Kalamazoo Ballet
A living legacy of classical ballet training, performance, and artistry in Kalamazoo since 1970.
More Than Six Decades of Classical Ballet in Kalamazoo
Founded in 1965 by Thérèse Bullard, Kalamazoo Ballet and the Bullard School of Ballet & Highland Dance established a tradition of rigorous classical training, artistic breadth, and professional standards that would shape generations of dancers.
Today, Tye Chua Dance is the training home of Kalamazoo Ballet™, carrying forward its classical training, performance, and teaching traditions in downtown Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo Ballet Company carries forward the nonprofit mission of expanding access to dance education, performance, and artistic opportunity.
Dancers today can begin with their first ballet class and progress through leveled classical training, advanced and pre-professional study, pointe, and meaningful performance opportunities with Tye Chua Dance Company.
Founded in Kalamazoo
Thérèse Bullard establishes Kalamazoo Ballet and the Bullard School of Ballet & Highland Dance.
Decades of Training
Generations of dancers have trained, performed, taught, choreographed, and carried the tradition forward.
Kalamazoo Ballet Today
Tye Chua Dance carries forward Kalamazoo Ballet’s training and artistic traditions, while Kalamazoo Ballet Company advances its nonprofit mission of access and opportunity.
Founded by Thérèse Bullard
In 1965, Thérèse Bullard founded Kalamazoo Ballet and the Bullard School of Ballet & Highland Dance, establishing a home for serious classical ballet training in Kalamazoo.
Her teaching brought together strong classical ballet technique, Highland dance, contemporary movement, performance experience, and a deep belief in developing thoughtful, well-rounded dancers.
From its earliest years, Kalamazoo Ballet gave students opportunities not only to train, but to rehearse, perform, and grow within a larger artistic community.
Kalamazoo Ballet Through the Years
The Beginning
Thérèse Bullard establishes Kalamazoo Ballet and the Bullard School of Ballet & Highland Dance.
An Artistic Community
The company becomes part of the regional dance community, building a repertoire of ballet, Highland dance, and contemporary work.
Generations of Dancers
Students train, perform, teach, choreograph, and carry their dance education into professional, educational, and artistic careers.
Tye Chua Dance
Tye Chua Dance is founded, carrying forward the classical training, artistic standards, and teaching lineage established through Kalamazoo Ballet.
Kalamazoo Ballet Today
Tye Chua Dance is the official home of Kalamazoo Ballet™ in downtown Kalamazoo, continuing its training and performance traditions for a new generation.
Thérèse Bullard
Thérèse Bullard brought an extraordinary breadth of professional experience to Kalamazoo. Trained in Canada, she danced professionally with companies including the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Radio City Music Hall Ballet before building an extensive career as a teacher, choreographer, and arts leader.
Through Kalamazoo Ballet and the Bullard School, she established a rigorous and expansive approach to classical ballet education — combining strong technique, musicality, performance, artistic versatility, and an expectation that dancers understand their craft deeply.
Her influence continues through generations of dancers and teachers who trained directly under her and through the classical training, performance traditions, and artistic standards carried forward today at Tye Chua Dance.
Thérèse Bullard
Born in England and raised in Canada, Thérèse Bullard trained at the National Ballet School of Canada and went on to dance professionally with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Radio City Music Hall Ballet. Her performing career also included television appearances and touring productions throughout North America.
Her career as an educator was equally expansive. She served on the faculties of Wichita State University, Western Michigan University, Creighton University, and Nazareth College, and taught master classes internationally throughout Europe, Canada, England, Malaysia, and Japan.
Thérèse held a Master’s Degree in Communications from Western Michigan University and studied with influential teachers including Phyllis Atkins, Grace Holdich, Gwenyth Lloyd, Gladys Forrester, and Antony Tudor.
In 1965, she founded Kalamazoo Ballet and the Bullard School of Ballet & Highland Dance, creating an institution that combined rigorous classical ballet training with Highland dance, contemporary work, choreography, performance, and broad artistic education.
Her contributions to the arts were recognized with numerous honors, including the Irving S. Gilmore Kalamazoo Medal of Arts Award, the Thistle Award from the Scottish Society of Kalamazoo, and Western Michigan University’s Community Dance Advocacy Award. She was also named an honorary member of Regional Dance America.
More than sixty years after the founding of Kalamazoo Ballet, Thérèse Bullard’s influence remains visible in the dancers, teachers, training traditions, and artistic standards shaped by the institution she created and carried forward today through Tye Chua Dance.
A Legacy Beyond Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo Ballet alumni have carried the training and artistic foundation established by Thérèse Bullard into professional performance, choreography, teaching, artistic leadership, and dance communities throughout the country.
Aimee Tye
After training under Thérèse Bullard and performing with Kalamazoo Ballet, Aimee continued her training at Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and went on to perform with Detroit Metropolitan Ballet Theatre, Winifred Haun Dancers, Second City Ballet, Salt Creek Ballet, and Joel Hall Dancers. She later spent nineteen years as Associate Director and faculty member of Hyde Park School of Dance in Chicago.
Angi Polderman
Angi progressed through Kalamazoo Ballet to the rank of Principal Dancer and earned the Royal Academy of Dance Solo Seal. She continued her training at the University of Michigan, Portland Ballet, and Miami City Ballet, where she also performed professionally, before returning to Kalamazoo to perform and teach.
August Tye
A Kalamazoo Ballet dancer from an early age, August went on to become an award-winning choreographer, performer, educator, and artistic director. Her career has included Joel Hall Dancers, Salt Creek Ballet, Second City Ballet, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where she has choreographed extensively and served as Ballet Mistress.
Training & Professional Experience Have Included
The Tradition Continues at Tye Chua Dance
The studios, productions, and generations have changed, but the foundation remains recognizable: thoughtful classical training, artistic curiosity, disciplined rehearsal, meaningful performance, and individual attention to the dancer.
Today, Tye Chua Dance carries that training tradition forward through progressive ballet study from a dancer’s first classes through advanced and pre-professional training, pointe, and meaningful performance opportunities.
Today’s students are part of a history that began in Kalamazoo more than six decades ago — not as a recreation of the past, but as the next chapter of a living artistic tradition.
The legacy of Kalamazoo Ballet is not something we simply preserve. It is something our dancers continue to build.
The Kalamazoo Ballet Lineage Continues
The Kalamazoo Ballet tradition lives not only in its history, but in the dancers and teachers who carry its training forward at Tye Chua Dance today.
Aimee Tye, Angi Polderman, August Tye, and Ava Polderman all trained directly under Thérèse Bullard through the Bullard School and Kalamazoo Ballet — creating a direct teaching lineage that continues across generations.
Aimee Tye
Aimee began her training at the Bullard School and progressed from apprentice to company member and soloist with Kalamazoo Ballet. Today, she carries that training and teaching tradition forward as Founding Director of Tye Chua Dance.
Angi Polderman
Angi trained under Thérèse Bullard and progressed through Kalamazoo Ballet to Principal Dancer, earning the Royal Academy of Dance Solo Seal. She continues that lineage today as a Director and teacher at Tye Chua Dance.
August Tye
August trained with Thérèse Bullard from childhood and performed leading roles with Kalamazoo Ballet. She brings that foundation, together with decades of professional experience, to her teaching as a Senior Instructor at Tye Chua Dance.
Ava Polderman
Ava began her ballet training under Thérèse Bullard at Kalamazoo Ballet and continued her development and performance experience with Tye Chua Dance, carrying the direct teaching lineage into another generation.
Eugene Chua
Eugene Chua brings a distinct professional classical lineage to Tye Chua Dance. He began his ballet training with David Shields, former soloist with Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, before dancing professionally with Boston Ballet and later as a Principal Dancer with Omaha Ballet.
His training and professional experience broaden the studio’s classical foundation while complementing the artistic and pedagogical traditions carried forward from Kalamazoo Ballet.
The Legacy Continues
More than six decades of ballet—and a future still being written.
Today, the tradition of serious training, thoughtful artistry, and meaningful performance continues at Tye Chua Dance, while Kalamazoo Ballet Company carries forward a nonprofit mission centered on access, opportunity, and artistic development.
