top of page
A New Chapter Begins.png

Antonette Arsenault

Owner + Artistic Director

IMG_9975.jpeg

Antonette Arsenault began her formal ballet training at the Academy of Dance Arts under the direction of Barbara Banasikowski Smith, where she trained extensively in the Vaganova ballet method, pointe, variations, modern, and character dance. Her early dedication and artistry led to her acceptance into the Senior Company of the Greater Lansing Ballet Company (GLBC), where she performed as both a Senior Company member and featured soloist in numerous productions including some of her favorites, The Nutcracker, Dracula, Mother Earth, The Planets, and excerpts from Swan Lake and Carmen.
 

Throughout her training, Antonette performed at Regional Dance America (RDA) Mid-States Festivals in Detroit, Chicago, and Pittsburgh, in addition to a variety of community and cultural performances. At sixteen, she was selected to attend the prestigious Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet Summer Intensive in New York City, further refining her classical training and artistic development.
 

Alongside her performance career, Antonette discovered a passion for dance education and mentorship. She has taught at several respected institutions including the Academy of Dance Arts, Southold Dance Theatre, and Legacy Dance Academy. Since relocating to Nashville, she has spent five years teaching within the School of Nashville Ballet’s Children’s Division, where she also played a significant role in leading and expanding the Adaptive Dance Program. Antonette still continues to assist with the School of Nashville Ballet's Adaptive Dance Program, and brings training and knowledge to fellow educators. Through this work, she has helped cultivate meaningful performance opportunities for dancers of all abilities.

In addition to her extensive dance background, Antonette has significant professional experience in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), working primarily with children on the Autism Spectrum. Her combined expertise in dance education and behavioral support has shaped her deeply inclusive approach to teaching and inspired her commitment to creating accessible artistic spaces where every dancer feels supported, valued, and empowered through movement. 

 

Antonette has furthered her specialized training through adaptive dance studies with Boston Ballet School, strengthening her knowledge of accessible and inclusive movement education. By integrating professional dance pedagogy with developmental and behavioral support practices, she creates structured, compassionate, and artistically enriching environments that foster confidence, discipline, creativity, and joyful self-expression for dancers of all backgrounds and abilities.
 

In 2026, Antonette became the Owner and Artistic Director of The Dancer Project Conservatory. In this role, she is dedicated to expanding the organization’s vision through high-quality training, meaningful performance opportunities, and a strong sense of community. Her leadership continues to shape The Dancer Project into an inclusive and inspiring artistic home where dancers are encouraged to thrive both personally and professionally.

TREVOR EDWARDS

CO-Artistic Director

Soma Center for Dance founder and choreographer Trevor Edwards is a dance educator, director, and multidisciplinary artist whose work bridges concert dance, theatrical storytelling, and contemporary movement research. Over the past seven years, Edwards built Soma from the ground up into a thriving creative space in Southern Kentucky, leading youth education, pre-professional training, choreography, and community performance initiatives while mentoring the next generation of artists. His work as an educator has been rooted in fostering technically strong, emotionally intelligent dancers through a deeply collaborative and artist-centered approach. Alongside his educational leadership, Edwards has created and presented choreography throughout Kentucky with regional performance organizations while continuing to develop hum dance collective, his contemporary dance initiative focused on immersive, narrative-driven performance experiences.

 

Now newly based in Nashville, Edwards is entering an exciting new chapter as an educator and choreographer with The Dancer Project alongside exciting new owner Antonette Arsenault. This transition marks a meaningful vertical step in his artistic career, allowing him to bring years of directorial and educational experience into a larger creative environment while continuing to expand his choreographic voice. As he steps away from the demands of studio ownership, Edwards is also embracing a more balanced and grounded season of life alongside his fiancé, Dylan Merritt, creating greater space to invest in both family and artistry while continuing to pursue ambitious new work through hum dance collective.

IMG_5643.jpeg

teacher bios coming soon

bottom of page