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Please join us on Monday, January 8th when we will welcome William Starrett – Artistic and Executive Director, Columbia City Ballet to our podium.
Dancer, teacher, choreographer, and community leader, William Starrett, began his career with San Francisco’s Ballet Celeste before joining the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Through appearances as a principal dancer for the Joffrey Ballet and as a member of American Ballet Theatre under the direction of both Lucia Chase and Mikhail Baryshnikov, William has danced as a guest artist with more than 40 of the world’s most renowned ballet companies, Mr. Starrett’s talent as a dancer has earned rave reviews from coast to coast as well as a medal at the very first US International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi.
Mr. Starrett is beginning his 31st Season with Columbia City Ballet, South Carolina’s largest performing arts organization. As Executive and Artistic Director, he has staged more than 50 works – including 19 original, full-length ballets, 10 classical full-length ballets and 23 original narrated one-act educational ballets for children. The Educational Outreach Series, which Mr. Starrett implemented in 1989, has introduced ballet to more than half a million schoolchildren in the Southeast. Under his direction, Columbia City Ballet is entering its 57th year of continuous performance seasons.
Starrett is also the co-owner of Columbia Conservatory of Dance with Ballet Mistress, Mariclare Miranda. In 2002, Mr. Starrett was honored by South Carolina’s governor with the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award for achievement in the arts. In addition, Mr. Starrett is the official arts correspondent for WACH Fox News and hosts the weekly Arts WACH with William, a segment of WACH Fox News which provides an in-depth look at unique visual and performing arts events in the Midlands.