Coleman Dance Academy opened under the direction of Judy Coleman in 1992 and the school's immediate success demonstrated the need for a performing outlet for the dancers. The Academy's first Christmas production was very successful and with parent and community support, the vision of a full length Nutcracker accompanied by the Midland-Odessa Symphony became a reality.

From this beginning, Midland Festival Ballet was incorporated in 1993 for the purpose of promoting live dance performance opportunities for the cultural benefit of Midland and the surrounding communities. In 1998 Midland Festival Ballet joined Regional Dance America.

The yearly Regional Dance America Festival gives the dance students the opportunity to take class with world-known quality instructors and perform for both the Southwest Region and a National Festival that takes place every five years.

In 2002 Midland Festival Ballet became a 503(C) tax deductable arts performing company.

This year Coleman Dance Academy and Midland Festival Ballet are joining and expanding their horizons as one organization to train local talent to higher levels of technical ability The new organization will continue to present live dance performances with guest artists from major ballet companies. The collaboration will allow the organization to develop and expand its curriculum, to include contemporary and modern dance, and to invite more choreographers and instructors to promote educational and training opportunities. Midland Festival Ballet's goal is to offer a well-rounded dance education and enhance the lives of the dancers as they pursue their passion for dance and contribute to the arts community as young dancers and then as adults.

Ballet in Midland was first offered in 1932 when Georgia Goss Harston, Patsy Yeager’s sister, began teaching classes at the downtown Scharbauer Hotel. After marrying and moving away in the 1940’s, Georgia returned and taught classes in her home on Ohio Street until Robert Mann, director of the Midland-Odessa Symphony, helped form the Permian Civic Ballet in 1967.

Over a 14-year period, the organization attracted more than 500 dancers with 5 to 10 percent pursuing professional and/or teaching careers. Ballet Midland followed in the early 1980’s and combined professional dancers with instruction for the local students. Both Midland College and Midland Community Theatre helped with hiring teachers and providing space for the program together with the Midland-Odessa Symphony & Chorale.  The Board of Directors eventually chose to become a performing company and then decided to dissolve in the early 1990’s.

FIRST ‘NUTCRACKER’

Midland Festival Ballet was founded in 1993 by Judy Coleman, Founding Director. The first annual performance of “The Nutcracker” was held in 1994 at the Wagner and Brown Auditorium in the Allison Fine Arts Center at Midland College. It included three sold-out performances with 50 performers representing two dance schools in the Permian Basin. In 1995, two performances were held at Lee High School Auditorium and included the Midland- Odessa Symphony Orchestra. A third performance was presented in Big Spring. Three guest soloists from New York City Ballet danced with 85 performers representing three dance schools. Both KMID and KOCV-TV televised the local performances.

AUDIENCES GROWING

Since 1996, two performances have been held each year with nearly 2,000 people in attendance. An average of five dance schools (ranging from four to eight per year) have participated, including over 100 performers annually. Professional dancers continue to perform as guest artists in the lead roles. The Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale provides live music for the production.

The first Spring Gala performance in 1998 was entitled “Works in Progress” and included excerpts from “Swan Lake,” “Coppelia,” “The Fairy Doll,” and “Pickin’ and Kickin.’” Guest soloists from the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York City also performed. Since 2000, two annual performances have featured guest artists from Arizona Ballet, Houston Ballet, Louisville Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet dancing with MFB Company Members. They have performed excerpts of classic ballets such as “Giselle,” “Les Sylphides,” “Napoli,” “Raymonda,” and “Sleeping Beauty.”

Other pieces choreographed for the Company by Bobby Ball, Lee-Wei Chao, Yen Li-Chen, Jean-Paul  omelin, Andrea Comola, Rob Davidson, Anthony Ferro, Kevin Freeman, Elizabeth Gillaspy, Kirt Hathaway, Karl von Rabeneau, and Donna Ross have been performed.

SEASON EXPANDS

In 2007, MFB initiated a third production, “A Festival Fairytale,” with a Friday evening performance of “Cinderella” at the Midland High School Auditorium. “Beauty and the Beast” was performed in 2008 and “Peter and the Wolf ” in 2009. From a house to a theater stage, from a few dancers to a hundred, the art of ballet has expanded in its talent, its professionalism and its audiences in the Permian Basin.