Diana Byer is the founder, president and artistic director of New York Theatre Ballet. She has
performed as a soloist with Les Grands Ballets Canadians, Manhattan Festival Ballet, New York City Opera, and the
Juilliard Ensemble. She received her principal dance training from Margaret Craske and Antony Tudor. She teaches
adult professional ballet, pointe technique, and advanced children’s classes at Ballet School NY, which she founded
in 1978. She has taught at Manhattan School of Dance, Compagnie de Michel Hallet (Lyon, France), and Cascina Bella
(Milan, Italy). She has been guest instructor at the Cecchetti Society of America, Cornell and New York Universities,
SUNY at Purchase, the Martha Graham School, and the Cecchetti Society of Canada (Toronto). Ms. Byer received extensive
media attention for her ongoing work with homeless and at-risk children, winning special citations from President
George Bush, First Lady Hillary Clinton, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the President’s Committee on
the Arts & the Humanities. Ms. Byer coached the principals in the Columbia Pictures film, Center Stage. In
the summer of 2003, she gave master classes in the Ballet School of Pecs, Hungary and she regularly provides master
classes in schools and performance settings across the U.S. She was a member of the Antony Tudor Centennial Celebration
Committee. Ms. Byer staged Antony Tudor’s Judgment of Paris for the May 19, 2008 American Ballet Theatre Gala at
the Metropolitan Opera House.
