PBT Connects
Expand your ballet experience with these PBT Education programs for the 2023 – 2024 season productions! Programs are free – join us at the theater!
Opening Night and Performance Previews*
This is a great opportunity to hear from choreographers, creatives and dance makers involved in the production! Get an introduction and background and context for what you’re about to see on stage. Join us in the theater the first Friday or Saturday night of the production run at 6:30 p.m.
Light in the Dark | Saturday, Oct. 28 | Choreographer Jennifer Archibald and PBT Artistic Director Adam W. McKinney
Beauty and the Beast | Friday, Feb. 16 | 
Leslie Young, stager
Spring Mix | Friday, April 5 | Petal choreographer Helen Picket; Allegro Brillante stager Zippora Karz
Cinderella | Friday, May 17 | Choreographer Jayne Smeulders
Artist Q & A*
Chat with PBT’s artists about their roles in the performance, preparing for a ballet, working with choreographers and more. Directly after the performance, come to the front of the Orchestra section.
Light in the Dark | Saturday, Oct. 28
Principal Artists Yoshiaki Nakano and Tommie Lin O’Hanlon, Soloist Jessica McCann and Matthew Griffin, Corps de Ballet. PBT Artistic Director Adam W. McKinney and Violins and Hope Chair Sandra Rosen will also participate.
The Nutcracker | Saturday, Dec. 16
PBT Artists Diana Yohe and Joseph Parr, who are portraying Marie and the Nutcracker Prince this evening. They join us to answer your questions about The Nutcracker and about dancing through their careers together. Joe is retiring at the end of December after 15 years with the company – bring your questions about his past performances and beloved characters.
Beauty and the Beast
Friday, Feb. 16: Tonight’s Beauty and Beast, PBT principal artists Hannah Carter and Lucius Kirst
Saturday, Feb. 17: PBT artist Sam DerGregorian and tonight’s “Beauty,” soloist artist Diana Yohe.
Friday, Feb. 23: Tonight’s “Beauty” and “Beast,” principal artist Tommie Lin O’Hanlon and soloist artist Corey Bourbonniere, and PBT artist Amanda Morgan
Spring Mix
Friday, April 5 | PBT artists Madeline Gradle Jacob Miller, Ariana Chernychev
Saturday, April 6 | PBT principal and Violin Pas de Deux choreographer Yoshiaki Nakano, PBT artists Jessica McCann, William Moore, Christian Garcia Campos, Jonathan Breight
Cinderella | Friday, May 17 and Saturday, May 18 after the 7:30 performances
Director’s Cut
Artistic Director Adam W. McKinney previews the production. Saturday night at 6:30 p.m.
Spring Mix | April 6
Curtain Up! *
A truly special opportunity to watch the last few minutes of company class on stage. After class is over we’ll get a quick overview of the production and take your questions. 1 p.m on the first Sunday of the production run.
Light in the Dark | Oct. 29
Guest: Rachel Stegeman, PBT Orchestra’s 1st Violin co-leader and Adjunct Professor of Strings, Mary Pappert School Of Music, Duquesne University. We’ll discuss her performance in Sounds of the Sun. The violin is one of the featured instruments in the Violins of Hope project and exhibition.
Beauty and the Beast | Feb. 18
Guest: Barbara Bears, PBT rehearsal director. Barbara joined PBT in 2023; she was a dancer with the Houston Ballet for more than 20 years, including as a principal dancer for 15 of those years. After her retirement from the stage she served as a teacher and coach for Houston Ballet, Houston Ballet 2, and the Ben Stevenson Academy before joining the professional company’s artistic staff as a rehearsal director in 2016.
Spring Mix | April 7
Guest: Jae Man Joo, choreographer of the Spring Mix world premiere, When Time Stands Still. Jae Man Joo is an international choreographer, a 2009 Princess Grace Choreographer Award winner, a former Associate Artistic Director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet and a former principal dancer at Ballet Hispanico and Complexions. He is currently an assistant ballet professor at Point Park University.
Cinderella | May 19
Guest: Charles Barker, music director and principal conductor, PBT Orchestra, discusses Sergei Prokofiev’s transcendent score for Cinderella
*We’ll be in the Orchestra level (first floor) of the theater for Opening Night Preview, Artist Q&A and Curtain Up!
Family Workshops
It’s always easier for kids to appreciate and understand ballet with a little preparation! Join us for a story time and more fun at 12:45 p.m. on the first Saturday of the production run for our Family Fairy Tale series performances. Space is limited so we require registration for these programs. For these programs go around to the back of the theater building and enter at the Stage Door of the Benedum Center, 719 Liberty Ave.
The Nutcracker | Dec. 9 | Register
Meet the Mice characters and see their dance!
Beauty and the Beast | Feb. 17
Craft with PBT Costume Director Kristin McLain! Register
Cinderella | May 18 | Register
PBT Connects programs presented in partnership with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.