Columbia Classical Ballet Takes the Stage and Tells Us All About the Actual Dancers Who Will Make this Performance Possible!

What a delight it was this morning to receive the contents of the newsletter below from Joseph Phillips, artistic director of Columbia Classical Ballet. In it he shares news of the upcoming production of Don Quixote at Koger Center for the Arts, gives us some background to make it more meaningful, and—most surprisingly from a Columbia-based ballet company—he gives credit where credit is due.

He writes about the dancers!

How refreshing to have an arts admin sing the praises of the artists he reles on to bring his production to life.

Kudos to Joseph Phillips and Columbia Classical Ballet for recognizing the ARTISTS performing rather than making the performance all about himself! And look for our article on Columbia Classical Ballet in the Fall 2026 issue of Jasper Magazine, releasing on Sunday November 8th with a 15th Anniversary Party at the Art Bar!

Here’s what Phillips wrote:

Hi everyone,

Columbia Classical Ballet dances Don Quixote three times this week at the Koger Center, October 1 and 2. Thursday and Friday mornings at 10, for schoolchildren from across the Midlands, with Lawrence Ogina and Johanna Yatco as Basilio and Kitri. Friday night at 7:30, with Lisa Kamiya and Luke Slavich as Kitri and Basilio.

Lawrence is in his fourth season with this company and a Principal Artist this year. Johanna joined us this season. I was one of her teachers in the Philippines, years ago, when I was directing there.

Sergei Zolotarev, our rehearsal director, set this ballet on the company in four weeks. He comes from the Mariinsky Theatre, where he rehearsed Don Quixote, and ours comes down from that staging. The company has been in the studio since the first of September, at the barre at 9:30, behind the glass at 610 Harden. Yuleanne Santos, Lawrence Ogina, Johanna Yatco, Zola Weinberg, Jolie Alonso, Dylan Tobias, Lindan Shivar, Amy Brooks, Bonnie Spafford, Catherine Sistrunk, Karina Zolotareva, Mollie Berk, and Eliza Blackwell. They came from Brazil, Kenya, the Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, New York, and South Carolina. Eduardo Ramirez, Kiyomi Mercadante Ramirez, Leonardo Victorino, and Christina Duffy are dancing with us, along with five dancers from the University of South Carolina and students of the School of Columbia Classical Ballet.

For Friday night, I called Edward Ellison in New York and asked for two dancers. He sent Lisa Kamiya and Luke Slavich. They landed in Columbia on September 17 and were in our studio by eleven. They didn't bring their own Don Quixote. They learned ours, in the studio with the company. For these two weeks they're Columbia Classical Ballet.

Valeri Salnikov is dancing the Don. When I was a boy, I took class in his studio, down the same street, here in Five Points, and he coached me in one of the first Don Quixotes I ever danced. The sets are his too. He designed the backdrops and painted them himself. Look closely at the tavern scene. There's a toreador painted up at the top. The face is his.

Pat Moran's story on the company is in Wednesday's Post and Courier. Irene and I were on WIS, and Sergei and Mollie Berk were on ABC Columbia.

October 1 and 2 · Koger Center for the Arts

Thursday, October 110:00 am · school performance

Friday, October 210:00 am · school performance

Friday, October 27:30 pm · public performance

Tickets $10 to $40 for Friday night.

The morning performances are for schoolchildren from across the Midlands.

Buy tickets

Columbia Classical Ballet Moves to 5 Points & Opens a New School for Student Dancers

The School of Columbia Classical Ballet lets a child train from age 3 through their teens, taught by professional dancers, without ever leaving Columbia. You don’t need a dancer in the family. You just need a kid who likes to move.

Joseph Phillips - Artistic Director, Columbia Classical Ballet

From our friends at Columbia Classical Ballet …

Columbia Classical Ballet (CCB), the professional ballet company that proudly bears the capital’s name, is opening a school for young dancers: the School of Columbia Classical Ballet (SCCB). Children across the Midlands, ages 3 through 18, will learn in the same studios as the professional company, taught by the dancers and coaches who perform with it.

The school opens September 8, 2026, at 610 Harden Street in Five Points.

Artistic Director Joseph Phillips, a Columbia native hailed by the international press as “Ballet’s Golden Boy,” left home as a boy and spent more than two decades dancing internationally. Now he’s home, building the school he wished he’d had growing up here.

“As a boy, I had to leave Columbia to get this training. My daughter won’t,” Phillips says. “I came home to help build the school I wish I’d had, right here.”

Come Look Through the Glass

The studio at 610 Harden Street sits behind a wall of glass on the street, so you can be walking by, look right in, and watch professional dancers at work. Starting August 31, the company takes class every weekday morning at 10, in full view from the sidewalk. It’s free, and you don’t need to call ahead.

Start Here

Every dancer starts somewhere, and the easiest way to begin is to come take a class. All through August, SCCB’s Open Classes (August 10–28) are yours to try. Come as often as you like, any day of the week, and see if the studio fits. Many classes are free, and the rest start at just $15. Sign up at columbiaclassicalballet.com/school or call 803-990-2345.

Programs include Pre-Ballet (ages 3–6), Young Dancers (6–10), Pre-Professional (10+), and an Adult Program, with placement by age and level.

Your Child on Stage: The Nutcracker

Every December, Columbia Classical Ballet presents The Nutcracker at the Koger Center, and the school’s students share the stage with the professional company. “I was a young boy when I was cast in The Nutcracker. I was standing in the stairwell when my mother told me I’d been cast as Nicholas. I remember that moment so clearly, even to this day,” Phillips says.

This year, any child in Columbia can stand where he stood. CCB is opening The Nutcracker auditions to everyone, beginners welcome, on Saturday, August 22 and Saturday, September 19, at 610 Harden Street, by age group. The youngest dancers need no experience. Performances are December 4–6.

Who Your Child Will Learn From

Every beginner is welcome, and from their first class, students are taught by the company’s own dancers and coaches.

Leading the school is Phillips, who danced with San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre, and became a principal dancer at the Mariinsky Theatre’s Primorsky Stage in Russia, before returning home with his fiancée, Irene Liu, and their daughter, Summer.

Liu, founder of El Camino Ballet in California, is joining the school; her graduates have gone on to companies and programs including the Boston Ballet pre-professional program, The Washington Ballet, and Complexions, and to universities including Columbia and Stanford. Two of her students are moving from California to train at SCCB: Siena Appelboum and Aria Du, both 2026 Youth America Grand Prix medalists. Sergei Zolotarev, a former dancer at the Primorsky Stage, joins SCCB as the Principal Teacher, relocating from Russia with his wife, Karina Zolotareva. Joy Alexander, who grew up dancing alongside Phillips here in Columbia, leads the school’s Musical Theater program, and the faculty also includes Kiyomi Mercadante Ramirez, a master teacher and Fellow of the Cecchetti Council of America.

Key Dates

Registration opens: July 1, 2026

Open Classes: August 10–28

Nutcracker auditions: August 22 & September 19

Company class viewable from the street: begins August 31

School opens: September 8 Nutcracker performances: December 4–6

Register during Open Classes and the registration fee is waived.

About: The School of Columbia Classical Ballet operates under Columbia Classical Ballet, founded in 1991, which presents classical and contemporary repertoire across the state and produces the LifeChance international benefit gala.

columbiaclassicalballet.com

Columbia Classical Ballet presents Life Chance 2025 under the direction of Joseph Phillips!

It’s the time of year true ballet lovers eagerly wait for — LifeChance, a one-of-a-kind multi-dancer, multi-company performance so unique that dancers from all over the world clammer to claim their spots on the stage — is coming up on Saturday March 15th at 7":30 at the Koger Center for the Arts!

Columbia Classical Ballet has produced the unique dance benefit gala, LifeChance, to raise awareness and funds for a wide variety of charitable causes for over two and a half decades. LifeChance was originally created by Columbia Classical Ballet Founder Radenko Pavlovich, with the very first LifeChance benefitting the war-torn children of Bosnia, during their troubling conflict over two and a half decades ago! The LifeChance gala brings together some of the best dancers in the world, to share their gifts through a one-night only live performance at the Koger Center for the performing Arts in Columbia, South Carolina.

This year, under the direction of Columbia native, Joseph Phillips, the performance promises to be better than ever. Among the dancers performing are from the American Ballet Theatre, Léa Fleytoux, Jarod Curley, Elisabeth Beyer, and Takumi Miyaki. From San Francisco Ballet, Sasha Mukhamedov and Ruben Citores, and from Ballet Eloelle Grandiva, one of the few all-male comedic dance companies in the world, Walter Battistini and Jonathan Mendez. Joining these stellar performers will be Sakura Oka, previously of Columbia City Ballet, as well as the current company of Columbia Classical Ballet. However, with so many world class international dancers eager to perform in this renown performance, there’s no telling who the audience might find on stage!

As part of Columbia Classical Ballet’s greater mission of outreach, community involvement, and exposure to the artform of ballet, LifeChance gala tickets, like the company’s regular season program tickets, are offered at a fraction of what they would otherwise cost.

Columbia Classical Ballet is excited to welcome Joseph Phillips as its new Artistic Director. Phillips, a celebrated international dancer and choreographer, returns to his hometown of Columbia, S.C., to lead the company into a new era of artistic excellence and dancer development. He assumes the position following the recent departure of former Artistic Director Brooklyn Mack, who replaced Pavlovich a few years before.​

Often referred to as “the Golden Boy of Ballet” due to his winning more Gold Medals in prestigious international competitions than any American male danseur, Phillips brings a wealth of experience and acclaim to the role. He has graced the stages of renowned companies such as San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Manilla, and Mariinsky Ballet, Primorsky Stage, where he became one of the few American dancers to ever achieve the rank of principal dancer. He is also widely recognized as an esteemed teacher and choreographer, and currently serves as Artistic Director of El Camino Ballet.​

Deeply rooted in Columbia, where his journey in dance began, Phillips' first ballet school was Columbia Ballet School under the tutelage of Anita Ashley. His first male ballet teacher, Anthony Hampton, a South Carolina native, instilled in him the belief that ballet is for everyone, regardless of gender. His passion for ballet blossomed further when he performed in his first Nutcracker with the Columbia Music Festival Association. He continued to hone his craft, training with Stanislav Issaev at the esteemed South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville, South Carolina. Throughout his career, Phillips has maintained a strong connection to his home state, notably as a guest artist with South Carolina Ballet. Over the past two decades, he has also continued to work with the Columbia Music Festival Association, Columbia Ballet School, and Carolina Ballet.​

"I'm excited to bridge my work with El Camino Ballet and Columbia Classical Ballet, creating opportunities for both companies to expand their reach and share their artistry," saysPhillips. "I envision bringing the unique creations of Columbia Classical Ballet to the West Coast, showcasing the talent and creativity that thrives in my hometown."​

"I'm honored to return to my roots and lead Columbia Classical Ballet into its next chapter," says Phillips. "Columbia holds a special place in my heart, and I'm deeply committed to nurturing the talents of our dancers and creating a company that is a source of pride for Columbia and a vibrant contributor to the international dance community."​

In recognition of his contributions to the arts, Joseph Phillips has been awarded ‘THE KEY TO THE CITY,’ declaring July 17 as Joseph Phillips Day in Columbia, South Carolina.