Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Will Host Master Class Series Taught by PBT Company Artists and Staff

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has announced a new monthly Master Class Series for the 2024-25 season. Beginning September 10, these classes will be offered to the greater Pittsburgh community. For the first time, the Master Class Series will be taught by popular PBT artists and artistic staff, including Adam W. McKinney, PBT’s artistic director.

“We are delighted to provide this incredible chance for students to enhance their ballet skills and gain invaluable insights from some of the best artists in the field,” said Raymond Rodriguez, Dean of the PBT School. “This is such a fun way for them to learn from the same professional dancers they have watched onstage for years. We invite all local dancers in the greater Pittsburgh community to ‘Come Dance With Us!’”

The PBT Master Class Series provides a unique opportunity for students to learn from esteemed company artists and leading professionals of PBT.  Master classes are an important part of dance training because they support dancers in developing their technique and artistry and learning different dance methods. The Masters Class Series is intended for dancers 14 years of age and older who have intermediate/advanced level dance experience. The classes are held at PBT's studios on each of the selected dates at 6:00 p.m. 

Classes are $35 each or $300 for the series of nine classes. Observers can view classes for $10 each. Due to space limitations, registrations will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. To register for the PBT Master Class Series, visit https://pbt.org/master-classes/.

The schedule of the PBT Master Class Series for the 2024-25 Season includes:

Tuesday, September 10, 6:00-7:30 PM 

Tommie Lin Kesten, PBT Principal Artist

Tommie Lin grew up in Pittsburgh and is a Principal Artist in the PBT Company.  She was chosen for Pointe Magazine‘s top 10 "Stars of the Corps” in 2019, as well as Dance Magazine’s “25 Dancers to Watch” in 2020. Tommie Lin has performed with PBT for six years and was promoted to Principal Artist in 2023. She will teach a ballet class for the PBT Master Class series.  Read her bio here.     

Tuesday, October 8, 6:00-7:30 PM 

Corey Bourbonniere, PBT Soloist Artist

Corey has performed with PBT for 12 years and was promoted to soloist in 2019. The same year, Pointe Magazine awarded Corey a “Standout Performance” award for their role as “Bernardo” in PBT’s West Side Story Suite.  Corey also performed in Donald Byrd’s From Other Suns as part of The Kennedy Center’s Reframing the Narrative, for which they also received a Pointe Magazine “Standout Performance” award in 2022. Corey will teach a ballet class for the PBT Master Class series.  Read their bio here.                              

Tuesday, November 12, 6:00-7:30 PM

Adam W. McKinney, PBT Artistic Director

Adam joined PBT as Artistic Director in 2023. He has a diverse and accomplished background in arts leadership, having served as an arts organization director, tenured professor, choreographer, dancer and educator. McKinney was previously an Associate Professor of Dance in Ballet at Texas Christian University. Adam has danced with some of the world’s most prominent dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Béjart Ballet Lausanne, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet Company. Adam will teach a ballet class for the PBT Master Class series. Read his bio here.                 

Tuesday, December 10, 6:00-7:30 PM

Raymond Rodriguez, Dean of PBT School

Raymond has been the Dean of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School since 2023, after having served as the Academy Director at the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. He has previously danced with the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and the Cleveland Ballet (Ballet San Jose). Raymond is a current judge and Master Teacher for the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP). He also serves on the advisory board of the national dance publication Pointe Magazine and is an ABT-certified teacher and an international guest instructor. He will teach a ballet class for the PBT Master Class series.  Read his bio here.                 

Tuesday, January 14, 6:00-7:30 PM

Noelani Pantastico, Stager of PBT’s upcoming Romeo and Juliet

Noelani is a freelance teacher, coach and stager for Jean-Christopher Maillot’s works. In 2022, she retired from Pacific Northwest Ballet after a 25-year dance career. While there, she was promoted three times until she became a principal in 2004. In 2008, she joined Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo in Monaco as a soloist. She returned to PNB again as a principal dancer in 2015. During her career, she danced a diverse repertory, including works by George Balanchine, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, Jerome Robbins, Susan Stroman, Crystal Pite, Alejandro Cerrudo, Penny Saunders, Robyn Mineko Williams and many more. Noelani will teach a ballet class for the PBT Master Class series.  Read her bio here.                 

Tuesday, February 4, 6:00-7:30 PM

April Berry, Director of Education and Community Engagement at PBT

April Berry joined PBT as the Director of Education and Community Engagement in 2024. She is a dance director, master teacher, educator and former internationally acclaimed principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Judith Jamison. April has been a dance faculty member at Kansas City Ballet, Charlotte Ballet and BalletMet, and has served as adjunct faculty in the Department of Dance at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She studied modern dance techniques and jazz dance at Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and traveled to Cuba to study Caribbean folkloric and popular dance forms at the Escuela Nacional des Arts. She will teach a Dunham/Horton Modern class for the PBT Master Class series.  Read her bio here.                 
 

Tuesday, March 11, 6:00-7:30 PM

Hannah Carter, PBT Principal Artist

Hannah, originally from Orsett, Essex, UK, joined PBT in 2013 after dancing as a corps de ballet member with Estonian National Ballet. She graduated from the Royal Ballet School with honors and has been a principal artist with PBT since 2016. She will teach a ballet class for the PBT Master Class series.  Read her bio here.

Tuesday, April 1, 6:00-7:30 PM

Kurtis Sprowls, PBT Corps de Ballet Artist

Kurtis, originally from Ohio, trained for three years in the PBT School Graduate program before joining the company in 2015. He has taken summer Intensives with Jacob’s Pillow, Nederlands Dans Teatr, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and Orsolina 28 Nunes. Kurtis has also been an instructor at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive. He has choreographed numerous works for PBT and PBT School, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Hartwood Acres, Strange Dreamz and Ethereal. He will teach a ballet class for the PBT Master Class series.  Read his bio here.

Tuesday, May 13, 6:00-7:30 PM

Barbara Bears, PBT Rehearsal Director

Barbara joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre as a rehearsal director in 2023. Prior to that, she was a dancer with the Houston Ballet for more than 20 years, including as a principal dancer for 15 of those years. Barbara created roles in over 30 different ballets. After her retirement, she served as a teacher and coach for Houston Ballet, Houston Ballet 2 and the Ben Stevenson Academy before joining the professional company’s artistic staff as a ballet master in 2016. As Ballet Master, Bears staged works by Ben Stevenson, Stanton Welch and many other notable choreographers. She will teach a ballet class for the PBT Master Class series.  Read her bio here.

PBT’s New Midweek Technique Series For Dancers Ages 10-13 

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School is also introducing a brand-new beginner-intermediate class tailored for young dancers ages 10-13. These classes, presented in multiple six-week sessions, offer an amazing opportunity for young dancers to refine their technique, gear up for dance competitions and learn from the top professionals in the field.

Session 1 takes place on Wednesdays from 6:15-7:45 pm between September 4-October 9, 2024.  The first six-class session will be taught by Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre principal artist Tommie Lin Kesten and corps de ballet artist David O’Matz (alternating weeks).  Sessions, offered at $120 for the six-week series, will take place at the PBT studios. Register for “Midweek Technique with Tommie and David” here.

Talented PBT artists will lead additional sessions every six weeks.  More details will be available prior to the start of each session at PBT School’s website.  The session dates are:

Session 1 September 4-October 9, 2024

Session 2 October 16-November 20, 2024

Session 3 December 4-18, 2024 & January 8-22, 2025

Session 4 January 29-March 5, 2025

Session 5 March 12-April 16, 2025

Session 6 April 23-May 28, 2025

To post a comment, you must register and login.