Dance Department Chair, Flint Youth Ballet Director

Tara Gragg was born in Flint, MI, where she began her dance training at the FIM Flint School of Performing Arts at age four. She continued through the Dance Department, participating in The Nutcracker and Flint Youth Ballet. After graduating from Grand Blanc High School, she received a B.F.A. in Ballet from the University of Oklahoma, which she attended as a National Merit Scholar. There, she performed soloist and principal roles and was named Outstanding Senior for the School of Dance.

Ms. Gragg has performed professionally with classical companies including City Ballet of San Diego, Tulsa Ballet and Grand Rapids Ballet; and the Lyric Opera of Chicago as a featured soloist. Her repertoire includes works by George Balanchine, Bronislava Nijinska, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, and José Limón.

From 2014-2021, Ms. Gragg danced with Newport Contemporary Ballet in Rhode Island. She became a core faculty member at the Company’s affiliated school, the Newport Academy of Ballet, and co-directed NCB’s Junior Company. Ms. Gragg has further developed her love for teaching with education from the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB) Teachers Workshop, for which she was awarded a grant from Career Transitions for Dancers; and the ABT® National Training Curriculum, through which she is certified in Pre-Primary through Level 5. In 2021, she retired from performing and accepted a full-time faculty position at Boston Ballet School, serving during the 2021-22 school year and their prestigious Summer Dance Program in 2021 and 2022.

Ms. Gragg returned to Flint and joined the dance faculty at FSPA in 2022. She became Dance Department Chair in 2023, following her long-time mentor and Flint Youth Ballet Founding Director Karen Mills Jennings. She is also Artistic Director of FIM’s Nutcracker, the holiday tradition performed annually to sold-out audiences. Ms. Gragg is honored to return to the FIM community and continue the Dance Department’s tradition of excellence and inclusion.