Jonathan Sharp, who has deep Mississippi roots will be bringing his worldwide experience to benefit students at the Mississippi School of the Arts (MSA) in Brookhaven where he has family.
His partnership as an adjunct professor with MSA for 2021-2022 school year will bring some exciting opportunities to students. He will be providing weekly classes in dance and musical theatre for 10 weeks each semester via Zoom with three in-depth residencies where he works with students here at MSA in September, February and May. His Ballet classes are American Ballet Theatre (ABT) certified classes. He will also be conducting a workshop to prepare students for auditioning for College/Broadway/Theatre/Dance. The year will culminate with MSA students and Sharp performing a musical theatre revue in May, 2022.
Sharp grew up in Mississippi before leaving the state to further his education in New York at the National Academy of the Arts and the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of the New York City Ballet. While on full scholarship at SAB he was trained by master teachers Stanley Williams, Peter Martins, Andrea Kramarevsky, Suzanne Farrell, Alexandra Danilova, Suki Schorer, and Sean Lavery. He danced professionally with the Boston Ballet, the Pennsylvania Ballet, and the touring Stars of American Ballet, headlined by Robert LaFosse and Darci Kistler. He has appeared on Broadway in the original casts of The Red Shoes, Carousel (1994 Tony winner for Best Revival), The Rocky Horror Show Live, The Dance of the Vampires, and Fiddler on the Roof. He has also appeared on television as a contract player on Another World and guest-starred on Law and Order and Gilmore Girls. He has taught at Idyllwild Arts Academy for the past thirteen years and he also teaches and directs internationally. He is currently Associate Director of Inland Pacific Ballet and a principal guest teacher with Pacific Festival Ballet.
MSA’s Executive Director, Dr. Suzanne Hirsch said, “With the lessons learned through COVID-19, we found some ways of teaching that work to enhance learning for our students. Idyllwild School of the Arts has a longstanding history of excellence and learned the same things as we endured the past year. To be able to share resources with them and offer our students this unique experience is an example of how we can use lessons learned to our advantage. Jonathan’s connection to Mississippi and Brookhaven is an inspiration for our young Mississippi artists. He will be an exciting addition to our faculty and will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the future artists in our state in dance, theatre, and music!”