The Austin Arts Hall of Fame: Barbara Carson

Dancer, teacher, founder of Ballet Austin

Carson grew up in Cleveland and moved to New York City as a teenager, where she studied at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet, then danced as soloist with the New York City Opera's ballet troupe.

In 1953, she opened a ballet school in Austin, and the following year, decided to form the Austin Ballet Society (later called Ballet Austin) to "acquaint the public with ballet and show proper training techniques."

The first Austin Ballet Society performances were for children, then grew rapidly to include adults. In the early 1960s, she founded the Southwest Regional Ballet Association and was honored by Dance Magazine in 1964 as "artistic director of one of the most creative educational and cultural enterprises in the Southwest." In 1967, she was named Austin Woman of the Year in the Arts.

After several years in Washington and Wisconsin due to her husband's career, Carson returned to Austin in 1979 when he retired. She taught with Stanley Hall, Eugene Slavin and Alexandra Nadal, and later was invited to head the Ballet Austin Academy under artistic director Lambros Lambrou.

"I'm most proud that Ballet Austin and its school have grown and prospered," Carson says. "It's fun to be a pioneer, but you always hope that what you build will last."
-- Sondra Lomax

Ernest & Sarah Butler		Barbara Carson	Felicity Coltman	Chris Cowden	Karen Kuykendall	Jim Swift	Boyd Vance