Northwest Ballet School celebrates 45th anniversary

The Northwest Ballet School is celebrating its 45th season. As the Flathead Valley's first dance studio, established in 1977, it is also the longest running one with its main studio located in the Dance Art Center in Kalispell and an additional branch in Whitefish at the O'Shaughnessy Center. The school offers classes for ages 3 1/2 to adults in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz/contemporary/lyrical, cheer and musical theater. Other classes offered have included hip-hop, pas de deux, breakdancing, ballroom and modern. Owner and director Marisa Roth has been at the helm for almost 16 years after taking the school over from founder Carol Jakes, but has been with the Northwest Ballet for almost all her life, taking classes there as a 3-year-old and growing up in the NWB Company. Roth has a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a Teaching/Choreography Concentration degree from Pennsylvania's Mercyhurst University, and is certified in the pre-primary through level 3 National Training Curriculum from the prestigious American Ballet Theatre in New York City.

As the Northwest Ballet School turns 45, the Northwest Ballet Company is 42. Flathead Valley audiences are familiar with the Company’s annual Mother's Day productions and "Nutcracker" performances over Thanksgiving weekend — this year’s will be the the Company's 34th. The company repertoire also includes “Sleeping Beauty,” “Cinderella,” “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” “Alice in Wonderland” and excerpts from “Coppélia,” “Swan Lake” and “Phantom of the Opera,” as well as new works.

The NWB School has also been an active member for over 40 years of the statewide organization, Montana Dance Arts Association (MDAA), and Roth has served many three-year terms as both president and secretary of the voluntary board of directors.

Adult student Wes Hulla had this to say about the Northwest Ballet: "For those parents looking for a dance studio that will teach their children proper dance technique while instructing them how to become kind and considerate adults, the Northwest Ballet is where you want to enroll your kids. This non-competitive environment will help your student grow into an adult alongside peers who know and understand the importance of accepting others regardless of their natural abilities. They will learn the importance of constructive feedback … The instructors at this school are trained to teach in an easy, caring manner regardless of body type or long-term aspirations of the dancer.”

For more information on classes and performances, contact the Northwest Ballet at 406-755-0760, or info@northwestballet.com, or visit www.northwestballet.com.