"The Nutcracker", Charleston

After training with companies including the Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and the Ballet Russe School, Don Cantwell returned to Charleston with a dream: to share the beauty of ballet with the local community. Decades later, he and Executive Artistic Director Patricia Cantwell continue to do just that at Charleston Ballet Center for Dance and Coastal Ballet USA, training future generations of dancers and staging dazzling productions featuring guest artists and their own students. They are partnered by award-winning Choreographer Jill Eathorne Bahr, whose innovative work has brought new life to classics including Alice in Wonderland, The Rite of Spring, and The Firebird. Jill became the recipient of the Individual Artist award for artistic excellence at The 2008 Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Awards. In 2010, she was selected as a SC Arts Commission 2010 Dance Choreography Fellow and also appointed to the Dance Panel for the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C.