ABOUT
OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
Eric Trope is an Artistic Director, Choreographer, Répétiteur, Community Organizer, and Dancer. He is currently the Artistic Director at Ballet Des Moines. He most recently completed his tenure as the interim Artistic Director of the Lexington Ballet for their 50th anniversary season. Some of his recent choreographic commissions include the New Jersey Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet Concert Group, the Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival, the Miami City Ballet School Pre-Professional Division, and the New York Choreographic Institute. Eric finished his eighth season with the Miami City Ballet in April of 2021 and previously danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet. Eric has worked as a répétiteur for Tony Award Winner Justin Peck and has staged his work in Finland, the Czech Republic, Spain, and Germany. Finally, Eric is a cofounder of Buddy System, an nonprofit focused on food insecurity that was started in response to the Miami community’s immense need during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Eric Trope is currently the Artistic Director of Ballet Des Moines. He is looking forward to their 25/26 season, TRANSFORMATIONS where he will choreograph two new ballets. The first in the triple bill, FORWARD with live accompaniment by internationally recognized pianist Hyunjung Rachel Chung and set design by BDM’s Creative Director Jami Milne. The second in the triple bill NOTHING HOLDS STILL with music played by the Belin Quartet.
Trope most recently completed his tenure as the interim Artistic Director of the Lexington Ballet for their 50th anniversary season. While Artistic Director, Eric choreographed a new Nutcracker to sold-out houses and several new works including a ballet with an original score by Ben Sollee and the Lexington Philharmonic.
CHOREOGRAPHER
Eric is an award-winning freelance choreographer. In December 2023, Eric reimagined the Coffee Divertissement for the New Jersey Ballet’s annual production of The Nutcracker, under the leadership of Maria Kowrowski. Prior to that, his work was seen on the Joffrey Ballet Concert Group in February 2023 after winning their Creative Movers Choreographic Initiative. Previously he showed work at the Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival in July of 2021 with a festival-commissioned score by Timo Andres, after winning their 2020 Choreo-contest. Eric premiered works for the Miami City Ballet Pre-Professional division and the Miami City Ballet outdoor pop-up series in 2021. In 2019, Eric’s work was presented at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts as part of the finale of the prestigious Mainly Mozart Festival. He was also selected to participate in the 2016 Fall Session of the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of the New York City Ballet. He has also made works for the Columbia University Ballet Collective, Ballet on the Beach Festival, Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami, and the New World Symphony. Most recently, he choreographed a new Nutcracker to sold-out houses and a new ballet with an original score by Ben Sollee and the Lexington Philharmonic for the Lexington Ballet.
RÉPÉTITEUR
Eric is a Répétiteur for three time Tony Winner and New York City Ballet Resident Choreographer Justin Peck. Eric has staged Peck’s Heatscape for the Finnish National Ballet in Helsinki, Spain’s Compañía Nacional de Danza in Madrid, and for the The National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in the Czech Republic. He also coached Peck’s Rodeo at the Dresden Semperoper in Germany.
Eric will stage Heatscape at the Vienna State Ballet, under the direction of Alessandra Ferri, in winter 2026.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
Eric is a cofounder of Buddy System, an nonprofit focused on food insecurity that was started in response to the Miami community’s immense need during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Buddy System has received national media attention for opening ten community fridges and operates large scale food distributions across Miami-Dade County and a food pantry as an emergency food resource. Buddy System started as a small mutual-aid program and has grown into a diverse county-wide nonprofit that recently celebrated five years of existence. He served as the Chief Operating Officer for many years; he now sits on the Board of Directors.
DANCER
Eric finished his eighth season with the Miami City Ballet in April of 2021. He previously danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet for four seasons and was a guest artist with BalletX. Eric has danced a vast amount of repertoire including principal, soloist, and corps roles in works by Balanchine, Robbins, Forsythe, Ratmansky, Taylor, Kylian, Peck, and many others. Some of his featured roles include Riff in Robbins' West Side Story Suite, Phlegmatic in Balanchine's The Four Temperaments, Johnny in Taylor's Company B, the Paul Taylor solo in Balanchine's Episodes, the principal man in Balanchine’s Who Cares?, and Taylor in Justin Peck’s Rodeo. Eric has toured extensively including the NY State Theater and NY City Center in NYC, the Music Center and Segerstrom Center in LA, the Kennedy Center, and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Eric participated in the dance workshop for Steven Speliberg’s West Side Story choreographed by Justin Peck.
FEATURED PRESS
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Miamiams are setting up free food for hungry neighbors
There’s a lot being done to help fight food insecurity in Miami. Restaurants across the city are playing the role of food banks, providing meals for out-of-work employees and essential workers.
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Meet Eric Trope
We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Eric Trope a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
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Joffery Ballet Concert Group to present New Works
The Joffrey Ballet Concert Group, under the artistic direction of Bradley Shelver, will appear in all new works, Feb. 16-18 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater.
ADDITIONAL PRESS
