Ballet Academy of Chapel Hill is a pre-professional program for serious dancers that includes Ballet, Pointe, Variations and ballet specific conditioning. Under the umbrella of Renner Dance Company, students have the opportunity to train heavily in ballet and grow their artistry, while still providing students with the opportunity to be versatile in other styles. 

  This company is headed by the Ballet Mistress, Ms. Rossana Nesta and assisted by Ms. Rachel Carr. Dancers who are also members of Renner Dance Company, will be required to take extra days of Academy ballet per week, in addition to the Renner Dance Company Ballet Classes, for a potential total of four nights of ballet classes weekly. Members of The Ballet Academy of Chapel Hill may take regular classes at other dance studios but MAY NOT compete under any other studio name. All Academy dancers are welcome to attend dance conventions under the Renner Dance Company umbrella and we are happy to register your dancer as such. Please note, we can only register Academy dancers for additional conventions and not for competition if they are not currently a member of the Renner Dance Company (RDC). 

Dancers selected for Ballet Academy are evaluated and invited at Ms. Rossana’s discretion to learn and compete a variation. If invited, dancers will be required to have regular private lessons with Ms. Rossana and Ms. Rachel. There is one required ballet competition and two optional ballet competitions for the 2024-2025.

TUITION

LEVEL A: $125 extra per month for studio tuition if RDC  member

If not an RDC member, your tuition is $225 per month

LEVEL B/C: $175 extra per month for studio tuition if RDC member

If not an RDC member, your tuition is $275 per month

**If chosen for a variation: $200 to Rossana monthly. See”Ballet Competitions” below.

**If you are in Prepro your tuition for Ballet Academy is included in your tuition. 

ROSSANA NESTA-Ballet/pointe/variations

Born in Rome in 1967, Rossana Nesta graduated in 1985 from the school of “Balletto di Roma” where she taught from 1987 to 1995. In 1989 she obtained her Bachelor in Teaching Ballet at the “Accademia Nazionale di Danza” in Rome, the highest level of teaching sponsored by the Minister of Public Instruction in Italy

She participated in various teaching seminars in Italy and abroad, including Varna Bulgaria in 1992, during the prestigious International Ballet Competition Between 1992 and 1995, she guest taught at dance schools in Messina, Agrigento, Catania and Venice

In 1995 she attended the teaching course at the Carcano Theater in Milan, with Anna Maria Prina, then Director of the Scuola di Ballo of the Teatro alla Scala

In 1996 she moved to the United States where she taught at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater PBT and Point Park University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for 5 years, during which she participated in the production of Swan Lake with the PBT company in the role of the Queen

In 2002 she became a Partner of the School of American Ballet SAB, New York and was subsequently invited to participate in a seminar for teachers

At the end of 2004 she moved to North Carolina to take on the position of Ballet Mistress at the Cary Ballet Conservatory Cary, North Carolina where she worked until 2010. In those years she organized summer intensive courses with guests from professional schools, including the New York City Ballet

In 2009 she participated as a dancer in some productions Swan Lake and Picasso’s Salome with the professional company of Carolina Ballet, directed by Robert Wise New York City Ballet

In 2011 she founded the professional school “International Ballet Academy” in Cary North Carolina of which she became the Artistic Director During those years she received a license from the George Balanchine Foundation in NY to represent some of the repertoire ballets of the New York City Ballet

 “Divertimento 15”, “Who Cares” and “Western Symphony”

Between 2013 and 2019, as a teacher and choreographer, she received many awards including “Outstanding Teacher'”, “Outstanding Coach” and “Outstanding Ballet School” at the international competitions of the YAGP Youth America Grand Prix and the ADC American Dance Competition

Numerous students of Rossana Nesta are currently part of prestigious professional companies such as the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater New York, San Francisco Ballet, Finnish National Opera and Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Ballet West, Carolina Ballet , Atlanta Ballet, Austin Ballet, Richmond Ballet and Idaho Ballet Additionally, some of her students are currently in professional schools of Princess Grace Montecarlo, Royal Ballet Londra, English National Ballet Londra, Houston Ballet, e Nashville Ballet

In 2019 she became Ballet Mistress of the ‘Ballet Academy of Chapel Hill – Renner Dance Company’ where she currently teaches Ballet Cecchetti method and Vaganova method, Classical Repertoire, Variations and Pilates

Rossana Nesta’s teaching philosophy is based on a strong discipline and dedication to her students, who she continues to follow as a mentor throughout their professional careers

RACHEL CARR – Ballet/Pointe/Conditioning

Rachel Carr grew up training and performing with The Fairfax Ballet and received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance with a concentration in Ballet from Point Park University. Her main roles with the Ballet Academy of Chapel Hill will be assisting the ballet mistress with administrative duties and helping to choreograph and teach. 

REHEARSALS AND PERFORMANCES 

Ballet Academy students will be invited to perform in The Nutcracker in December and a Spring performance in May. Rehearsals for The Nutcracker will be two Saturdays per month from September through December with two rehearsals the week of Thanksgiving break. More details will be sent out in a Nutcracker specific document. Rehearsals for the Spring performance will happen during Ballet Academy Class time. 

Costumes:

The Nutcracker and Spring performance will each have a $40 costume fee. This year the costume fee will be paid to the studio. Costuming for ballet competitions is handled separately.   

BALLET COMPETITIONS

If your dancer has been chosen to compete a variation you will be guaranteed 4, thirty minute privates a month with Ms. Rossana. The fee will be $200 per month for those privates to be paid directly to Ms. Rossana. This is in addition to the Ballet Academy tuition fee to the studio for weekly classes. Any additional privates with Ms. Rachel will fall under normal studio private rates. Dancers will be expected to compete in both the Classical and Contemporary categories and will bring their “regular” competition solo to ballet competitions. 

You will need to email Rachel by September 1st if you are attending ADC/YAGP. We will have dates for you soon! 

BALLET COMPETITIONS

Optional: ADC – Raleigh, January 24-26

Optional: YAGP – Washington DC, February 1-2

Required: UBC – Raleigh, May 2-4 

BALLET COMPETITIONS Fees

Dancers invited to compete will be responsible for all registration and competition fees associated with each competition. Solos are usually around $115 each and dancers will be expected to compete in both the Classical and Contemporary categories. In addition, all dancers participating in a competition will split the $100 teacher(s) per diem (ex: if 10 dancers are at competition they will each pay $10 per day per teacher). If travel fees apply for  teachers for a competition, participating dancers will share those as well. 

TECHNIQUE PRIVATES (OR ADDITIONAL COACHING HOURS)

Ms. Rossana: $100 per hour, $50 per half hour

Ms. Rachel: $75 per hour, $37 per half hour