When Bodies Move, Minds Soar

Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre School opened in 1998. Charlene Campbell, dancer and choreographer, is director of the school and teaches intermediate and advanced level classes. She also serves as artistic director of Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre. The school’s integrated approach to dance brings students into the world of dance through a variety of explorations that actively engage them in perception, research, reflection, and discussion. Our curriculum develops and assists students in discerning and strengthening basic proficiencies that readily apply across the curriculum and throughout life, developing skills of analysis, abstract thinking, interpretation and problem-solving that are as relevant to studying dance work as to analyzing a work of literature or exploring physics. The curriculum includes ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, pre-ballet, and creative movement. In 2003, the school moved to its present location which has three large studios, sprung Marley floors, and spacious lobby and dressing areas.

Performance opportunities are offered through Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre. RMBT has dazzled audiences by blending artistry and accessibility into a uniquely entertaining dance experience. The company has toured nationally and internationally throughout Montana, Idaho, Washington, to Chicago in musical theatre productions with Light Opera Works and to Austria on the prestigious Tanzsommer Tour.  In 2007 Artistic Director Charlene Campbell created the “Montana” program that included Fancy Dancer Louis Plant and Rodeo star Wade Black.  This program then toured to Beijing, Guilin, and Shanghai China in 2008. The tour was facilitated by Sen. Max Baucus and Ambassador Zhou.  RMBT returned to China in 2010 and performed in Montana's sister state of GuangXi and at the World Expo in Shanghai.  In 2009 and 2010 RMBT performed with the Moscow Ballet in Missoula on their production of "The Great Russian Nutcracker" and "Swan Lake" in 2010. In 2014 RMBT returned to China for a tour to Beijing, Henan Province and Guangxi Province.  RMBT hosted the Shadow Puppets of Xian in February of 2015.  Dancers from RMBT’s pre-professional Academy program are invited on international tours. In 2018, dancers performed for the Sixth Silk Road Festival in Xian, China and for the Alfia Avzalova Festival in Kazan, Russia. RMBT also produces a dance festival in Missoula, MT and Los Angeles, CA titled Ballet Beyond Borders which consists of a dance competition, master classes, films, lectures, a Diplomacy Conference and Gala Finale.

Rocky Mountain Ballet Theater School accepts students of all races and ethnic origins.