Tara Penick

School of Richmond Ballet Director

Hometown: Durham, NC // Joined: 1997

Tara Penick is from North Carolina where she received her early ballet training in Chapel Hill with M’Liss Dorrance and Jennifer Potts and expanded her training with the American Dance Festival. After completing her degree in International Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Tara moved to New York City, studying with Milton Myers, Chet Walker, with the Merce Cunningham Studio, and at STEPS on Broadway as a scholarship student. While in NYC, she taught with Eliot Feld at Feld Ballets/NY (now Ballet Tech), directed the Children’s Program at Broadway Dance Center, choreographed new works for the American Place Theatre (off-Broadway), and filmed with the Children’s Television Workshop for Sesame Street. Tara has choreographed more than thirty musical theatre productions in over twenty states and continues to travel nationally as a choreographer. Tara joined the SRB faculty in 1997 and most recently served as Associate School Director – Training. In addition to her work teaching ballet and theatre dance at SRB, Tara enjoys choreographing projects for the SRB Ensembles such as Carnival of the Animals, An American In Paris, and Appalachian Spring and collaborating with the Richmond Symphony for their popular Lollipops Series.