marcus galante

Marcus Galante has worked extensively as a choreographer and teacher throughout the world. Trained at the American Ballet Theatre School and the School of American Ballet, he was also a trainee at the Harkness School of Dance. Some of his teachers include Patricia Wilde, Nancy Clement, Leon Danielian, Olga Merinova, Richard Rapp, Stanley Williams, George Balanchine, David  Howard, Maria Vegh, Chuck Kelley (Jazz) and Phil Black (Jazz).  

He went on to dance with many companies including the Chicago Lyric Ballet under Maria Tallchief, Cleveland Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, and was a soloist with the National Ballet of South Africa C.A.P.A.B. performing the classical repertoire. In Broadway touring companies he sang, danced and acted in A  CHORUS LINE, PIPPIN, CAROUSEL and other shows. He has also worked Off-Off Broadway, in Opera, film and on television. 

Mr. Galante received a National Endowment Fellowship for his ballet “Out of Doors” to the music of Bela  Bartok created for Ballet Chicago. Other companies include Garden State Ballet, Eglevsky Ballet, Houston Grand Opera, Ballet Trockadero, Ballet Grandiva, the Buffalo Opera Company (Carousel), Chautauqua Dance Institute, Helsinki Ballet Competition, Pori Dance Company (Finland), Lone Star Ballet, Cultural Park  Theatre Company (Charlie Brown, Ft. Myers), the National Ballet School of Bulgaria and many other  companies and schools. He was the founder and artistic director of the comic ballet company Les Grands  Ballets de Loony. The company performed many times in NYC and received excellent reviews. 

He has done television and film choreography including the HBO special DRAGTIME in 1998. In 1995 he nominated for a DANCE IN FILM AWARD by the International Dance Film Association for the short film PRIVATE PERFORMANCE with Super-Size Me director Morgan Spurlock. The HARKNESS FOUNDATION FOR DANCE awarded him five grants for choreography.  

As a teacher, Mr. Galante has been on the faculty of some of the most prestigious schools in the country. Included are the New York City Ballet (guest teacher company class), Alvin Ailey American Dance Center where he was invited to be the company teacher of Ailey II, Pennsylvania Ballet School and Company, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Lines Contemporary Ballet Company in San Francisco, Eglevsky Ballet, Ballet Chicago, Steps in New York, Broadway Dance Center, The Virginia School of the Arts and many others. Mr. Galante was a faculty member at the Midwestern Regional Ballet Festival in Columbus Ohio and The Chicago National Association of Dance Masters. He has been invited to St. Petersburg, Russia and four times to Finland where he taught ballet and Fosse style Broadway dance before returning to Germany for a second teaching tour. He has also taught and choreographed extensively in Japan, and other international locations. 

In 2004 Mr. Galante’s Tutti Frutti, a tribute to Josephine Baker and Carmen Miranda was performed at City Center for the Dancers Transition Gala “Gotta Dance! A Tribute to Hollywood”. He received praise from movie stars such as Jane Powell, Cyd Charisse and Esther Williams. He had two other works shown in NYC that year, Garnets and Star Spangled Ballerina. His ballet Fiddle Faddle was premiered in NYC in 2007 and then in Tokyo Japan where it received with great reviews. It was later done in Bulgaria, at Ballet Project in Indiana, Ailey Studios at the request of Kat Wildish, Scarsdale Ballet Studio under former NYCB soloist Diana White and continues to be requested. 

Mr. Galante is a pianist trained at the Manhattan School of Music. He has played for every major ballet school in New York and has always been in demand because of his extensive repertoire, which ranges from classical and obscure ballet scores to Stravinsky, Hindemith and the most recent Broadway shows and movies. He released two ballet class CDs arranging and playing the music himself.