Colleen Barnes (she/her) is currently the Area Chair and Assistant Professor of Dance-Ballet at the University of Akron’s School of Dance, Theatre, and Arts Administration, where she has worked tirelessly to revitalize and elevate the Dance Program since 2021. At UA she teaches Ballet Technique, Anatomy for Dancers, Freshman & Senior Seminars, Ballet History, 20th Century Dance History, and she choreographs nearly every semester in collaboration with faculty artists from the School of Music.
Colleen has worked at the Joffrey Ballet School since 2009, serving in both faculty and administrative roles. She is the Artistic Director of Joffrey South, Joffrey Colorado, and Joffrey Akron summer intensives, where she finds great joy in mentoring emergent artists and arts administrators. In 2024 Colleen helped establish the BFA partnership between Joffrey Ballet School and the University of Akron, which is an innovative blend of the Joffrey’s professional standard of training with Akron’s traditional higher-ed setting. She has been instrumental in the collaborative curricular development between the two entities.
Colleen’s scholarly research encompasses ballet’s history of exclusion, particularly as it relates to 19th-century ballet and colonialism. Upon this foundational research, her current scholarly interests intersect feminism and gender with ballet culture. Colleen is also researching equity in dance curricula to create more inclusive, supportive, and relevant experience for all students. This research drives her teaching practice, which encourages students to find autonomy and joy through the modality of ballet. Colleen has presented her research both domestically and abroad with Dance Studies Association and Corps de Ballet International.
Colleen danced professionally with the Dayton Ballet, Ballet Pensacola, and Dance Now! Miami, touring both domestically and abroad, in addition to free-lancing. A first-generation college student, Colleen proudly holds an MFA in Ballet from the University of Utah, a BFA in Ballet from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, and a Women’s Studies Graduate Certificate from the University of Akron. Previous institutions of employment include University of Georgia, Ballet West Academy, and Allen Ting Ballet Academy of China.
