Ballet Tennessee alumnus Forrest Oliveros has been accepted as a full company member with the Hong Kong Ballet in China. He begins his tenure in July 2017 and will be on a full 12-month contract.
Forrest began his training at Ballet Tennessee through the Dance Alive summer program in 2009. At the culmination of the program, he was offered a full scholarship to study year round with Ballet Tennessee. Forrest completed four years of training as a Talent Identification Scholar (TIP). During this time, he had the opportunity to perform in Ballet Tennessee’s Nutcracker, Chattanooga Dances, Tennessee Association of Dance, Panoply Choreography Competition, and BalletFest Atlanta.
In the summer of 2013, Forrest attended the Chautauqua Ballet Summer Intensive in New York. Following the two month program, he was asked to study with North Carolina Dance Theatre (now Charlotte Ballet) as an apprentice to the company on full scholarship. Forrest spent one year as an apprentice and one year as a second company member with NCDT. In 2015, Forrest moved to New York to train with the Ellison Ballet and spent this past year studying on a full scholarship at the Ailey School. The Hong Kong Ballet tours the world and will be in the States at the Joyce Theater, NY in March 2018.
Ballet Tennessee has been producing professional dancers for many years and currently has Candace Ricketts in the second company of Charlotte Ballet, NC. Fredrick Davis, also a graduate of Center for the Performing Arts, was formerly with Dance Theater of Harlem and now freelances as a guest artist across the United States. ‘From the Streets to the Stage: the Story of Fredrick Davis’ produced by WTCI is an emmy winning documentary about Fredrick. LaJeromeny Brown, another full TIP scholarship winner at Ballet Tennessee, is currently on full scholarships at the School of American Ballet and Children’s Professional School in New York City.
Hannah Locke trained at and was a company dancer at Ballet Tennessee for 10 years. She graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts and danced as an trainee with the Richmond Ballet. She currently holds the ballerina position with Ballet Tennessee and serves as ballet administrator, faculty, and choreographer. Brittany J. Mills was a full TIP scholarship student for eight years and received two full summer scholarships to Ailey School. She now serves as programs administrator, faculty and choreographer for Ballet Tennessee.
Chattanooga can be proud of the love, dedication and professional standards of Ballet Tennessee that opens the doors for so many talented dancers.