Then and Now

Then and Now

he History of Ballet Arts is really a reflection of the history and success of Dance in America. Founded in 1937, Ballet Arts is the oldest continuously operating dance school in New York City after the School of American Ballet (which opened 3 years earlier).

For 64 years, these studios have provided a home for some of the finest teachers in America, where the creation and rehearsal of many famous ballets took place and where the hard work of students propelled some to great fame in the dance world. Ballet Arts has hosted some of the legendary dancers and choreographers of the 20th century.

From its time at Studio 61 in Carnegie Hall, the Ballet Arts school has played host to such early dance pioneers as The Isadora Duncan Dancers, Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Denis, and Yeichi Nimura. Later, when classical ballet captured the American imagination, Ballet Arts was foremost in providing teaching and rehearsal space to such legendary figures as Michael Mordkin and Lucia Chase (who would shortly found a company called Ballet Theatre), Agnes DeMille, Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine. After WWII, Ballet Arts was a mecca for some of the greatest teachers in the country: Alexander Danilova, Margaret Craske, Vladimir Dokoudovsky, Rosella Hightower, Eugene Loring, Vera Nemtchinova, Bronislava Nijinska, Nina Stroganova, and Anthony Tudor.

Since that time, the school has attracted an ever-wider range of teachers in all disciplines, but it is in the field of ballet that Ballet Arts has shown its leadership: Willy Burmann, Robert Blankshine, Nanette Glushak, Woytek Lowsky and Bo Spasoff, among many others. They provide an important transition to the modern era. Today, Ballet Arts at City Center is poised to take its place among the finest schools in the United States.

With a new faculty of outstanding achievement, the next phase for Ballet Arts envisions an open academy with accreditation for foreign students, workshops, and showcases that feature and foster new choreography and an international teacher and student training program for the summer of 2001. For over 60 years, Ballet Arts has been a center for creative learning in the field of dance.

We look forward to continuing and expanding the boundaries of that work into the new century.

-Peter Anastos

Virginia Lee
founder of BALLET ARTS,
made the following observation:

Please Take Note

There has been a trend for students to take classes beyond their technical level as a matter of convenience or a status symbol.

For a student to push into a class beyond his or her ability is disrespect to the instructor and other students and above all, a roadblock to the sought after progress of the student.

Vital to the progress of each student -- advanced, intermediate or beginner is a clear recognition of the standards and grade levels of each class. Only then can there be real progress and eventual attainment.

Some Teachers
in the Past:

Floris Alexander
Aida Alvarez
Robert Blankshine
Mary Jane Brown
Wilhelm Burmann
Angel Cansino
Edward Caton
Dean Crane
Margaret Craske
Alexandra Danilova
Henry Danton
Gemze de Lappe
Agnes de Mille
Vladimir Dokoudovsky
Anton Dolin
Kalera Fedichova
Mariquita Flores
Amelia Gilmore
Nana Gollner
Jon Gregory
Natasha Grishin
Kira Guzikova
David Harris
Rosella Hightower
Lisan Kay
Vladimir Konstantinov
Eugene Loring
Woytek Lowsky
Jan Miller
Vera Nemtchinova
Bronislava Nijinska
Yeichi Nimura
Nicholai Orloff
Paul Petroff
John Prinz
Boris Romanoff
Nina Stroganova
Antony Tudor
Sonia Woizikowska