Jennifer TerMaat

Ms. McLain began her classical ballet training in her hometown of Lincoln, NE with the Shari Shell-True Dance Academy and Lincoln Midwest Ballet Company.  

 

She attended North Carolina School of the Arts, studying under Melissa Hayden, Gina Vidal, Fanchon Cordell and Duncan Noble. She received the Reader’s Digest Scholarship and graduated with a concentration in ballet. She attended such summer courses at Boston Ballet, State Ballet of Missouri and Milwaukee Ballet.

 

Ms. McLain joined Nashville Ballet in 1996 under Director Janek Schergen and while there, discovered a love of teaching at The School of Nashville Ballet.  

 

In 2002, Francia Russell, Co-Artistic Director or Pacific Northwest Ballet hired Ms. McLain to lead the DanceChance program, a scholarship program partnering with low income, highly diverse Seattle public schools. In her 6th year as DanceChance Manager, she expanded the program to include the Bellevue School District. During her 15 years at PNB, Ms. McLain doubled the partnerships between public schools in Bellevue and Seattle and the DanceChance program. She created a mentorship program and expanded the educational aspect of the program to include families and alumni. Ms. McLain was also a faculty member of the PNB School and taught with the Discover Dance program.