Brianna Taylor Kelly And Justin Valentine To Guest Star In Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet's THE NUTCRACKER

BRIANNA TAYLOR KELLY, and JUSTIN VALENTINE will be the guest artists in the Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet's production of The Nutcracker.

Performances will take place on December 12 (Evening), and December 13 (Matinee), 2026 at the Riverview Theatre in Shreveport, Louisiana.

BRIANNA TAYLOR KELLY currently is both ballerina and artistic director of the Palmetto Ballet Theatre in Columbia, South Carolina, and previously held similar positions with the Columbia Classical Ballet, also based in Columbia, South Carolina.

Mrs. Kelly received her training from Radenko Pavlovich, and additional training with Stanislav Issaev and Natalya Revich of the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Michael Revie, and Rick McCullough.

Among the principal roles she has danced include Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Myrtha in Giselle, Nikiya in La Bayadere, Medora and Gulnare in Le Corsaire, Mercedes in Don Quixote, the title role in Cinderella, Dorothy and the Wicked Witch in Oz, and Jasmine in Aladdin.

Also Mrs. Kelly is the owner and artistic director of the Palmetto Conservatory of Dance in Columbia, South Carolina.

JUSTIN VALENTINE began his ballet studies at ADACA in Hunter, New York, and thereafter at the Saugerties Ballet Center in Saugerties, New York. He pursued further studies at the Valentina Kozlova Dance Conservatory of New York, and also at the Washington Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet summer programs, and a semester at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Mr. Valentine began his professional ballet career as a principal dancer with the Columbia Classical Ballet in Columbia, South Carolina in 2020, where he danced, the Grand Pas de Deux and Snow Pas de Deux in The Nutcracker, Solor in La Bayadere, and principal roles in Bolero, Dracula, Gravity, and Maleficent.

To expand his dance education Mr. Valentine studied at the Martha Graham School in the Advanced Study Certificate Program, and performed with Graham 2, and the Martha Graham Dance Company.

Mr. Valentine received 14 medals at various dance competitions including a Gold Medal in the IBC Citti di Spoleto, and a Silver Medal in the Junior Male Division in the Yuri Grigorovich Young Ballet of the World in Sochi, Russia.

Mr. Valentine has also participated in gala performances in 13 countries performing pas de deux from La Sylphide, La Fille Mal Gardee, La Esmeralda, Talisman, BLACK SWAN Pas de Deux, Giselle, Satanella, Raymonda, and Cavalry Halt, and from contemporary and neo-classical pieces including Reverence, Ink, Burning, Richard III, and Deriver.