BalletMet inspires and educates Central Ohio youth to excel – in school studies including dance, health and wellness, and in life. Dance-in-Schools programs invite students and teachers to experience dance in meaningful and culturally relevant ways through:
The Wiggle Jig PreK classroom residencies with professional development for teachers
Moving Into Literacy grades 1-5 classroom residencies
Yoga, Meditation and Mindfulness classes for middle and high school students
Together We Dance interactive, in-school lecture performances
Morning at the Ballet theatre performances for K-12 students and teachers
Other Partnership Opportunities – BalletMet will design programming to fit your needs
RECENT PROJECTS: Adapted Wiggle Jig program for Columbus City Schools’ Special Needs Preschool classrooms.…
Ginny Baughman
Visual Arts: Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Chalk, Ukrainian Egg Decorating, Scenic Painting, & Fiber
Ginny Baughman was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. She received a BFA from the University of Dayton and an MA in art education from the Ohio State University. Ginny has also attended a variety of professional workshops, seminars, and conferences including the Kennedy Center’s National Seminar for Teaching Artists in Washington, D.C.
Ginny has been a teaching artist for more than 25 years. She has taught art in many different venues in central Ohio and Dayton. She began her art career almost 30 years ago selling prints of her drawings and paintings in her then hometown of Westerville.…
Terry Boyarsky
Music, Dance/Movement
With over 50 years of experience as a teacher of Dalcroze Eurhythmics and a lifelong performer of chamber music, pianist Terry Boyarsky believes that every person is musical. Her thirst for musical collaboration led to chamber music, choral singing, improvisation, folk dance, accompaniment, and creating ceremony. She specializes in integrating music and movement into the curriculum. Her unique, multifaceted approach evokes deep listening and playful experimentation.
A favorite interdisciplinary project was a collaboration with a Taipei puppeteer and Cleveland dancer to create “Young Dreams – Life in 3 Parts,” an intimate work of puppetry, dance, and improvised music, sponsored by Cleveland Foundation Creative Fusion Program.…
Richard Duarte Brown
Visual Arts: Design, & Creative Writing
Richard Duarte Brown, known as Duarte, is a master artist with the TRANSIT ARTS Youth Arts Program and the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education’s Art in the House program. For more than 30 years, Duarte has dedicated his talents to helping young people in Columbus, Ohio, through countless programs including CAPACITY (CAPA’s youth arts program), the Short Stop Youth Center, the King Arts Complex, Ohio Alliance for Arts Education’s (and formerly GCAC’s) Artists-in-Schools program, GCAC’s Children of the Future, Ebony Boys, Art Safe, and VSA Ohio. Duarte has also worked as a high school art instructor at the Arts and College Preparatory Academy in Columbus.…
Joanie Calem
Interactive Music & Storytelling
Joanie Calem has been a performing musician, music teacher, and storyteller since 1983. She graduated from the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem, Israel, with a major in piano and went on to study music education at the Levinsky Teaching Seminar in Ramat Aviv, Israel. She studied composition with Israeli composer Hagar Kadima in Tel Aviv, Israel, and completed her degree, Music in Community Building, at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. Having lived overseas for 23 years, Joanie is well versed in multi-cultural experiences and cross-cultural interchanges. Joanie moved to the Columbus, Ohio, area in 1998 and has been teaching music and performing all over the Midwest ever since.…
Sara Caplinger
Visual Arts: Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, & Printmaking
Sara Caplinger is a dedicated professional with years of experience as an arts director, teaching artist, behavior management specialist and facilitor of professional development workshops in trauma informed practices, with a passion for supporting at-risk and underserved youth in an educational setting. Sara brings a wealth of expertise in trauma-informed practices to schools across diverse communities, spanning grades k-12.
Sara studied fine arts at Kent State University laying a foundation for her multifaceted approach as a teaching artist, integrating various disciplines into her educational programs and curriculum.
Throughout her career Sara has demonstrated a commitment to empowering students to overcome challenges and realize their full potential by trauma-informed strategies and expertise in behavior management.…
Risa Cohen
Music & Dance/Movement
Risa Beth Cohen, M.S.Ed. is an educator, singer/songwriter, speaker, and storyteller. She works with people of all ages and abilities, leading music circles and storytelling workshops. As the Founder and Creative Director of Sing into Reading, Risa is passionate about teaching literacy through music and movement. Risa holds a B.F.A. in acting from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and an M.S.Ed. in Early Childhood/ Elementary Education from Bank Street College. In 2016, she was the Featured Teller at “Tellebration” in Toledo, Ohio. She is able to craft music and movement classes to align with any topic, ensuring that they are developmentally appropriate and fun.…
Sheela Das
Music: Multi-Instrumentalist & Songwriting
For almost 20 years, Sheela has directed, produced, and delivered compelling workshops and original stage and video productions for students, community members, and professional venues alike. Her music and compassionate approach gently connects with whole classrooms and models effective arts integration for teachers and administrators.
As a musician and vocalist versed across genres, she uses her experience to write songs, direct musical performance, teach songwriting for puppetry or performance, and front Northeast Ohio bands such as Stomping Jacksons (music of New Orleans), Television Jim (original alt-rock) and SATO (rock). She is also a studio musician for local recording artists.…
_ ESQYRE
Music, String Quartet, Classical Music, & Orchestral Performance
The Escher String Quartet has received acclaim for its profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. A former BBC New Generation Artist and recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the quartet has performed at the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall and is a regular guest at Wigmore Hall. In its home town of New York, the ensemble serves as season artists of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
The Escher Quartet tours the U.S. extensively, performing in numerous cities and venues including New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Rockefeller University, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, La Jolla Music Society, Savannah Music Festival, and Chamber Music Society of Detroit.…
Tom Evert
Dance/Movement
Tom Evert has been a creative force in creating and performing original choreographic works with a company of dancers, working intensively in arts-education programming and creating festival-like community events in Ohio for 38 years.
Tom currently serves as artistic director of DANCE EVERT, which he founded in 1986. He holds BFAs in both painting and dance from Ohio University and has enjoyed a world-class touring career with the Paul Taylor Dance Company in New York City. He has created a major body of work for which he has received eight Individual Excellence Awards in choreography.…
Jessica Held
Visual Arts: Painting & Photography
Cincinnati native Jessica Held is an abstract painter, photographer, teaching artist, small business owner, and festival coordinator based in Athens, Ohio. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Photography from Ohio University. Jessica has exhibited nationally and internationally, including her debut exhibition in Prague, Czech Republic, during a study abroad program. She continues to create, exhibit, and publish her paintings, photographs, and collaborative works. Recently, her artwork has been featured in solo and group exhibitions throughout Ohio, Indiana, and New York.
As a teaching artist, Jessica develops and leads visual arts, photography, art appreciation, and interdisciplinary arts programs for learners of all ages in schools, libraries, museums, art centers, and community organizations.…
Kimberly Jarvis
Dance/Movement
Kimberly Crislip Jarvis is a choreographer, educator, teaching artist, and organizational development consultant whose work bridges the creative arts with education, wellness, and community engagement. She is the founder of Arts + More Services, where she provides customized communication workshops, strategic planning sessions, and staff development retreats for businesses, nonprofits, and educational institutions. Her approach uses the arts as a catalyst for clarity, connection, and sustainable growth.
Kimberly holds degrees and certifications from the Scandinavian Institute for Physical Culture in Denmark, the American College of Sports Medicine, Malone University, and the University of Akron.…
