Ballet Palm Beach's Nutcracker in West Palm Beach

Ballet Palm Beach

In 1993, Colleen Smith founded Ballet Palm Beach Academy under the name of The Esther Center. From teaching classes in a room above her garage, the school expanded and moved into its current location in Palm Beach Gardens in 1998. In 2001, Ruth Petrinovic, acclaimed ballet mistress, joined the staff to coach and train academy teachers under her syllabus, Revolutionary Principles of Movement (RPM). Also in that year, Smith created Florida Classical Ballet Theatre, a performing company with the advanced students from the dance school and local guest artists performing at the Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens.

In 2009, Florida Classical Ballet Theatre (FCBT) hired two professional dancers full-time to dance in main stage productions with the trainees in the pre-professional program. Additionally, FCBT began international and local community ballet outreach programs, such as ” Flash Ballet, ” performing in unconventional venues such as shopping centers, churches, and libraries to raise the company profile and reach the under-served with ballet.

In 2013, FCBT was renamed Ballet Palm Beach, hiring additional full-time dancers and becoming the sole professional ballet company of the Palm Beaches