Michelle Boutros

Michelle Boutros holds a BA in Dance and BS in Arts Administration from Belhaven University (2010). She founded Ormond Ballet in January 2021 and currently serves as owner and Artistic Director.

Her professional background includes membership in Dance Theatre of Florida, Les Jeunes Danseurs, and the Chamber Ballet, where she performed classical and contemporary roles across the eastern United States, Estonia, Russia, and Latvia. She has held positions as artistic director of the Sangre de Cristo School of Dance and Ballet (2014–2017) and worked with Ballet Magnificat! as instructor and workshop administrator.

She earned her MFA in Choreography from Jacksonville University and has studied under respected figures including Alonzo King (LINES Ballet) and Marianela Boen (National Contemporary Dance Company, Dominican Republic).

Training Heritage

Boutros studied under prominent pedagogues including Andrei Ustinov and Elena Martinson (Vaganova Ballet Academy and Kirov Ballet graduates), Ludmila Kovaleva, and Svetlana Osiyeva from the Vaganova Ballet Academy. She also trained with instructors from the Tallinn Ballet School in Estonia and studied contemporary techniques under Christina Acosta and Richard Allen Ploch at Hillsborough Community College.

Teaching Philosophy

Boutros emphasizes creating safe, transparent learning environments where students develop artistry through technique exploration. She integrates traditional methods with contemporary approaches, focusing on body awareness, efficiency, and kinesthetic specificity while encouraging creative investigation and confidence-building.