Ballet Mississippi is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year with a Spring Festival on Saturday, April 6 at 2 p.m. at Thalia Mara Hall in downtown Jackson. The commemorative event will feature a performance of Paquita Grand Pas Classique by Principal Guest Artists Emily Speed, artist with Ballet Idaho and Alexei Orohovsky, the 2023 USA IBC junior gold medalist from Hattiesburg.
Katya and Arkadiy Orohovsky, owners and artistic directors of South Mississippi Ballet Theatre in Hattiesburg, are collaborating with Ballet Mississippi’s artistic director, David Keary, to bring the technically challenging classical ballet piece to the festival.
Ballet Mississippi is the oldest and continually operated dance school in the state that has and continues to focus on classical ballet. The original organization was founded by four professional dancers and choreographers,Albia Kavan, Rex Cooper, JoBee Best, and Thalia Mara, all of whom had successful careers with some of the country’s leading dance companies such as the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.
In looking through the history of the organization, the timeline began when the Jackson Ballet Guild was established in 1964. In the mid-1970s, Mara, a renowned American ballet dancer and choreographer, moved from New York City to Jackson, at the invitation of the guild. Her artistic direction focused on three primary goals: first, to establish the Jackson Ballet as a classically-based dance academy; second, to develop a semi-professional company; and third, to lay the organizational groundwork for bringing the International Ballet Competition to the United States. All these goals were met by re-establishing the Jackson Ballet School, and in 1978, the professional company was launched with the appointment of Keary and Kathy Thibodeaux as the first paid professional dancers.
Mara saw her move to Mississippi to further the arts and create a wider audience for them. In 1979, the Jackson Ballet followed Mara’s artistic direction and hosted the first USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, attracting dancers and spectators from all over the world to the two-week event. Jackson was the only place in the United States to host this worldwide showcase of classical ballet and the up-and-coming talent of international dancers. In 1982, the United States Congress passed a Joint resolution designating Jackson as the official home of the USA International Ballet Competition.
During the same years, the Mississippi Ballet Theatre, founded by JoBee Best, also created a successful school and youth ballet grounded in classical ballet with additional curriculum in jazz, modern, and musical theatre.
The Mississippi Ballet Theatre performed the first production of The Nutcracker in Jackson in 1976, and in 1982, the Jackson Ballet School performed its first production of The Nutcracker at the Jackson Municipal Auditorium. These two schools rapidly grew and created a diverse, professional, and sometimes controversial dance community. The two boards of directors decided to form a merger of the organizations, creating Ballet Mississippi in 1983. For years after the merger, Ballet Mississippi remained focused on the professional company and classical dance as its core training, with additional classes in jazz, modern, contemporary, and tap with studios at the Mississippi Arts Center in Fondren. During this time there were various artistic directors and professional artists who came to Ballet Mississippi and made Jackson their home. In 1994, the professional company was suspended for financial reasons, and Ballet Mississippi restructured the organization to focus exclusively on the development of a professional school.
Keary was appointed the executive-artistic director, and he brought his training from Jackson Ballet, the School of American Ballet (the official school of the New York City Ballet), and his experience of being invited by George Balanchine to join the New York City Ballet. He created a training ground for students to excel and choreographed a full-length production of The Nutcracker, and began offering spring performances focusing on the classical, neoclassical, and contemporary repertoire.
Since 1979, Keary has supported and worked with the USA IBC in many capacities, including teaching competitor classes, assisting the stage manager, managing the music for the competition, serving on the faculty for the USA IBC International Dance School, and finally, serving as director of the International Dance School for the 2018 and 2023 competitions.
Under Keary’s 30 years of leadership, the school has continued to grow to as many as 300 students. The Ballet Mississippi team also includes four dance instructors with professional experience, a costume designer, and a director of operations, along with an active board of directors. Keary now trains children of some of his former dance students. He has also trained grandchildren of some of his former dance colleagues.Ballet Mississippi traditionally held space in the Mississippi Arts Center next to Thalia Mara Hall as its primary location since 1978, with a satellite studio in The Madison Cultural Center. However, in 2020, the arts center was closed for almost two years due to various structural issues, and simultaneously Madison started a renovation of the cultural center. As a result, Ballet Mississippi was forced to find alternative facilities.
Although the ballet continues its presence in the art center, they now also have a new studio location in Madison. The new facility, located on nine acres of land, consists of two large buildings totaling 36,000 sq. ft. The first to undergo renovations, was the building now known as the studio building, it features two large, state-of-the-art ballet studios, a third small class studio space, a dressing room, and a multi-functional room for costume storage and creation. The second building houses the business offices.
Plans are in the works to renovate the additional space as a performing arts center. This summer, Ballet Mississippi will launch a capital campaign to secure funding for its new arts center and to expand its school, faculty, and staff. The campaign aims to increase the organization’s artistic reach and influence in the Greater Jackson area, grow its presence in downtown Jackson’s cultural heart and gain support for its efforts to develop young artists, bring ballet to diverse audiences, and unite the community through the arts.
