Leadership & Staff

Adam Schnell (Artistic Director/CEO) was born in Northwestern Vermont and began his dance training with Manon Pellman, Judith Karstens, and Shelly Ishmail (former members of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens). He graduated from Walnut Hill School for the Arts as a ballet major in 1999. At Walnut Hill he was trained by Samuel Kurkjian, Michael Owen, Tamara King, and Diane Arvanites.

As a professional dancer he has performed with the Channel Islands Ballet, Omaha Theater Ballet, Sarasota Ballet of Florida, and Nevada Ballet Theater. He has performed as a guest artist with Southhold Dance Theater, Lone Star Ballet, and with the world famous Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo. In addition to soloist and principal roles in a large amount of the classical repertoire, he has performed in Neo-Classical and Contemporary works by choreographers such as George Balanchine, Peter Anastos, Yves De Boutellier, Paul Vasterling, and Robert North.

His dance and theater choreography has been seen all over the United States and he has served as resident choreographer for both the Omaha Theater Ballet and Sarasota Ballet of Florida. In 2009 he completed his BA from Empire State College with a double major in Arts Management and Dance Education. In 2014 he received his MS degree in Arts Administration from Drexel University. He has been teaching in the disciplines of both dance and theater for two decades and is a sought after master teacher throughout the country.

Since moving to Vero Beach in the fall of 2009, he has served as director of dance education for Riverside Theatre. In December 2010 his “The Nutcracker: In Swingtime!” premiered to sold out audiences and critical acclaim. In its seven year run, the production became a beloved holiday tradition. In 2012, he introduced The Riverside Dance Festival, a program designed to pair the working dance artists of today with the aspiring dancers of tomorrow. Mr. Schnell is the Founding Artistic Director of Ballet Vero Beach. Vero’s first, and the region’s only, professional ballet company. He has choreographed more than one third of the company’s repertoire including the much lauded Nutcracker on the Indian River.