Mississippi’s Top Rated Local® Dance Schools & Studios Award Winner: Ballet Mississippi

Top Rated Local® is pleased to announce that Ballet Mississippi is a 2019 award winner for dance schools and studios in Mississippi!

If you’re searching for a dance school in Mississippi like no other, look no further than Ballet Mississippi in Jackson.

Ballet Mississippi has received almost 20 reviews on multiple verified sites with an average rating of 5.00 stars, earning them a tremendous Rating Score™ of 92.00 and a 2019 Top Rated Local award for ranking among the top 10 dance schools and studios in all of Mississippi!

Here’s just one of their many five-star reviews:

“Ballet Mississippi is a gift to the state of Mississippi. David Keary and his staff work tirelessly to ensure that all classes are met with quality instruction by faculty and dancers who display a true passion for ballet. Additionally, these same people share a contagious desire to see the arts in Jackson thrive. Their willingness to share their vision and talents are inspiring to say the least. My daughter is beginning her fifth year as a Ballet Mississippi dancer, and it is my pleasure to give my resounding accolades to this wonderful company!” – Rana R.

Not Your Average Dance School

Cherri Barnett, the Associate Artistic Director at Ballet Mississippi, generously gave us a few minutes of her time to tell us about this award-winning business and its impressive online reputation.

The first question we had for Cherri was what is it that sets Ballet Mississippi apart from their competition. Here’s her response:

“We have outstanding teachers. We teach classical ballet [and provide an] outstanding repertoire for the dancers to dance. We’re located downtown, and we dance all of our productions live on-stage at Thalia Mara (Hall).”

We also wanted to know what their mission is at Ballet Mississippi and how they work to make the world a better place. Here’s what Cherri had to say:

“[Our mission is] to keep classical ballet alive and to educate the people of Mississippi. I call it a good day if you just get someone to stand up straight. How about that? Look around at the population. The world needs beauty…”

Cherri went on to add:

“One thing we do at the end of class is we get in a circle and gesture to one another, and we call it ‘Passing Good Wishes.’ That’s how I end my class, and the dancers love it because it is so inclusive…”

Building Success by Aspiring for Excellence

When we asked Cherri what the Ballet Mississippi secret is to such a strong online reputation, she said:

“We’re just a great organization. We’re the premier dance organization in the state. We used to have a professional company here. We aspire for excellence. We care about people. We care about our dancers. It’s like my dance family. Our artistic director, David Keary, danced with New York City Ballet under George Balanchine. George Balanchine brought ballet to America. He’s Russian. He (David) also studied under Thalia Mara. So, you see the foundation of excellence there.”

Outside of building a powerful online reputation, Ballet Mississippi has spread the word about who they are and what they do through ads in magazines and newspapers, promotion on social media, posts and by getting out in the community to dance, like at Arts on the Green, the Arts Museum and the Labyrinth of St. James.

Cherri ended our discussion with this sentiment:

“We just have a long history here, and we have a good product. We have a great staff, and we’re very invested in the community.”


Congratulations to the team at Ballet Mississippi for being a 2019 Top Rated Local award winner, and thank you so much, Cherri, for taking the time to speak with us!

We highly recommend Ballet Mississippi in Jackson. Visit their website today!

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