Born in Belleville, Illinois, dancer Christine Spizzo trained at the San Francisco Ballet School, UNCSA and at the School of American Ballet in New York. Upon graduation, she joined the National Ballet of Washington (DC), and the Ballet Repertory Company (NY), ultimately joining American Ballet Theatre in 1975.
A soloist with ABT, Spizzo appeared in numerous Live from Lincoln Center and Dance in America telecasts, as well as the Herbert Ross films “The Turning Point” and “Dancers,” and in Baryshnikov’s “Nutcracker” and “Don Quixote” video films. Spizzo was a Principal dancer with Ballet Arizona from 1988-1990, and with the Nureyev & Friends North American tour in 1990. She performed in the Broadway company of “Phantom of the Opera” from 1990-2000. Also during that time, she was an adjunct professor at both NYU and SUNY/Purchase.
In 1996, she served as Artistic Coordinator of ABT’s inaugural Summer Intensive Program, and remained a principal teacher in all subsequent ABT Summer Intensives (NYC, NC, TX, ALA), through 2017. She is a certified ABT National Training Curriculum Instructor, Primary-L8. In 2000, upon moving to Winston-Salem with her late husband, Raymond Serrano, Spizzo joined the dance faculty at UNCSA, where she worked for 10 years, receiving the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2006. She taught in UNCSA Preparatory Dance Program for several years, and, periodically, still teaches ballet at UNCSA.
Spizzo is actively engaged as a guest teacher and stager of classical ballet repertoire at various schools throughout North Carolina, as well as in New York, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and California. She has been on the ballet faculty of Regional Dance America Festivals (SW and SE regions) since 2014. Spizzo was the proud owner and co-founder, along with Mark McCullough, of Studio Elevé in Kernersville (a yoga, Pilates, and dance studio for active adults and aspiring young professionals), until the recent pandemic forced her to close the studio after just 7 years.