Durham School for Ballet
& the Performing Arts

Welcome to Durham School for Ballet & the Performing Arts, Durham’s premier academy for quality training in classical ballet, pointe, modern, contemporary, tap, jazz and aerial dance -- both silks & lyra. We offer three class divisions: children's classes, student-level classes, and recreational classes for teens and adults. Our instructors have been individually selected for their outstanding teaching and artistic abilities.

All of our ballet and pointe classes are taught using the American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum. This curriculum is a breakthrough 8-level program that combines high-quality artistic training with the basics of dancer health and child development using a comprehensive set of age-appropriate, outcome-based guidelines to provide the highest quality ballet training to dance students of all ages and skill levels.

We are proud that the members of our faculty either currently hold or are actively studying for teaching certifications in their field of expertise. Our instructors are currently certified by ABT National Training Curriculum, Imperial School of Dancing, and New England Conservatory of Circus Arts. We encourage and support our staff in pursuing continuing education opportunities for the benefit of our students’ training. We are trained to teach. 

In addition to our repertoire of classes, we also offer workshops year-round in aerial silks, aerial lyra, ballet, contemporary, jazz and theater when an opportunity arises. We post notices on our Facebook when there is a potential workshop. These workshops are open to anyone in the dance and theater community.