Born in Raleigh, North Carolina and raised in central China, Bethany Armistead is an artist who values all the wonderful things that movement has to offer. Bethany trained in modern, contemporary, ballet, Mongolian traditional dance, and Chinese traditional silk dance at various studios in the Chinese cities of Xi’an and Qingdao, including Xi’an Center for Performing Arts and Red Dance Skirt. In 2018, she began pursuing higher training in ballet, modern, and jazz at Messiah University under professors Gregg Hurley, Eileen Beth Mitchell, Valerie Henry, and Jenn Connors. She graduated Towson University in 2023 with her B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography. There, she trained in modern, ballet, and aerial dance under professors Nicole Martinell, Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell, Robert Kleinendorst, Runqiao Du, Alison Seidenstricker, Jayne Bernasconi, and Susan Mann. Bethany has also been teaching dance for 5 years, with experience in both Mandarin and English. She has taught ballet, modern, jazz, and creative movement to children ages 2-18. Bethany is now dancing professionally with Open Sky Houston. Bethany loves movement in all its forms, and she is committed to allowing her faith in Christ and love of humanity to collide in her movement, choreography, and teaching practices.