How The Sarasota Ballet’s Margaret Barbieri Conservatory Is Training Company-Ready Artists

Considering its alumni success stories, its prominence on the competitive ballet landscape, and the rising profile of its affiliated professional company, The Sarasota Ballet School has clearly emerged as a training destination. Helmed by Sarasota Ballet’s education director Christopher Hird since 2016, The Sarasota Ballet’s Margaret Barbieri Conservatory is committed to cultivating company-ready artists.

Making a Name for Itself on Local and International Stages

At Youth America Grand Prix’s recent Tampa semifinals, Sarasota Ballet trainee Reaganne Beamer won the Grand Prix. The Sarasota Ballet’s Margaret Barbieri Conservatory won an Outstanding School Award—no surprise, when its students medaled in every category for the Senior and Junior divisions (women’s and men’s classical and contemporary) and appeared throughout the various Top 6 and Top 12 student placements. What’s more, both the Conservatory and company are making a name internationally. In June 2024, the company’s well-received tour to London drew more eyes to Florida’s west coast. Looking forward on the global competition circuit, 16-year-old Macie Miersch is one of 85 dancers who’ve been chosen to compete in the prestigious Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland next month.

Performance Opportunities That Prioritize Artistic Development

While these competition stats are impressive, says Hird, Sarasota emphasizes opportunities, not medals. “In today’s world, having a presence at competitions is valuable for a school,” he says, “but it’s about the process. It’s a performing opportunity.” For Philadelphia Ballet II dancer and former Sarasota Ballet trainee Jason Shuman, those opportunities made a substantial impression on him as a budding artist. Also interested in his growth as a choreographer, Shuman worked with Sarasota Ballet’s faculty to create his own contemporary solo for YAGP. And when rehearsing variations, he was given the space to develop his own, very personal artistry. “I could say, ‘I want to do it like this.’ And the faculty would say, ‘Well, that doesn’t look good on you yet. How can we do what you want to do, but workshop it to make it work for you?’ ”

Performing opportunities are valuable experiences in themselves, and they’re numerous at The Sarasota Ballet’s Margaret Barbieri Conservatory. During The Sarasota Ballet Summer Intensive, the closing performance is held in the same venue the company performs in, with full production values. Also unique for a school affiliated with a professional company, it puts on its own Nutcracker, giving younger students the chance to perform corps roles, not just child parts, and affording Studio Company and trainees valuable artistic development in principal roles. Throughout the year, higher-level students may even originate roles in new choreography by Sarasota Ballet company dancers.

Success Stories at Sarasota Ballet and Beyond

Still, Hird says that some students and parents prioritize a single metric when evaluating a school: “The number one question that I get asked is ‘How many people go into the Studio Company from the training program?’ ” At least six current Sarasota Ballet Studio Company and Sarasota Ballet apprentices recently made the leap from school, with more alumni further up the ranks.
 
While many of the school’s students aspire to dance with the company, faculty are dedicated to helping students succeed wherever their artistic goals take them. In addition to foundational, classical training, they offer career preparation that supports students in everything from filming audition tapes to polishing their materials. Ezra Schenck, one of Hird’s former students, now dancing with Ballet Austin, says he owes a lot to Hird’s thoughtful feedback. “I handed Mr. Hird a copy of my resumé and he just sort of shook his head,” Schenck laughs, “but he helped me with it!” Schenck notes that he still uses that improved resumé. Schenck found considerate, dedicated coaches inside the studio, as well. When preparing for auditions, “the teachers always gave us the space to film and offered feedback. I remember two different teachers helping me pick variations.”

A Bridge to Company Life

Schenck directly credits The Sarasota Ballet’s Margaret Barbieri Conservatory’s emphasis on performance with his early professional success at Ballet Austin, where he is already dancing principal roles. “That was key for me,” he says, “gaining confidence both in the rehearsal room and onstage.”
 
Though Philadelphia Ballet II members usually dance corps roles in the company’s larger productions, Shuman agrees that Sarasota’s curriculum was a necessary bridge to company life. “In [Sarasota Ballet’s] trainee program, we would dance from 9 in the morning to 3 or 4 o’clock, and then we’d have more rehearsal from 5 to 7:30 pm. I remember at the time it felt very intense, but now that I’m in a company, that’s how the day is. Sarasota Ballet helped prepare me for that workload.”

A Humanistic Approach to Ballet Training

While students and parents may be laser-focused on the job market at the culmination of the training years, The Sarasota Ballet’s Margaret Barbieri Conservatory’s alumni agree that there’s more to dance education than a solid reel and resumé (despite having those polished, too, before they leave). It’s the soft skills—the humanistic and passionate approach that the faculty bring to work—that stick with Shuman: “The environment there was so good because the teachers were role models for us. All of them.” He continues, “The way that they held themselves and interacted with you, they wanted to make sure that you were in good spirits.” He recalls how the faculty treated students as “humans, not robots,” he says. “I’ll take that with me.”

The Margaret Barbieri Conservatory is now auditioning for the 2025–26 school year. Contact [email protected] to arrange an in-person or video audition, or register at this link. In addition, video auditions are being accepted for The Sarasota Ballet’s Summer Intensive.