Kelly Dornan received early her training in central Maryland. In 2011, she attended The Washington School of Ballet on scholarship under the direction of Kee Juan Han. After graduation, Kelly trained on scholarship at Texas Ballet Theater School under Ben Stevenson, Charmaine Hunter, and Kathy Warakomsky, where she performed Ben Stevenson’s Dracula and Harald Lander’s Etudes with the company. In 2014, she joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company, where she performed in Christopher Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Balanchine’s Serenade, Derek Deane’s Romeo and Juliet, and Swan Lake. After joining Boulder Ballet, Kelly’s notable roles include Clara in The Nutcracker; Fast/Slow Duet in Paul Taylor’s Airs; Sidra Bell’s Developing Tongue; Amy Seiwert’s The Devil Ties My Tongue; Swan Lake’s Pas de Trois; Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Kelly joined Boulder Ballet in 2019.