April 18, 2011

 

Dear Dancing Community,

 

Spring is a busy time for dancers in Rockbridge County. We are preparing for our annual recitals, making plans for dance camps and other summer educational opportunities, and even taking the steps to register for dance classes and company programs at our local studios for the coming fall season.  In the midst of all of this, I have some exciting news to share with you about Halestone Dance Studio and our plans for an expanded 2011-2012 season.

                

After 30 dedicated years of professional service as the owner and Artistic Director of Lexington School of Dance, Sherri Lamont has decided to retire and sell her business. However, as Sherri retires this spring, her dream of providing a thriving program for classical ballet education within our community is not being retired with her.  I am proud to announce that Halestone Dance Studio is privileged to have purchased Lexington School of Dance and will carry that dream forward under its new ownership.

 

Lexington School of Dance clients can be assured that when they return to their familiar studios this fall, they will be met with a complete and comprehensive program for the study of classical ballet.  I am currently working with Chanel Smith, Halestone’s Ballet Director, designing a schedule that provides separate classes for each graded level from 1-7.  Beginning at level 3, classes meet twice a week with options for ensemble classes for performing artists.  Intermediate and advanced female students are provided with pre-pointe, pointe, and pointe and variations classes and all advanced ballet students are invited to participate in Ballet Lab, a class designed to teach the art of making ballet choreography. 

 

With the combined strengths of each studio - Halestone’s modern dance program, the classical ballet program of Lexington School of Dance, and the popular jazz, tap, and creative movement programs from both studios  - the Rockbridge community is in store for an amazing and new dance-education opportunity this fall.  Our dancers will enjoy the benefits of having an entire moving arts campus with two locations (just around the corner and within shouting distance from each other). Though we’ve not yet finalized the course schedule for the 2011-2012 Season, we’re already committed to offering over 50 regular classes each week in classical ballet, modern dance, and other forms including:

 

• A comprehensive program for toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners, and 1^st graders that offers a ballet preparatory track, a creative developmental track, or a combination of both

• Tumbling and Acrobatics

• Tap, Classic Jazz, Contemporary Dance, and Hip Hop

• Social Dance and Ballroom

• Dance Conditioning, Yoga, and Movement Therapy

• Regular Weekend Workshops with Guest Artists and Teachers

• Performance opportunities and company memberships for dancers of all ages, levels, and styles

           

Halestone’s garden cottage on Randolph Street will become our preschool, ballet preparatory, and creative movement center for young children during the daytime and after school hours.  In the early mornings and evenings, adults will be able to enjoy a variety of their own classes there - including yoga and dance conditioning - surrounded by the peace and quiet of its stone walls.  The loft studios on Nelson Street (formerly occupied primarily by The Lexington School of Dance) will host classes for older grade school, middle school, and high school dancers in every genre.  The schedule is being carefully crafted to make it possible so that each age group can choose from the widest variety of classes available to them without conflicts between the different genres.  Dancers can follow a classical ballet track, a modern dance track, a jazz track, or even create a course of study that combines all three.

 

I invite those of you who are new to Halestone’s program to browse our website. We plan to have the site updated by the first week of May to include the expanded class schedule for 2011-2012, faculty lists, tuition rates, and registration information.  Early registration for the fall season begins in May and continues through July. (Late registrations will still be accepted in August although class availability may be limited at that time.)  In addition to the exciting course offerings we are planning, many of you will be pleased to see that Halestone tuition rates offer some of the best value to be found when shopping for dance classes for your student.

 

No matter what course of study dancers pursue at our studio in the coming years, from preschool creative movement classes to the most advanced levels of ballet, jazz, and modern dance, the unifying principles that have guided us for the past 33 years will remain the same.  Halestone Dance Studio is dedicated to the mission of providing a place for people of all ages to explore the power of their personal creativity through the integrated and disciplined study of dance.  In 2009, when Halestone was celebrating its 30th Anniversary, I defined our process in an essay I wrote for the recital program (excerpted below):

 

I love being a dance teacher in Rockbridge County. Dance provides its students with a unique perspective and artistic experience.  Unlike other forms of artistic expression that depend on extraneous materials and mediums in the art-making process, dance begins and ends with one basic element: the energy of a human form, set in time and space.  To practice their art, dancers are asked to commit nothing more (yet nothing less) than their individual and unified being - physical, mental, and spiritual - to the task.  Though this requirement is simple in its demand, it can also be a daunting challenge to meet.  It makes those who study dance especially vulnerable and exposed; it takes courage to dance.  And so, as dancers commit themselves to studying the technique and theory of their art, they are also developing a highly practical yet invaluable skill.  Cultivating a fierce ability to be fully engaged is good practice for life in general.

 

There is another inherent aspect to the study of dance that intrigues me and motivates my passion for teaching.  I believe that in addition to providing students with valuable physical and mental training that helps them learn how to positively focus their energy, dancers are also trained to tap into and activate their personal creative abilities…As a studio, we work collaboratively while exploring our ideas and making them into art. We know what it is to struggle with a difficult creative concept and then feel the wonderful click when things fall into place, a problem is solved, and everything connects.  We teach that it is not just the artful execution of technique that matters; it is the authenticity of the idea behind the art that determines its power and worth.

 

It goes without saying that I am looking forward to our coming season and sharing this creative process together.  Let the adventure begin!

 

 

Nancy Saylor,

Director - Halestone Dance Studio

Photo Credit: Jeremy Leadbetter