Ted Keener

Originally from Pennsylvania, Ted Keener (he/him) received his classical ballet training from the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he earned the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Dance his senior year of high school. He went on to study at The Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet on full scholarship and later earned his Bachelor of Science in Ballet and Business with high honors from Indiana University.

Ted danced professionally with Richmond Ballet, The Sacramento Ballet, Smuin Ballet of San Francisco, and participated in The National Choreographers Initiative for three consecutive years. His repertory spans from classical to contemporary and includes works by George Balanchine, August Bournonville, Marius Petipa, Jiri Kylian, John Butler, Michael Smuin, Amy Seiwert, Val Caniparoli, Ma Cong, Peter Quanz, and Ann Marie DeAngelo, among others.

Since moving to New York and switching his focus to musical theater, he has performed in Young Frankenstein at both Gateway and Ogunquit playhouses and traveled all over the United States and Canada with the national tours of Fiddler on the Roof and, most recently, The Phantom of the Opera in the role of ‘Slave Master.'

Ted currently teaches ballet on faculty at the Institute for American Musical Theatre in NYC, and is a permanent guest faculty member of the Pennsylvania School of the Performing Arts. Other teaching credits include The Sacramento Ballet School faculty and Indiana University’s Elective Ballet Program, as well as masterclasses for UNCSA’s Preparatory Ballet Program and Cleveland’s Playhouse Square Broadway Summer Camp.

His classes draw inspiration from his studies with such notable teachers as the late Violette Verdy, Duncan Noble and Melissa Hayden, and focus on providing a positive environment for all dancers to build a strong technical foundation for a healthy and successful career.