Valerie Madonia trained at Canada’s National Ballet School. She danced professionally for 20 years with the National Ballet of Canada, American Ballet Theatre and the Joffrey Ballet. She has danced with Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet, Complexions and Armitage Gone! Dance.
In 2005, she performed with the
New York Philharmonic. Madonia appeared in four PBS Dance in America specials and is featured in,
Classical Ballet Technique, by G.W. Warren.
From 1995-2001, Madonia began organizing performances touring southwestern Colorado with other
professional dancers, establishing her own project-based company, Alpine Dance, Inc. She co-produced
and directed a five-year performance residency from 1997-2001 between the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and
the Telluride Society for Performing Arts. In 2002, she produced the Washington Ballet and Momix in
Telluride.
Madonia has been teaching, directing and choreographing for 23 years, most notably for the New
School University (2000-2003), Joffrey Ballet School (1996-2010) and Colorado Ballet Academy (2013-
2017). Throughout her career and beyond, she has augmented her dance training by studying Pilates and
working with Juliu Horvath at his NYC based White Cloud Studio where he originated ‘Yoga for Dancers.' She has explored different forms of fitness-based Barre classes, finding exercises that are especially
beneficial in prolonging the life of the dancer's body.