Metropolitan Ballet Co. names new director

Metropolitan Ballet Company's new Executive DirectorThe Metropolitan Ballet Company’s Founder and Artistic Director Lisa Collins Vidnovic recently announced that alumna Amber Permsap has rejoined the company as its new Executive Director. Metropolitan Ballet Company is a pre-professional, nonprofit organization based in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.

 

Permsap began her formal ballet training at the company’s affiliated studio, Metropolitan Ballet Academy, and in 2001 was a founding member of Metropolitan Ballet Company, where she danced lead roles in its productions Les Sylphides, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Napoli, Sleeping Beauty and Paquita. Throughout her high school years, she also performed at the Academy of Music with Pennsylvania Ballet, dancing company roles in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.

 

In May 2013, Permsap earned a Master’s Degree in Performing Arts Administration from New York University (NYU), where she also received her bachelor’s degree. She entered NYU’s renowned Tisch School of the Arts as a dance major, and graduated as an Honors Scholar with an individualized major that incorporated communication and business studies into her dance curriculum. Prior to her new role at MBC, Permsap worked at the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center for seven years. She has served on the Metropolitan Ballet Company Board of Directors since 2010.

 

Vidnovic said, “We are thrilled to welcome Amber Permsap as Executive Director of Metropolitan Ballet Company. Her history as a founding member of the company and her service on our Board of Directors, coupled with her undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance and performing arts administration, make Amber uniquely suited for this new position. Metropolitan is a thriving nonprofit that offers scholarships, community and outreach performances, and innovative educational partnerships. Amber is dedicated to our mission of training dancers and presenting high quality dance performances in our community, and using classical training as a framework to teach literacy and life skills.”

 

Permsap commented, “I am delighted to return to Metropolitan Ballet Company, where I learned to love dance, and working to support the vision of our Board and my mentor, Artistic Director Lisa Collins Vidnovic. I know firsthand how hard our young dancers work, and I am looking forward to helping them achieve their dreams, while promoting an appreciation of dance for people of all ages.”

 

Learn more at www.metropolitanballetcompany.org.

 

Photo of Amber Permsap courtesy of Metropolitan Ballet Company.