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Our InstructorsBeth Barnette
Ballet, Conditioning, and PBT instructor Certified Cecchetti ballet instructor, Certified PBT 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 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! |
