Memphis Flyer 20<30: The Class of 2018 
Twenty young people making a difference in Memphis.

by CHRIS MCCOY

Every year, the Flyer devotes an issue to honoring the best and brightest Memphians under 30. This year, our readers nominated more than 50 exceptional young people from all walks of life. Whittling the list down to 20 was a difficult — and inspiring — job. There is so much talent here.

As always, 20<30 is about what these young people are doing, but it's mostly about the future. These are some of the young leaders who will shape tomorrow's Memphis, and we're giving you a preview of what that city might look like. Short version: We're in very good hands, indeed.

Brandon Ramey

How did Brandon Ramey get into ballet? "It happened by chance," he says. "It was a school trip to the see the Boston Ballet's Nutcracker. I was seven years old, and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world."

In 2009, Ramey was attending the San Francisco Ballet School when he auditioned for Ballet Memphis' Dorothy Gunther Pugh. "Within a couple of days, she had a contract in the mail for me," he says. "When I first showed up in Memphis, it was culture shock for sure. I thought Memphis was a pyramid and Graceland and blues music. But it's been so much more than that."

For Ballet Memphis, the 6'5'' Ramey has been the lead dancer in Swan Lake, Cinderella, The Darting Eyes, and Water of the Flowery Mill. In 2011, he was paired with Virginia Pilgrim in The Nutcracker. "She was the sugarplum fairy, and I was the cavalier. It was that fairytale story. We stared working together, then dancing together, and there was some chemistry there that was just a little bit deeper than all that, and we fell in love."

Now married, the couple recently got a new house in Cooper-Young and teach together at the new Ballet Memphis school. "When I moved here, Overton Square was boarded up. The French Quarter Inn looked like a haunted hotel. Just seeing what Memphis has done over the past nine years has been incredible."

The Memphis Flyer would like to thank Ballet Memphis for the use of their beautiful new space located in Overton Square. For rental information, contact Allan Kerr at akerr@balletmemphis.orgor 901-214-2425.