Reid Bartelme is truly one of the most diversely talented and comprehensively successful guests I have yet to interview. Reid grew up in SoHo surrounded by music and the arts. When he was nine years old Reid moved to New Jersey to study voice at The American Boychoir School in NJ whicch is one of only two boychoir boarding schools in the U.S. In high school Reid was accepted to the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy where he continued his vocal training. When he was 16 years old Reid discovered his interest and talent in dance after taking a general dance class with Jack Ferver. Reid wound up double majoring in Dance and Music at Interlochen. After this, Reid attended SUNY Purchase for college to continue his pursuit of dance. Reid also continued his vocal training on the weekends with a private teacher in NYC. Shortly into his time at Purchase College, Reid realized he wanted to pursue a career in dance rather than just dabble in it on the side. Because of this he left college to pursue this path. From there Reid wound up being accepted as a trainee with one of the top Ballet Companies in the country; Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) located in Seattle. Reid trained and often performed with the company for two years before receiving a Corps de Ballet contract with BalletMet in Columbus Ohio. After three years at BalletMet, Reid moved to Calgary to dance with the Alberta Ballet for another three years. At this time in his life, Reid realized he really wanted to get back to NYC so he auditioned and danced with the Shen Wei Company for two years. While a member of the the company Reid auditioned and was given the opportunity to dance for Lar Lubovitch. Reid danced with Lar Lubovitch for three years. Incredibly during this time Reid once again changed directions and embarked upon a new journey into design. As Reid explains, he was not feeling the same passion for dance as he had in the past, so after doing the exercises in Julia Cameron’s instructional book “The Artists Way” Reid’s new journey took him into the world of Fashion and Design. But just as Reid had done throughout his life, he did not embark into this new career path in a halfhearted manner; instead he applied and was accepted into the acclaimed Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. As Reid shares in his interview, he had always created amazing Halloween costumes so he used these as the bulk of his portfolio when applying to the school. Since then Reid has quickly climbed through the ranks of top designers for Ballet Companies and Choreographers worldwide. Reid and his design partner, Harriet have been commissioned for such prestigious companies as New York City Ballet, Miami Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet to name a few. He has worked with choreographer Emery LeCrone, Justin Peck and Christopher Weeldon among many others. Reid’s influence in Dance has taken a turn into a different direction and is influencing dancers in a way he may never have thought possible.

84 - The Triple Threat ~ Designer Reid Bartelme

Ballet Uncovered ~ Balancing Pointe Podcast