Clyde David Nantais

Clyde Nantais joined the Conservatory in 2008, and teaches intermediate to advanced ballet for musical theater students.

Nantais is a dancer, teacher, choreographer and a costume and set designer. He is also a former member of the Actors’ Equity Association, the American Guild of Musical Artists, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Nantais joined the Actors’ Equity Association at the age of 20 in 1971, where he performed both in the chorus and in leading roles in numerous summer stock and dinner theater productions. He then joined the Boston Ballet as a dancer from 1973 until 1980, and went on to teach in the school from 1973 to 2015. While at Boston Ballet, Nantais was commissioned to choreograph Arthur Fiedler's 50th Anniversary Special on PBS in 1978. He was also a full-time faculty member of the Boston Conservatory's dance department from 1981 to 1989, and was an artist in residence at the National Institute of the Arts in Taipei, Taiwan, from 1991 to 1993.

Upon returning to the United States, Nantais formed the Boston Dance Company with James Reardon as artistic director and Nantais as executive director. For over 23 years, Boston Dance Company presented its annual Nutcracker in many cities throughout New England, along with numerous other performances.

Nantais holds a B.F.A. from Boston Conservatory, where he received a full-tuition Jan Veen scholarship for three years. He also has a M.Ed. from Temple University in Philadelphia, where he received a full-tuition teaching assistantship.

For the past 40 years, Nantais has worked as a guest artist dancing, teaching, and choreographing for many schools and companies including Festival Ballet Providence, Ballet de Santo Domingo, Berkshire Ballet, Ithaca Ballet, Portsmouth Ballet, Charlotte Klein Dance Centers, and Franklin School for the Performing Arts.