Bethany Butts ’04

BSC Alumni

BSC Faculty

Dr. Charles Norman Mason | Patti Manning

Bethany Butts '04
Marietta, Georgia

Professional ballerina with The Georgia Ballet, who also is a private teacher and choreographer

On performing in a professional company: “I mostly enjoy being able to do what I love and get paid for it. I enjoy the challenge of the technique, learning different roles and characters, the excitement and magic of being on stage in front of an audience, and the freedom of transforming yourself and becoming someone or something else on stage. I also like that the company is close to home and where I grew up. The first ballet company I ever saw perform was The Georgia Ballet, and I am so excited to be performing with that company this season.”

well-rounded education I received has had a great impact on me by opening my mind to different ways of thinking. In choreography and performing, I often realize that what I choreograph or dance about might be relative to something I learned or thought about during a sociology, art, history, philosophy, or literature class I took at 'Southern.”

On favorite BSC professors: “Ballet Professor Mira Popovich had a great deal of influence on my ife. The knowledge she bestowed upon us all is really just irreplaceable. … Her teaching style was enthusiastic, demanding, encouraging, strict, and honest. … When

On other work: “To supplement my income, I teach dance at local studios in the evenings. I usually go straight from Georgia Ballet to teach four days a week. I teach ballet, pointe, modern, tap, and jazz, as well as private coaching. I teach all levels of students, ages 6-18. I also spend

I am working in class now, I often think about what she would be saying, and hear her voice in my head saying, ‘Deeper plie!' or ‘Stronger arms!' Ruth Henry, another BSC dance professor, also had a great impact on me. The information I learned from her, especially during dance history and anatomy classes, is useful to me every day, especially in teaching. Now when students ask me, ‘Why do ballerinas wear tutus?' or, ‘Who came up with the idea for pointe shoes?', I know the answers. I also have used the information she taught me during choreography class to make my students' recital dances better. Some of the other dance professors, such as Teri Weksler and Sissy Monroe, also bestowed upon me valuable knowledge and

one evening a week setting choreography on a local pre-professional company and rehearsing them. AlthoughI am ery busy, I really enjoy what I am doing. I find it really wonderful to wake up in the morning and think, “All I have to do today is dance!”

On BSC: “I received very invaluable and in-depth technical training that was absolutely essential to getting hired by a professional company … at BSC, I really developed an even greater curiosity for dance and every aspect of it. Several classes outside the Dance Department have directly benefited my career, such as piano and French. Indirectly, the

experience that I cherish. I also enjoyed being in classes with French professors Dr. (Dominique) Linchet and Dr. (Renee) Norrell. I learned a great deal from them, as I was a French minor.”