Who We Are
Dance instruction 30 miles out to sea.
Nantucket Ballet has been dedicated to providing the highest quality dance instruction for students year-round since 2013. Our students get multiple performance opportunities each year, past productions include the annual Nantucket Nutcracker, Peter and the Wolf, Alice in Wonderland, The Beatles Ballet, Cinderella, The Wizard of Oz, and Swan Lake and the Magic Forest. We think it's important to challenge students technically and artistically and hope to inspire joy in movement at every level.
Michelle Birmingham
Owner, Director
Michelle fell in love with dance at age three and her passion for movement has shaped her professional career. She studied all forms of dance including tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop, and musical theater. In college, she majored in Dance and Performance studies where she was introduced to and trained in Modern Dance. After graduation, she received a grant to co-write and perform “The Link to the Missing Link” a full-length comedic movement theater piece that was presented at the Fringe Festival in NYC and performed at other venues in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. It was during college she met her husband who was born and raised on Nantucket so she started spending summers on the island and teaching dance fitness. She moved to Nantucket year-round in 2013 and started teaching at Nantucket Ballet right away. She has strived to create a ballet school with strong technical dancers in a non-competitive environment. In 2020 Michelle purchased the dance school and has continued to expand dance and dance fitness programming for all ages on the island. Michelle is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She is also an RYT200 and NASM CPT. She brings a unique understanding of anatomy, mindfulness, and technique to each of her classes.
Aleksandra Nikolic
Ballet Instructor
Aleks was introduced to dance at the age of 3 with ballet and tap. Progressively she was introduced to jazz, hip hop and modern. At age 14, Aleks decided to leave her small local school to focus her training on solely classical ballet. She began training under Marcia Dale Weary, Leslie Hench and Lazslo Berdo, among many others world renowned teachers at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. During her time at CPYB, Aleks performed in numerous large productions including, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Giselle, Carnival of the Animals as well as George Balanchine’s Serenade, Who Cares?, and Divertimento No. 15. Along with performing in stage productions, Aleks also participated in professional and student choreographic workshops each winter at CPYB. Upon Graduation, Aleks was accepted into Pittsburgh Ballet Theater’s Graduate program where she performed in their productions of The Nutcracker and Beauty and the Beast. Presently, Aleks is overjoyed to share her in-depth knowledge and passion of the art with the island. Aleks is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
Our Studio
Located mid-island at 15 Teasdale Circle, with plenty of parking, The Dance Space is truly a gem. Our front entrance is warm and welcoming, there is space for you to transition out of your day and into your class.
The studio itself is over 1,000 square feet. We are most proud of our Harlequin spung floors. A sprung floor has a trampoline affect for dancers, the floors reduce impact from jumping which prevents injury and keeps dancers dancing. These are the same floors you’d find at New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Alvin Ailey to name a few.
The Curriculum
Nantucket Ballet is proud to include the AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE® National Training Curriculum, a breakthrough 9-level program that combines high quality artistic training with the basics of dancer health and child development. The ABT® National Training Curriculum consists of 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. Pre-Primary through Level 8 will be taught by ABT® Certified Teacher, Michelle Birmingham, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 8.