Our Instructors

Beth Barnette
​Ballet, Conditioning, and PBT instructor
Certified Cecchetti Ballet Instructor, Certified Progressing Ballet Technique Instructor

Beth Barnette is a South Louisiana native with a diverse dance background. Folk Dancing was an activity she shared with her mother starting at a very young age, so she developed an appreciation for dance as a way to express one’s cultural roots. Dance training continued through grade school including ballet, tap, jazz, baton twirling, and gymnastics. In high school she joined a local clogging group, performing for various community events and eventually teaching a young group of dancers.

While earning her Bachelors of Business Administration degree from Loyola University, Beth joined the Loyola Dance Team and also studied classical ballet and danced with the Loyola Ballet, under the direction of Gayle Parmelee, including productions of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Paquita. She also started her fitness career earning her Group Exercise Instructor certification and organizing several "Fitness Week" events for students.

Since college, Beth has continued to study, teach and perform with Baton Rouge Ballet Theater (Baton Rouge, LA), Tara Rodi School of the Dance (Florence, AL), and Gay Whitt School of Dance (Jonesborough, TN). Beth has passed four graded ballet teacher examinations with merit through the Cecchetti Council of America (CCA). She is a Certified Progressing Ballet Technique Instructor. She has also completed a 3-day intensive Dance Teacher and Health Professional Training, led by renowned Australian Physiotherapist, Lisa Howell. Beth recently completed her Personal Trainer Certification and continues to teach group fitness classes. She is passionate about helping dancers understand their bodies and how to move more efficiently and safely to prevent injury and ensure a lifetime of dance enjoyment. Beth is celebrating 8 years with Bristol Ballet and she looks forward to many more years of learning, teaching, and appreciating the art of dance!

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Olivia Ratliff
Contemporary Dance, Ballet
Certified Progressing Contemporary Technique Instructor

Olivia Ratliff began her dance training at the age of nine at Highlands Center for Ballet Arts and continued dancing there through high school and college. She attended Radford University where she graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance with a classical concentration. While attending Radford, she studied a wide variety of dance styles under Inessa Plekhanova, Deborah McLaughlin, and Bob Boross. While at Radford, Olivia was selected to perform in a jazz dance showcase at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center in New York City as well as an Appalachian-based modern work at the College of New Jersey. She has performed many lead roles including Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, and Clara from The Nutcracker “Beauty,” in Beauty and the Beast, and Puck from A Mid-Summer Nights Dream, to name a few.  

Olivia continued her education at King University where she obtained a Master’s degree in Elementary Education while also teaching and dancing at Highlands Center for Ballet Arts. She taught first grade at Abingdon Elementary for four years. Currently, Olivia is a full-time dance instructor at Southwest Virginia Community College, spearheading the first community college dance program in the state of Virginia. In 2022, Olivia obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree in Choreography from Wilson College. She is thrilled to be teaching and performing with Bristol Ballet! 

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Wayne Burritt
Ballet
​Certified Vaganova Teacher Training Program Instructor

Wayne began training at age 12 in Miami, Florida as a ballroom dancer and eventually earned a scholarship to the Orlando Ballet School (formerly Southern Ballet Theatre) in Orlando, Florida. For SBT he danced a variety of classical and modern roles for the School as well as serving as company manager and financial controller. In 1985 he married his wife Debi and enrolled in the School of San Francisco Ballet, continuing his studies with some of the finest teachers in the country. Wayne also took time to earn his MBA in Arts Management in 1987. He moved to Naples, Florida shortly thereafter and joined Naples Ballet Theatre, where Artistic Director Kim Salgat created a number of roles for him in contemporary and classical works. In 1991, Wayne joined the critically acclaimed Demetrius Klein Dance Company and rose to the position of Assistant Artistic Director before retiring from the stage in 1993.

In 1994 Wayne formed Florida Dance Conservatory (FDC), where he served as Artistic Director, resident choreographer, and general manager. From 1994 to 1996, FDC provided an opportunity for numerous choreographers and dancers to flourish. During his tenure, Wayne choreographed 15 ballets, managed a professional school and company, and guided gifted young artists in their pre-professional careers.


In the spring of 1997 his work Water was presented at the 1997 Florida Dance Festival and was critically acclaimed. Also in 1997, he joined Dance 10 studio as Ballet Department chair and Director of the Pre-professional Ballet Program. During his tenure with Dance 10, he directed and choreographed Coppelia, Giselle, and The Nutcracker. In 1998, Wayne was appointed Ballet Master and Artistic Director for Vero Beach Ballet, where he was responsible for the entire school’s curriculum and classes, as well as choreographing his first Sleeping Beauty.


In 1998 Florida Dance Theatre of Lakeland, Florida commissioned Paradise, a contemporary ballet made to the music of Shirley Horn. Also in 1998, Wayne helped found Millennium Dance Syndicate (MDS), a professional modern dance company in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The company performed extensively at some of the most visible dance venues throughout Florida, including Bailey Concert Hall, Fort Lauderdale; New World School of the Arts, Miami; the Willow Theatre, Boca Raton; and the University Center for the Performing Arts, Davie. For MDS, Wayne premiered numerous new works including Illumination, a 2003 multimedia work for which Wayne provided the dances, lighting design, costume design, and film direction and editing. In addition, Wayne also managed all financial aspects of MDS operations until 2005.


In 2005, Wayne joined the faculty of the Asheville Ballet of Asheville, North Carolina where he taught and coached pre-professional and professional ballet dancers. In 2007, he formed Wayne Burritt Dance – a cutting-edge contemporary ballet company in Asheville, North Carolina – and produced a series of concerts at the Diana Wortham Theatre, one of the most celebrated dance venues in the U.S.
From 2007 to 2009, Wayne was appointed Ballet Master for Angie’s Dance Academy and Director of the Mountain Ballet Company (MBC), a pre-professional training company and program in Clyde, North Carolina. Wayne also staged his second Sleeping Beauty for MBC in 2009.
In 2009, Wayne joined forces with Angie Lynn and helped found Ballet Conservatory of Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina. Wayne served as Ballet Master for the Pre-Professional division, which during his tenure grew from 0 to 64 students. He taught the Vaganova syllabus is all four tracks of the Pre-Professional division.


Wayne’s also choreographed for the school’s productions. Since 2009, he has choreographed The Nutcracker, Giselle, Coppelia, La Fille Mal Gardee, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, A Midsummer’s Night Dream and many others. Wayne has also created contemporary works, including his 2015 She Walks in Beauty to music by Chad Lawson, who also accompanied the ballet.


Wayne is a dedicated ballet teacher with a keen sense of what makes a dancer successful. His students have won year-round or summer scholarships to many of the most prestigious ballet schools and academies in the U.S., including Bolshoi Ballet (CT), Boston Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, Gelsey Kirkland Academy, Houston Ballet, Kirov Academy of Ballet (DC), Miami City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and School of American Ballet, among others. In addition to these scholarship winners, his students have also gained admission to American Ballet Theatre (NY), Ellison Ballet, Lines Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Rock School, to name but a few.


In addition, Wayne’s students have been accepted to top-ranked university ballet programs, including Indiana University, Butler University, University of Oklahoma, University of Utah, Pointe Park University, New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Marymount Manhattan University and Florida State University, among others. Wayne’s students have also gone on to dance for highly regarded professional companies, including Alabama Ballet, Ballet Austin, Carolina Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and Nashville Ballet as well as on Broadway and Walt Disney World.


Wayne successfully completed the entire Vaganova Teacher Training Program (Years One through Five) directed by U.S. Vaganova expert John White. Wayne has also completed the two-year Professional Ballet Teacher Training with nationally acclaimed pedagogue Ruth C. Petrinovic – “the ballet teacher’s teacher.” He holds an MBA in Arts Management from Golden Gate University and a BA in English and Philosophy from Indiana University. Wayne makes his home in Jonesborough, TN with his wife Debi.

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