Ballet West Dancer Helps Team USA Freestyle Skiers Find Olympic Edge
Former Ballet West first soloist Allison DeBona worked with Lemley, Harwood, and Henderson to fix alignment and build stability — all three made the Olympic team.
PARK CITY, USA – In the weeks leading up to the 2026 Winter Olympics, three American freestyle skiers traded their skis for ballet slippers.
Elizabeth Lemley, Rell Harwood, and Grace Henderson regularly stepped into Ballet West's dance studio in Park City, Utah, to work with former first soloist Allison DeBona. The goal wasn't to learn ballet — it was to refine alignment, strengthen stabilizing muscles, and sharpen body awareness for aerial maneuvers and controlled landings.
HOW IT STARTED
The partnership began when Gillian Bower, director of high performance for U.S. Ski and Snowboard, approached DeBona after watching her teach a baby ballet class. It took nearly a year and a half for the program to come together.
"I had to actually learn a lot about what they do instead," DeBona told Dance Teacher. "I was studying videos, watching what they do, understanding where they get injured."
THE SESSIONS
Training wasn't traditional ballet. DeBona focused on small adjustments: fixing a lopsided stance, improving jumping coordination, building single-leg stability.
"They were very smart. They grasped it right away," DeBona said. "They actually got better every week."
THE RESULT
All three skiers represented Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics — their bodies more balanced and controlled than at any previous Games. The program has since been adopted as a permanent part of the U.S. freestyle development curriculum.
Devin Mallonee
Devin Mallonee is a sports journalist and performance nutrition writer with over a decade of experience covering elite athletics, Olympic competitions, and the science of human performance. Devin Mallonee has followed competitive sports from the grassroots level all the way to the world stage, developing a deep understanding of what separates good athletes from great ones — and the role nutrition plays in that equation.
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