About
For over 50 years, Amherst Ballet has offered quality dance instruction through performances, educational programming, and community partnerships.
History
Amherst Ballet was started under the name of the Amherst Ballet Center by Therese Brady Donohue in 1971 upon her arrival to the area. In 1976, Donohue founded the non-profit known as the Amherst Ballet Theatre Company to give young dancers the opportunity for professional performing experience as well as to bring to young audiences an awareness of dance through educational programs in schools and communities. Two years later, Donohue purchased a house next to Wildwood Elementary School and with the help of her students and their families, she built two studios adjacent to it, which is where Amherst Ballet was housed until 2024. In 1988, Donohue established the Amherst Ballet Theatre School that offered previously-trained dance students between the ages of twelve and seventeen a complete dance education with performance experience by high school graduation. The school existed as a separate entity until the year 2000, when it was merged with the Company into a single non-profit organization.
See the Difference We Make
Our Mission
With a conviction of the value of dance in our society, and a commitment to quality dance education, Amherst Ballet seeks to build a diverse and inclusive community of dancers and dance enthusiasts through performance, educational programming, and community partnerships.
Our Impact
Since its founding, the Amherst Ballet Theatre Company has promoted and maintained close ties with local people and has contributed in creating an inclusive community centering around dance. All of the directors have consistently collaborated with musicians and composers in the area and produced not only artistic but innovative original performances. The company also has a long history of engaging in outreach activities at schools, public libraries, and nursing homes in and around Amherst. Moreover, while the school has been successfully training those who pursue dance as their career, it has also been a place where dancers of all levels, ages, genders, and body-types can improve themselves to their wants and needs.
Our Directors
Succeeding from Donohue, who stepped down from the position that year, Catherine Fair served as Artistic Director for the subsequent ten years and produced a number of original performances. In 2006, with the help of generous donors led by Al and Norma Geller, grandparents of a dancer at the time, Amherst Ballet obtained the building it was housed in. After Fair’s departure in 2011, Amherst Ballet was led by talented Artistic Directors Sueann Townsend, Molly Stamell, and Madeleine Bonn. Our current director, Mikayla Archambeau, took the helm in 2023.
