KENNESAW, Ga. | Jul 7, 2025

The iconic Joffrey Ballet School has made its Southeast home at Kennesaw State University. With world-class instruction, elite young dancers and future collaborations underway, this partnership elevates our dance community and creates the kind of synergies KSU Dance is known for.

The Joffrey Ballet School has officially relocated its southeast summer headquarters to Kennesaw State University’s Department of Dance. This new partnership brings together two powerhouse names in dance and education, expanding access to top-tier ballet and contemporary dance instruction in Georgia while further positioning KSU as a premier destination for the performing arts in the Southeast. 

As the month-long summer intensive dance program comes to an end this July, we sat down with Colleen Barnes (Artistic Director, Joffrey South), Marsha Barsky (Chair, KSU Department of Dance) to talk about what this means for both institutions and for young dancers across the region.

Q: What led to the Joffrey Ballet School’s decision to move its summer program to KSU?

Colleen Barnes: We had outgrown the space we had been in previously and were looking for a home that could support the level of training and production we deliver. I’d heard for years about KSU’s incredible dance facilities. I finally made a trip out, toured the building and sat down with Marsha. It was immediately clear this could be something special.

Q: How does this partnership support KSU’s broader vision?

Marsha Barsky: The timing aligned perfectly with KSU’s strategic initiatives around national prominence. When the President launched our institutional strategic plan last fall, she emphasized the need to elevate KSU’s visibility and impact nationwide. Welcoming a name like Joffrey, which carries tremendous prestige, history and excellence in the dance world, helps us do just that.

Q: Is this a formal partnership with KSU students?

Colleen Barnes: Not yet — it’s an independent program using KSU facilities, and our students are recruited separately. But there’s great synergy. We’re exploring future collaborations including internships and performances.

Marsha Barsky: It’s true, we’re still early in this relationship, but there are natural links we’re excited to develop. This year, for example, one of our students, Taitum Callahan, received a full-tuition scholarship and is participating in Joffrey’s summer programming.

Q: What does it mean to host a program like Joffrey’s at KSU?

Colleen Barnes: We’re not just hosting rehearsals; we’re building the kind of creative, visionary environment that attracts world-class programs. It's been a common experience this summer that students walk into the studios and gasp because the facilities are exceptional. The students’ energy is incredible. It reflects the larger momentum of the College of the Arts and KSU’s growth as a creative destination.

Q: Why Georgia? Why the Southeast?

Colleen Barnes: Georgia’s arts scene is vibrant and growing. Atlanta has a robust dance community and, post-COVID, many artists relocated here to continue being part of an active creative community. There’s real talent and hunger here and Joffrey South supports and expands that. We’re here because the Southeast is ready for this kind of investment.

Q: What’s next for this relationship?

Marsha Barsky: This summer is just the beginning. We're exploring future performances, academic-year collaborations, internships for students, and more. It’s all about growing in ways that are meaningful for both institutions — and for the dancers.

Student Spotlight: Taitum Callahan

Rising junior dance and criminal justice dual major Taitum Callahan is spending her summer en pointe. Taitum was a recipient of a scholarship for a KSU student to attend the Joffrey Ballet School’s summer intensive program, held for the first time this year on the Kennesaw State University campus. 

While at home in the university’s world-class dance studios already, Taitum expressed the unique privilege of learning from the diverse technical expertise of the Joffrey instructors.

“It’s such an honor to be able to try different approaches to what I am doing and to go deeper technically with the instructors here at Joffrey. I know I am bringing back this new energy into my craft and new applications of techniques for the coming year at KSU,” she says.

As Taitum wraps up a month of studying with the Joffrey Ballet South instructors and the talented group of students from 8-25 years old, she is also preparing for several more weeks of dance this July as a participant in KSU Dance’s annual Pomare/Conner Summer Choreographic Residency at the KSU Dance Studios, part of the university’s growing and evolving Arts District.

--Alanna Foxwell

--Photos courtesy of Kennedy Belmont, Joffrey Ballet School