Co-Founder and Principal Instructor
MariClaire Miranda is a founding director and principal faculty member of Columbia Conservatory of Dance and a distinguished figure in South Carolina ballet education. She began her training under Ann Brodie and joined Columbia City Ballet (now South Carolina Ballet) in 1976, rising through the ranks to become a Principal Dancer and, in 1997, the company’s first and only Prima Ballerina.
Mariclare Miranda began her ballet training at the age of seven with Columbia City Ballet’s founding Artistic Director, Ann Brodie. She joined Columbia City Ballet in 1976—now South Carolina Ballet—and rose through the ranks, becoming a Soloist in 1980, a Principal Dancer in 1982, and attaining the rank of Ballerina in 1984. In 1997, she was named Prima Ballerina and awarded a South Carolina Arts Commission Fellowship, remaining the only Prima Ballerina in South Carolina Ballet’s history.
Throughout her distinguished performing career, Ms. Miranda danced every leading ballerina role in the company’s classical repertoire. Her contemporary full-length premieres included the title roles in Beauty and the Beast, Dracula: Ballet With a Bite, Aladdin, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Pocahontas. Upon her retirement from the stage in 2005, she was honored with the Key to the City of Columbia and the Order of the Palmetto by the State of South Carolina. She most recently appeared on stage as Lady Capulet in South Carolina Ballet’s 2023 production of Romeo & Juliet.
With more than 30 years of teaching experience, Ms. Miranda is a co-founder and Principal Instructor of Columbia Conservatory of Dance. She continues to nurture future generations of dancers while coaching and instructing South Carolina Ballet company members.