About Lynchburg Ballet Academy

“Excellence in Dance Education”

Lynchburg Ballet Academy (LBA) is a center for dance education for ages 1.5 through adult. LBA is an official training school of Charlottesville Ballet. Charlottesville Ballet is central Virginia’s nonprofit professional ballet company with a mission to elevate the art of dance through wellness, performance, education, and community outreach.

History of LBA:

The first official training school of Charlottesville Ballet, Charlottesville Ballet Academy, was created in 2011 by Co-Directors Sara Clayborne and Emily Hartka. After three years of leading the professional company, the Co-Directors realized that many of the professional artists were not able to fully grasp the mission of wellness. This is because they had trained for many years in unhealthy environments where eating disorders and injuries were standard. In order to truly fulfill the mission of health and wellness, Charlottesville Ballet needed to create a training school with excellent training and an emphasis on wellness starting young.

In Summer 2026, Charlottesville Ballet acquired Ecclesia School of the Arts MV LLC and renamed the school Lynchburg Ballet. We look forward to continuing the pursuit of our mission as we grow and hope that you continue to join us on this wonderful journey!

Please feel free to contact us with any questions and thank you for your support!