Pittsburgh Youth Ballet

Pittsburgh Youth Ballet is a nonprofit organization founded in 1983 and run by former Pittsburgh Ballet Theater ballerina Jean Gedeon, which draws young dancers from across the country to train for careers as ballet dancers. The School was founded in 1983, while the Company was established in 1990. Graduates of the PYB have won positions in the most prestigious schools and companies in the world including the New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Kirov Ballet, and the Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow. The PYB partners with public schools in the area to allow students to integrate intensive ballet training into their high school education.

PYBC artists have performed during the summer with the New York City Ballet and two alumni have been awarded the gold and silver medals in the 1994 International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. PYBC has performed Cinderella and Peter and the Wolf with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Pittsburgh Youth Ballet Company's Performances were named among the "Ten Best Dance Performances" of 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 as compiled by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, and PYBC's Nutcracker was featured in Pittsburgh Magazine as the "Dance Editors Pick" for December.

The company was honored to receive the licenses and permission from the George Balanchine Trust to perform Serenade, Who Cares?, Tarantella, Dance of the Hours, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brillante, and Valse Fantasie. PYBC is an Honor Company in the Regional Dance America/Northeast and performed this past June in the Austrian Alps Music and Dance Festival, Innsbruck.

Pittsburgh Youth Ballet's High School Early Dismissal Program, featured in Dance Magazine, provides dancers with intensive ballet study and classes without compromising academic achievement. PYB's Summer Intensive Workshop attracts dancers from around the world to study with internationally acclaimed teachers.