"You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive." - Merce Cunningham

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Originally from Taylor, Michigan, Megan began her training with Patricia Squire Lorenz and Leif Lorenz at Ballet Americana.  She continued training throughout her college years with Patricia and Leif and was given the opportunity to perform many classical and contemporary ballets. Mrs. Stuart supplemented her training in the Detroit Metro area with Samantha Shelton and later with Christina Kammuller, and Lisa Mayer of Toledo Ballet. Her summers were spent training at The David Howard Summer Intensive, The Bolshoi at Vail, American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Midwest, and on scholarship with Ballet Met. While performing in the Regional Dance America Midstates Festival, Megan was chosen to perform with RDA at The International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. Studying on a dance scholarship at Eastern Michigan University, under the guidance of Sherry Jerome and Holly Hobbs, she won The National Society of Arts and Letters Career Award for ballet and represented Michigan at the nationals. After performing a season with the Detroit Opera House Civic Ensemble, under the direction of Samantha Shelton and Michael Anderson, Mrs. Stuart began her professional career with Ballet Theatre of Ohio. Under the direction of Artistic Director Christine Meneer, Megan had the opportunity to dance the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, and Arabian in "The Nutcracker," Wicked Witch of the West in the premiere of "The Wizard of Oz," Lilac Fairy in "The Sleeping Beauty," and many contemporary works in the Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festivals, including "One" by Joseph Morrissey. In the winter of 2010, Megan was invited to perform with Verb Ballets, in Cleveland, OH. Mrs. Stuart performed for six seasons with the Lexington Ballet. Her repertoire with the company included Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, Dew Drop, Don Quixote Pas de deux, Fairy Doll, Swanilda in "Coppelia", The title role in "Cinderella", Evil Witch in "Snow White", The Queen of Hearts in "Alice in Wonderland", and many original works by director Luis Dominguez. Megan freelanced for several years in the Midwest. While freelancing, Megan appeared as the guest artist for several companies in their performances of "The Nutcracker" as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Mrs. Stuart had the title role in Ballet Theatre of Ohio's premiere performance of "The Little Mermaid."

 

Megan is passionate about teaching dancers of all ages and abilities and believes in building a dancer’s confidence in a positive and nurturing environment. She enjoys being able to share her love and enthusiasm for this beautiful art form. She has had the pleasure of being a guest ballet instructor for The University of Michigan’s Musical Theatre Department, Eastern Michigan University, and has been on faculty for Lexington Ballet School, Meneer School of Dance (school for Ballet Theatre of Ohio), and Toledo Ballet, along with many schools nationally. Megan Coleman Stuart is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Megan is currently finishing her BFA in dance through Eastern Michigan University after a 12-year performing sabbatical.

 

 

 

*Link to Performance Review

 

 

 

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