PATRICK NOTARO, originally from Clinton, MA fell in love with dance as a boy, but never had the opportunity to pursue lessons until the age of 19.  He began training at the Boston Conservatory of Music and quickly started working with companies including Copley Square Ballet, Boston Ballet, Oakland Ballet and Festival Ballet of Rhode Island where he began his teaching career.  While at Festival Ballet, Patrick performed lead roles in classical and contemporary works under the direction of Prima Ballerina Christine Hennessy from 1985 until 1994.  In 1995, Mr. Notaro co-founded Providence Ballet. He split his time teaching in Providence and performing in Indianapolis, IN and was soon invited to join Ballet Internationale, Indianapolis as a full time dancer.  There he had the privilege of working with world-renowned artists including Prima Ballerina Irina Kolpakova, and Artistic Director Eldar Aliev, both Principals with the Kirov Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Mr. Notaro also served as co-Vice Principal of the Academy of Ballet Internationale where he learned to teach the Vaganova style.  Patrick is currently on faculty at Heritage Ballet in Lincoln, RI and teaches the company dancers of Island Moving Co in Newport, RI.

In 1999, Patrick moved to Cincinnati, OH to become a full time instructor at the Otto M. Budig Academy of Cincinnati Ballet.  There he was a highly favored teacher to the world-class dancers of Cincinnati Ballet including Lorna Feijoo, Nelson Madrigal, Kristi Capps and Dmitri Trubchanov, among others. In 2005, Patrick brought its Academy students to regional acclaim taking top honors in Chicago at the Youth America Grand Prix Ballet Competition. There, with partner Gregg Saulnier, the academy received “Best Ensemble” and “Outstanding Academy” as well as a Second place Contemporary and a Third place Junior Classical award.  Patrick is pleased to be home in New England sharing his creativity and experiences of past successes with the communities of Southeastern MA and Rhode Island. Now in his 25th year of teaching Mr. Notaro finds that his time spent in the studio has allowed him to live his dream and to keep reaching for new heights. His goal is to offer the best education to both children and adults and to enrich the lives of all dancers and dance lovers.

In 1989 and 1990, Patrick assembled a troupe of dancers and created Notaro & Friends, a project-based performance that was made possible by city grants and in-kind donations.  He is thrilled to continue his long history of successful productions by creating The Patrick Notaro Dance Project which recently premiered at the Great Friends Dance Festival in Newport, RI this summer and received very positive reviews.