Thomas Hanner

Thomas Hanner brings decades of professional performance and teaching experience to the classroom. He began his ballet training in Hollywood, California, studying with renowned teachers from the Ballet Russe and Royal Ballet traditions. At age 14, he received a full scholarship from the Ford Foundation to train at the prestigious School of American Ballet in New York City, where he studied with Stanley Williams, Alexander Danilova, and Andre Eglevsky.

At just 17 years old, Thomas joined San Francisco Ballet and went on to perform and guest with more than 20 professional ballet companies, including Washington Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Denver Ballet, San Antonio Ballet, and Maryland Ballet. His performance career included classical roles such as the Prince in The Nutcracker and Franz in Coppélia, as well as numerous works by celebrated choreographers including George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Doris Humphrey, John Butler, and Choo San Goh.

Thomas has also had an extensive career as an educator and director. He served on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory for 10 years and the University of Maryland for five years, owned and operated dance studios in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and founded and directed the Mt. Vernon Ballet Company of Baltimore.

With more than three decades of teaching experience, Thomas is passionate about building strong, confident dancers while adapting his instruction to meet the needs of each individual student. His training spans Russian, Royal Ballet, Cecchetti, and Balanchine techniques, allowing him to provide dancers with a well-rounded classical foundation that supports their training across all styles of dance.