Phyllis Papa, founding director of Atlantic City Ballet, began her ballet training at the Royal Ballet Academy under the direction of her mother, Mary Papa. At the age of thirteen, she became a charter member of the Princeton Regional Ballet Company, where she performed principal roles in The Nutcracker, Les Sylphides, Nelle Fisher’s Mozart, and Pas de Quatre. Throughout her career, she returned to Princeton for numerous guest performances. Her international career began when she joined the Harkness Youth Ballet in New York City as a member and principal dancer. During Harkness Ballet’s summer season in Central Park, she performed leading roles in Les Patineurs and Donald Saddler’s Tennis, Anyone? After joining American Ballet Theatre, she was invited back by Harkness Ballet to perform at the White House for President Lyndon B. Johnson at an official dinner honoring the Shah of Iran. For the occasion, Donald Saddler choreographed a ballet especially for her. Miss Papa was also invited to perform as a guest artist with the Myra Kinch Modern Dance Company and the André Eglevsky Ballet Company. As a member of American Ballet Theatre, Miss Papa toured extensively with the company. Among her favorite solo roles were those in Pillar of Fire, Giselle, Coppélia, Billy the Kid, and Swan Lake. She was later invited to audition for the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen, becoming the first American accepted into the company and the only foreign dancer ever offered a lifelong contract. She became particularly renowned for her portrayal of the Bride in Flemming Flindt’s The Triumph of Death. Among her admirers was the late King Frederik IX of Denmark. Returning to the United States, Miss Papa continued her career as a principal ballerina with Stars of American Ballet in New York City, performing in Pas de Dix, Solstice, and Flower Festival in Genzano, among many other works. Her partners included Fernando Bujones, Peter Martins, Russell Chambers, and Lawrence Rhodes. In June 1998, she received the Brazilian Gold Medal of Honor for her work with Children of the World. The honor was presented to her in Philadelphia by diplomats representing Brazil, England, Italy, China, Japan, and the United States. Miss Papa has been acclaimed as “one of the finest dancers and teachers on the American scene today.” In 1982, Miss Papa founded the Atlantic Contemporary Ballet Theatre, which later became Atlantic City Ballet. She continues to serve as the company’s Artistic Director and has choreographed more than fifty ballets, including Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Visions from Around the World, and Visions II. She is particularly known for her production of The Nutcracker, which Atlantic City Ballet has presented to sold-out audiences for more than four decades, and for her original ballet Dracula, hailed by critics as “sumptuous, exciting, [and] impressive.” Her other celebrated original works include Carmen and Romeo and Juliet. Miss Papa has received two fellowship grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for her ballets Concerto Vivaldi and Clear Water, both of which remain in the company’s repertoire. She has also directed and choreographed three Shakespeare productions—A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, and Hamlet—as multicultural, multimedia productions incorporating original music, live musicians, voice, and dance. In 1999, Miss Papa founded the ACBT Performing Arts Academy, the official school of Atlantic City Ballet. The Academy serves as a home for the professional company and encompasses the International Performing Arts Camp and the ACBT Academic Program. Today, Atlantic City Ballet continues to bring professional ballet and innovative programming to audiences throughout Southern New Jersey and beyond. Under Miss Papa’s direction, the company has performed extensively throughout New Jersey and toured to the West Coast, Georgia, upstate New York, New York City, and Long Island.