PBT Master Class Series
Beginning September 10, PBT Master 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. The PBT Master Class Series provides a unique opportunity for students to learn from esteemed company artists and leading professionals of PBT.
This Master 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. Observers can view classes for $10 each. Due to space limitations, registrations will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.
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
Diana Yohe, PBT Soloist Artist
Diana hails from Willoughby, Ohio. She began her ballet training at Cleveland City Dance and furthered her training in Joffrey Ballet’s Trainee Program and PBT School’s Graduate Program. She joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre as an apprentice in 2013, was promoted to Corps de ballet in 2014 and to soloist in 2017. Diana is married to former PBT artist Joseph Parr. She will teach a ballet 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.
Instructors are subject to change.