ON THEIR TOES

North Las Vegas Ballet Theater brings dance to the community

Bernadette Sanders is owner-operator of the North Las Vegas Ballet Theater, which offers dance lessons. Her business, located at 205 West Centennial Parkway in North Las Vegas, brings Sanders’ ballet expertise to the community.

“I was classically trained in ballet and have performed professionally for 26 years. That included dancing with the Dance Theater of Harlem in their Pre-Professional Program,” said Sanders. “I have trained with Jurgen Schneider [Mikhail Baryshnikov’s former private coach and former ballet master for American Ballet Theater] and a host of other dance companies. I began performing professionally at the age of 8, with the Seattle Opera in ‘Aida.’”

After dancing for several years, Sanders decided to teach ballet and choreograph in order to give her daughter more stability. “I had been to Las Vegas before a few times, but never saw the residential area,” said Sanders. “Las Vegas always seemed to be a city that was calling me. So I told my family that I was moving here, and if they wanted to join me that would be great.”

Sanders soon moved to Las Vegas and opened the only ballet school in North Las Vegas. She hopes to reach out to more young girls and boys of color who have an interest in dancing.

“I sat down and prayed about opening my own ballet school,” she said, “and the words came back to me: ‘Go for it!’”