Bristol Ballet’s faculty is certified to teach ballet and other dance styles in several nationally and internationally recognized programs. The two directors, Moira Frazier Ostrander and Amanda Hairston, are both American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum Certified Teachers, who have successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level Three of the ABT National Training Curriculum. Both directors and Bristol Ballet instructors Beth Barnette and Michele Plescia are certified in Progressing Ballet Technique, a supplemental training program focused on injury prevention in ballet dancers. Instructor Olivia Ratliff is certified in Progressing Contemporary Technique, a similar program for Contemporary Dance. Plescia is a certified Royal Academy of Dance instructor; Beth Barnette is a certified instructor in the Cecchetti method; and instructor Wayne Burritt is certified in the Vaganova Teacher Training Program (Years One through Five).
Classes are available for all ages, 12 months and up. Bristol Ballet offers Mommy and Me/Caregiver and Child classes for 12 months through 2 years; Creative Movement classes for 3 year olds; Ballet classes for ages 4 and up; and Pointe, Contemporary Dance, Variations, History/Terminology and Progressing Ballet Technique classes for intermediate and advanced dancers. They also offer an Adult Ballet class that is open to anyone, beginners and up.
Registration for the 2023-2024 season (which starts Aug. 14) is open at www.bristolballet.org/registration. More information can also be found on their website, www.bristolballet.org, or email mfrazier@bristolballet.org with any questions.
Upcoming Season
Bristol Ballet presents its 75th Anniversary Celebration Aug. 26, at Paramount Center for the Arts, Bristol, Tennessee. It will be a celebratory reception and performance to commemorate Bristol Ballet’s historic 75th Anniversary Season, including a reception with cocktails and light hors d’oeuvres in Paramount Bristol’s lobby before a “Past, Present, Future” themed performance featuring the performing company of Bristol Ballet.
To celebrate the past, the production begins with a revival of “Mountain Ballad” (premiered in the 1960s), a seminal work by Bristol Ballet’s founder, Constance Hardinge. To highlight the present, the production continues with excerpts from “Unbroken Circle,” a work by Artistic Director Emeritus Michele Plescia to music from the 1927 Bristol Sessions. To look forward to the future, two pieces by current co-artistic directors, Moira Frazier Ostrander and Amanda Hairston, finishes the show. These pieces are set to musical selections from local music sensation Amythyst Kiah and Appalachian favorite Dolly Parton.
Bristol Ballet also presents the holiday classic, “The Nutcracker” Dec. 2 at Southwest Virginia Community College and Dec. 8 and 9 at Paramount Center for the Arts.
May 11, 2024, Bristol Ballet presents “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Paramount Center for the Arts.
