Artistic Director

Artistic Director & Founder

Doreen Cafarella founded the Granite State Ballet School (now Northern Ballet Theatre Dance Centre) in 1985. She has a commitment to developing the highest caliber of dance excellence in New Hampshire. With a strong reputation for fine dance training, Ms. Cafarella has established a dance school that nurtures young students and prepares dancers for professional careers. She created a major artistic force in New England through the success of Northern Ballet Theatre (formerly Granite State Ballet Company), New Hampshire's premier dance company. Ms. Cafarella has choreographed and set numerous ballets with critical acclaim including the Nutcracker, Cinderella, Variations on Bach, An American in Paris, Dancing Through the 20th Century, For the Fun Of It, Let's Swing! and Tango Ballet.
She was a principal dancer with the New England Ballet and Ballet Arts Dance Ensemble. Her teaching credits include: The Boston Conservatory of Music and Dance, the Edra Toth School of Ballet, Ballet Arts Academy, and Burklyn Ballet. Ms. Cafarella participated in the Vaganova Symposium at the American School of Ballet in Chicago. She has been a guest teacher throughout the United States and has set her ballets on other companies. In 1990, Network Publications selected her as an Exceptional Woman of New Hampshire. The New Hampshire State Council on the arts awarded Ms. Cafarella with a 1996 Fellowship Grant for choreography.