In 1999 Catherine Batcheller and her husband, Joseph Cipolla, co-founded the WashAshore Dance Ensemble on Cape Cod, (now known as Configuration). Since the groups conception, they have performed pieces from such choreographers as Balanchine, Ashton, Forsythe, Bintley, and McEldowney, as well as new works by Royston Maldoom, Yuri Zhukov, Ivan Cavallari, and Daniela Kurz.

In 2000, Catherine completed her M.A. (Dance in Education and the Community) from Birmingham University in England. Catherine’s teaching experience has been with Stuttgart Ballet in 1993; Studio 878’s ballet department in Chatham, MA; The Academy of Performing Arts in Orleans, MA, and the American Academy of Ballet in Buffalo, NY.

She has also choreographed and co-produced with her husband, a school production of the Nutcracker that was performed by the Tildon Arts Center in Hyannis, MA in 2000. She has choreographed for school productions at Studio 878 and the Academy for Performing Arts on the Cape.

Catherine began her ballet training with the Cleveland School of Ballet under Dennis Nahat, followed by the Washington School of Ballet under Mary Day. Summer studies included scholarships to American Ballet Theater in 1978, School of American Ballet in 1979, and Joffrey Ballet in 1980. In 1981 she joined the San Francisco Ballet under Michael Smuin where she danced in a wide variety of repertoire. She performed principal roles in ballets by George Balanchine, Lew Christianson, Jiri Kylian, Jerrome Robbins, Michael Smuin, and Val Caniporoli, as well as creating roles in pieces by Smurin, Caniporoli, John McFall, and Kirk Peterson.

In 1985, she joined the Stuttgart Ballet under the direction of Marcia Haydee. In Stuttgart, Catherine expanded her classical reportoire to include the principal roles in Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, and Grand Pas Classique. She also worked with choreographers Maurice Bejart, William Forsythe, Kylain, John Neumeier, and Hans Van Manen, having created roles in many of the pieces.

In 1994, Catherine was invited to join the Birmingham Royal Ballet (formerly known as the Sadler’s Wells Ballet) under Sir Peter Wright. Her repertoire in England expanded to include principal roles in pieces by Sir Fredrick Ashton, David Bintley, Sir Kennith Macmillan, and Sir Peter Wright. Outside of her work with the Birmingham Royal Ballet, she has also worked with Olivier Award nominee, choreographer Wayne Mcgregor.

In December of 2001, Catherine appeared in Susan Stroman’s production of A Christmas Carol in New York at Madison Square Garden dancing the role of The Ghost of Christmas Future.Her guest performances include Germany, France, Italy, and the U.S.

T.V. credits include the San Francisco Ballet’s nationally televised production of Cinderella as the Fairy Godmother, the Stuttgart Ballet’s Giselle as Myrtha, and in England, a live performance of Nutcracker Pas de Deux at the Lawrence Olivier Awards in 1995.

International competitions include Varna in 1983 and Helsinki in 1991, taking 6th place in both. She won the National Ballet Achievement Award in 1983.

She has been an invited speaker at the Cape Museum of Fine Arts during the Tuesday with the Muse program in April of 2001 and March of 2002.