovereign Ballet with the goal of fostering both strong technique and a positive atmosphere for dancers. Starting with students as young as four, the school has since expended to include ballet, contemporary, modern, acro, tap, and partnering, all taught by a team of dedicated and talented instructors.
Christina Maria’s legacy continues as she has reprised her role as Artistic/Executive Director of Lake Erie Ballet Company in 2021. This fresh new direction has brought community collaboration and has inspired the World Premiere of Erie’s Nutcracker Reimagined. Because of this community mindedness, she was invited by WQLN to coordinate the staging of Nutcracker for film, which premiered in December 2023.