Gail Choate-Pettit

Ballet - Diploma Fellow, CCA

Gail holds a B.S. in English from Eastern Michigan University, graduating summa cum laude. She is a member of the Executive Board of the Cecchetti Council of America, a national organization which trains, examines, and offers certification for teachers and students in classical ballet. She is a Permanent Examiner examining ballet students and teachers who are seeking certification, the Summer School Coordinator organizing the two-week intensive ballet program held on the campus of Hope College, as well as the CCA Business Administrator.

Gail received the prestigious Sylvia Hamer/Margaret Marsh Scholarship to study abroad and has attended Cecchetti Ballet Teachers' Courses in England and Canada. She danced with the Detroit City Ballet Company under the direction of Marjorie Hassard and has studied with Dawn Greene, Betty Bandyk, and Marjorie Randazzo.

Gail has presented successful teacher and student candidates through the advanced levels and has trained students who have danced in professional ballet companies, such as Miami City Ballet, Richmond Ballet, North Carolina Ballet; students who have attended year-round pre-professional schools such as the School of American Ballet in New York City and the Virginia School of the Arts; and students who have attended prestigious universities, majoring in dance who are now successfully employed in the dance field.

She is currently on faculty at the River Raisin Centre for the Arts in Monroe where she teaches classical ballet and serves as the Director of the River Raisin Ballet Company setting full-length productions of the annual Nutcracker, Coppelia, Cinderella, Graduation Ball, Peter and the Wolf as well as presenting premiere performances such as The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan. Away from the RRCA, she is a frequent guest teacher for student workshops and teacher seminars across the United States and has been a guest faculty member for Dance Masters of America.