In a converted 1920s textile warehouse on the western edge of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, twelve teenage dancers are rehearsing La Bayadère under exposed brick and skylights. The floorboards still carry the faint scent of sawdust from the building's previous life. For the students of Ramey City Ballet, this unlikely setting is where classical training meets twenty-first-century ambition.
Founded in 2018 by former American Ballet Theatre corps dancer Marguerite Chen-Whitmore, Ramey City Ballet has grown from a weekend studio with thirty students into one of central Pennsylvania's most talked-about pre-professional programs. The company now trains 140 students annually, ages three through adult, with a faculty drawn from companies including Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, BalletX, and Dance Theatre of Harlem.
From "Dance Is for Everyone" to the Professional Track
Ramey City Ballet's philosophy rests on what Chen-Whitmore calls a "no-wrong-door" approach: students enter at any age or background and are met where they are.
"We have a fourteen-year-old who started at age eleven in our adult beginning class because he was too embarrassed to join the youth division," says faculty member James Okonkwo, a former Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre soloist. "Now he's in our highest-level men's class and just got a scholarship to the School of American Ballet summer intensive."
The class schedule reflects this range. Offerings include:
- Creative Movement (ages 3–4)
- Pre-Primary through Level 8 Vaganova-based syllabus
- Adult Beginning Ballet and Silver Swans (ages 55+)
- Pre-Professional Division, with pointe, variations, pas de deux, and contemporary rep
Tuition is priced roughly 30 percent below comparable East Coast programs, and the company awards approximately $45,000 in need-based scholarships each year—a deliberate effort, Chen-Whitmore says, to counter ballet's reputation as economically inaccessible.
Performances Built from the Ground Up
Where some regional schools license pre-packaged productions, Ramey City Ballet builds its major works in-house. The company's 2023 Nutcracker featured original choreography by Chen-Whitmore and costumes sewn by a volunteer corps of parents and local seamstresses. In May 2024, the company will premiere Appalachian Giselle, a full-length reimagining set in nineteenth-century Pennsylvania coal country, with a commissioned score by Lancaster-based composer Thomas R. Yoder.
"We're not importing a brand," says board president and parent Elena Varga, whose daughter has trained at the school since 2019. "Marguerite is creating something that belongs to this place. When my daughter dances on that stage, she's telling a story about where we actually live."
The company performs three mainstage productions annually at the Ware Center in downtown Lancaster, with single tickets ranging from $18 to $42. Student matinees draw approximately 2,500 K–12 students from surrounding counties each season.
What Sets Ramey City Ballet Apart
Three elements distinguish the company from the crowded field of regional dance training:
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Site-specific training intensives. Each summer, advanced students rehearse and perform in non-traditional spaces—a working farm, a historic one-room schoolhouse, the loading dock of the studio's own warehouse. The 2023 Barn Project culminated in a site-specific work filmed by a local documentary crew and later screened at the Philadelphia Dance Film Festival.
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Mentorship pairing. Every student in the Pre-Professional Division is matched with a faculty mentor who meets with them monthly to discuss goals, injury prevention, nutrition, and conservatory or college applications.
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Community-bridge repertoire. The company regularly commissions works that reflect the region's demographics and history. Appalachian Giselle will be performed in partnership with the Southern Pennsylvania Heritage Center, with post-show talks exploring the coal-mining heritage that informs the production.
How to Get Involved
Auditions for the 2024–25 Pre-Professional Division will be held August 10 and 17, 2024. The school also offers drop-in trial classes ($20) throughout August for prospective students in all divisions.
- Main season performances: October 2024 (Fall Classics), December 2024 (The Nutcracker), May 2025 (Appalachian Giselle)
- Ticket information: rameycityballet.org/tickets
- Class registration and trial schedule: rameycityballet.org/classes
- Location: 847 North Duke Street,
