One of my goals this year is to launch an arts-in-education experience for our students. Twelve of our students participated in a choreography workshop during Christmas break and the first week of January, facilitated by visiting choreographer and teacher, Janice Hurley. She also happens to be my mom! She taught and staged the children’s contemporary ballet Danger, the Dog Yard Cat. She created this work while completing her master’s thesis at Lesley University in early childhood development and dance movement. It is based on a real cat who was the mascot of Libby Riddles’ dog yard. Libby was the first woman to win the iditarod in Alaska. The students thoroughly enjoyed Janice’s exuberant personality and teaching style as well as her various warm-ups using ballet barre exercises, pilates and yoga. I enjoyed watching the students fuse their acting skills with their dance technique. Stay tuned for the upcoming performance schedule.

These lovely Pre Ballet students beautifully incorporated port de bras (arm movements) during their dance to an excerpt from Mozart’s  Salzburg Symphonies at the 2015 spring concert.

In the past year, three of our Ballet IV students have started pointe work along with their ballet technique classes. Within the curriculum of their pre pointe/pointe training, they have learned several variations from Sleeping Beauty as derived from the original works of Petipa, a famous French ballet master and choreographer during the late 19th century.

The Tap II class delighted audiences with their expressive performance to “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.”

The intermediate tap class dazzled audiences with their thrilling rendition of “New River Train” combing their tap technique with floor work and a hoe down sequence.

Shuffling with lots of style into summer break, the Tap I Class performed to “Wipe...

During a past performance, the contemporary dance students presented a Nicaraguan folk...

The Nutcracker is always a visual delight during the Christmas season. Over the past several years, many of our students have attended local performances. A few of our young dancers have even auditioned and performed in stunning community productions.

The Tap IV class charmed the audience with their whimsical rendition of “Love is...