Grand Opening Weekend Recap

Starting with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Friday and ending with a full day of open house festivities on Sunday, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre welcomed over 900 people into its newly expanded studios for the Grand Opening of the new Byham Center for Dance. Relive the weekend through this photo reel of memorable moments captured over the weekend. Photos by: Kelly Perkovich

PBT artists, supporters and, of course, costumed dancers inaugurated the Byham Center for Dance on Friday, Sept. 23, at a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, featuring special guests Mayor William Peduto and building namesakes Carolyn and Bill Byham. 

Mayor William Peduto poses for a photo with Campaign Co-chairs Dawn and Chris Fleischner and their children, Andrew and Kay, in addition to major contributors Leslie and Hans Fleischner. 

Campaign Co-chairs and building namesakes Carolyn and Bill Byham join PBT School ballerinas for a photo inside the newly inaugurated Byham Center for Dance.

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On Saturday night, it was all about the contributors who supported the Campaign for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, which funded the building project and continues to invest in endowment and innovation funding. Guests raised a toast to this new chapter for PBT, and enjoyed the company’s inaugural studio performance in the Fleischner Family Studio. 

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, PBT welcomed more than 900 guests into the new studios for a free Grand Opening Celebration, featuring performances, sample classes, crafts, panel discussions, photo ops and more ballet-themed fun. Above, pre-professional dancers of PBT School perform for a crowded studio of community members.

And community members of all ages, including this group of Pre-ballet boys, did their own share of dancing with sample classes ranging from ballet technique to dance fitness.

Kids weren’t the only ones moving on Sunday as adults sampled PBT School’s new line of Community Division dance and fitness classes, including PBT Barre Fitness, Pilates mat, yoga and dance cardio classes.

Between classes, creativity continued with a variety of dance-inspired craft activities for kids. 

The day also offered the exclusive opportunity to watch PBT’s professional dancers rehearse and perform excerpts from a variety of repertoire works… 

Inspiring countless aspiring ballerinas. 

And, of course, no visit to the ballet would be complete without the chance to meet the Snow Queen, Sugar Plum Fairy and other iconic ballet characters.