About
The mission of Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre is to promote the advancement of classical and contemporary dance by maintaining a performing company, presenting high-quality season, and providing both dance education and community outreach.
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WHO WE ARE
Serving Greater Baton Rouge for over half a century
Since 1960, Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre (BRBT) has nurtured and trained hundreds of award winning local dancers and choreographers while continuing to bring world-class professional artists to the Baton Rouge stage. Named Artistic Directors in 1976, Molly Buchmann and Sharon Mathews continue to guide the artistic vision of the organization. Among their many contributions, Molly and Sharon created the BRBT original, The Nutcracker – A Tale from the Bayou, in 1992. Since its inception, this treasured production has continued to thrill children and adults alike as one of the most highly anticipated events of the holiday season.
QUALITY PERFORMANCES
&
DANCER EDUCATION
Our focus is on presenting a professional level dance series for the city of Baton Rouge.
BRBT presents an annual professional performance season that includes outstanding main stage productions at the River Center Theatre for the Performing Arts and other venues in town. BRBT hosts a professional touring company each fall. The Nutcracker – A Tale from the Bayou sets the familiar holiday classic in 19th-century Louisiana. Each spring, BRBT presents a full-length classical ballet or a mixed bill of contemporary ballet and cutting edge modern dance.
We develop aspiring dancers.
A member company of Regional Dance America / Southwest since 1981, BRBT maintains Honor Company status in this national organization of adjudicated ballet companies held to the highest standards of artistic quality and dance education. BRBT provides training opportunities to aspiring artists and makes a significant impact with dance in public education.
OUR LEADERSHIP
Rebecca Acosta
Artistic Director
Rebecca Mathews Acosta is a full-time teacher with East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools at Baton Rouge Magnet High School. As director of their dance program, Ms. Acosta provides choreography for the BRMHS theater department and orchestra productions as well. She is the director of the BRBT Youth Ballet and teaches intermediate and advanced ballet at The Dancers’ Workshop. An LSU graduate, she also earned a nursing degree from our Lady of the Lake College. She has appeared in numerous principal roles with BRBT including Azalea Fairy in The Nutracker, the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, Myrtha in Giselle, the Mother in “Family Secrets” and Mother in “Women of Acts”. Rebecca studied on full scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet, New York, and on scholarship with the Eglevsky Ballet, where she appeared as a demi-soloist in Swan Lake and a soloist in Paquita. She also appeared in several LSU opera and theater productions and in West Side Story with Theatre Baton Rouge. As an ABT Certified Teacher, she successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Institute in Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT National Training Curriculum with ABT New York. Outside of teaching dance, Ms. Rebecca is also mom to Marc and Lizzie, a Kappa Delta Alum, and a sustaining member of the Jr. League of Baton Rouge.
Jonna Cox
Artistic Director
Jonna began her ballet training in Corpus Christi, Texas, with Larry and Bettye Roquemore and then Christina Munro. She received a BFA in ballet from Texas Christian University, where she attended on a Nordan Fine Art Scholarship. She danced professionally for the Dayton Ballet, where she performed in Pas de Quatre, Swan Lake, Carmina Burana, and others. In 2006, her choreography for BRBT was selected for Regional Dance America Southwest’s Emerging Choreographers Performance where it won the outstanding choreography award garnering her a scholarship to the Choreography Conference at University of Utah. She has danced a number of principal roles for BRBT including Azalea Fairy in Nutcracker.
Christine Perkins
Associate Director
Christine began her dance career in New Orleans, studying with Joseph Giacobbe, Ceyhun Ozsoy, and Mary Munro and later moving to the stage with Delta Festival Ballet. While receiving her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology, she taught and performed in Shreveport, LA with Louisiana Dance Theatre, performing lead roles in pieces by Dianne Maroney and others. After moving to Baton Rouge, Christine joined Baton Rouge Ballet where she performed roles such as the Arabian, Spanish, and Azalea Fairy in the Nutcracker and pas de deux roles in both Les Sylphides and Sleeping Beauty’s Bluebird. She is now an Assistant Artistic Director for BRBT, creating and directing its newest community engagement program, Ballet for Every Body.
Molly Buchmann
Artistic Director Emerita
Molly Buchmann is co-owner of The Dancers’ Workshop and retired co artistic director of the BRBT and Director of Dance for the LSU Department of Theatre. She has choreographed over 50 musicals for professional, community and university theatres and is currently choreographer-in-residence for Swine Palace. Named a Louisiana Division of the Arts Choreographic Fellow in 1982, she has created ballet and modern works for BRBT, LSU, Western Oklahoma Ballet and San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet with works for both BRBT and San Antonio chosen for Regional Dance America Galas., Ms. Buchmann has written dance and fine arts curriculum guides for the Louisiana State Department of Education and served as dance clinician for teachers throughout the state. She holds a master’s degree in dance and has taught choreography, dance history and dance performance at LSU where she won a TAF Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching and also serves on the graduate faculty. She has studied and performed with ProDanza Italia and studied with noted teachers in New York City including Leon Daneileon and Bertram Ross. In 1999, she and Ms. Mathews received the Mayor-President’s Award for Excellence in the Arts from the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, and in 2003, she was inducted into the Baton Rouge High School Hall of Fame. In 2007, she and Ms. Mathews received the Baton Rouge Area Foundation’s John W. Barton Excellence in Nonprofit Management award. She is an ABT Certified Teacher who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Institute in Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT National Training Curriculum.
Sharon Mathews
Artistic Director Emerita
Sharon Mathews is co-owner of the Dancers’ Workshop and retired co-artistic director of the BRBT. She worked as Dance Director for Baton Rouge High School from 1976 until her retirement in 2014. Ms. Mathews holds a BS and MS in dance from Louisiana State University. The Louisiana Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance have named her Outstanding Dance Educator in Louisiana. Ms. Mathews serves on the Board of Directors of Regional Dance America Southwest, and is a member of the Superintendent’s Task Force for Arts in Education and the State Arts Contents Standards Committee. She has written curriculum guides for dance at the state and parish levels. Ms. Mathews was resident choreographer for the Baton Rouge Opera and has choreographed for Baton Rouge Gilbert and Sullivan Society, LSU Opera, LSU Theatre, and Baton Rouge Little Theater. Her choreography includes Carmen and The King and I for LSU and Oklahoma! and West Side Story for Baton Rouge Little Theater. In 2003, she was inducted into the University High School Hall of Distinction and Baton Rouge Magnet High School Hall of Fame. In 2007, she and Ms. Buchmann received the Baton Rouge Area Foundation’s John W. Barton Excellence in Nonprofit Management award. She is an ABT Certified Teacher who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Institute in Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT National Training Curriculum.
OFFICE STAFF
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
The BRBT Board of Trustees manages the fiscal oversight of the organization. Members represent all areas of industry, including healthcare, education, finance and media.
2025-2026 Officers
Board President: Heather Herman
Vice President: Sarah Perkins
Secretary: June Klimash
Treasurer: Decarla Cain
Historian: Jennifer Perone
Immediate Past President: Kim Morgan
Guild President: ME Hart
2025-2026 Members
Julie Gerdes Becnel
Cheryl Brumfield
Lauren Crosby
Adrian Owen Jones
Gabrielle Kees
Hannah Gale Keller
Meredith Kolb
Diane Lindsay
Anne Marks
Robin Patty
Susan Puyau
Norma Rutledge
Cindy Schwartzenburg
Mila Sexton
Denise Westphal
THE GUILD STEERING COMMITTEE
The BRBT Guild Steering Committee is a group of dedicated women and men who volunteer the time and talent in many ways including fundraising, special events and our productions.
President: M.E. Hart
Vice President: Lindsey Booty
Treasurer: Stacey Chaney
Secretary: Jamie Welch
Historian: Kathleen England
Youth Ballet Coordinators: Kristi Hammat & Stephanie Lavigne
Volunteer Coordinator: Maimuna Magee
Immediate Past President: Katie Bodin
2025-2026 Members
Mauree Brooksher
Julie Byrd
Colleen Conti
Samantha Harris
Stephanie Lavigne
Suzette Martin
Rachel Mayo
Lynn Messer
Maddie Robison
MK Torrance
AWARDS & HONORS
Honor Company in the Regional Dance America Southwest Region since 1981.
2015-2016 Community Fund for the Arts Merit Award
2015 Women in Dance Leadership Conference Honorees, Molly Buchmann & Sharon Mathews
2014-2015 Community Fund for the Arts Merit Based Award
2013-2014 Community Fund for the Arts Merit Based Award
2010-2011 Community Fund for the Arts Merit Based Award
2007 John W. Barton, Sr. Excellence in Non-Profit Management Award presented by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation
2007 Stanford Group Award for Financial Excellence in the Arts
2004 Governors Arts Award for Outstanding Arts Organization
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