Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet

John White and Margarita de Sa founded the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet in 1974. Their goal was to make available the best possible dance education for students of all ages. An important aspect of this purpose was to provide essential training for talented students with professional aptitudes and interest in pursuing careers in classical ballet. Through the ensuing years more than seventy graduates have danced in professional companies throughout the world. Several have won high honors in both national and international competitions. The Academy also provides the very best dance training for non-professional students with an interest in learning the art of classical dance. All students, regardless of age and previous training, receive the same high quality dance instruction whether they are enrolled in the Regular or in the Adult Division. Since all Academy teachers have been trained to teach the same method, students are ensured continuity as they progress from one level to another.

Academy founders, John White and Margarita de Sa, were leading dancers with the internationally recognized Ballet Nacional de Cuba, having danced many principal roles in the company's repertoire. The directors also began their teaching careers in Cuba. Mr. White began as a ballet master and company teacher, while Ms. de Sa taught in the new national school, Cubanacan. Both received instruction from visiting Soviet ballet masters who remained in Cuba for two years and established the Vaganova method. Mr. White and Ms. de Sa bring important international dance experience to the Academy. Also contributing significant professional experience is Melinda Pendleton, who was invited to join the Academy as Assistant Director in 1991. In addition to dancing professionally in companies in the U.S., France and Japan, she also won awards in important national and international ballet competitions. Ms. Pendleton provides invaluable assistance in helping to run the Academy.

The three co-directors and their faculty of experienced and well-trained teachers all employ the same Vaganova method that has produced such illustrious dancers as Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov and a host of other internationally acclaimed artists. Indispensable continuity is assured when all teachers emphasize the same time-tested methodology that consistently provides students with a precise technique, musicality, complete body awareness and control, and a carefully structured breakdown of each movement. Children, between the ages of four and seven years, begin their dancing experience in special Creative Movement and Pre-Ballet classes.

These classes provide an introduction to dance in an enjoyable relaxed environment that is designed to teach basic body awareness and the coordination of movement to music. Students take one sixty-minute lesson per week. Regular Divison classes begin at age eight with two ninety-minute lessons per week that emphasize the basic fundamentals of classical dance. As students advance and grow stronger they begin to take lessons more frequently. At the appropriate time, girls begin to learn the intricacies of pointe work. Students wishing to pursue a career in dance will eventually be taking classes nearly every day. The Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet is a non-recital school. Twice a year, parents and relatives are invited to attend special observation lessons that demonstrate what the students have been learning during the year. When students graduate to LEVEL 3 they are given the opportunity of participating in the studio?s annual holiday performances of The Nutcracker which are held every year at the Upper Darby Performing Arts Center. Rehearsals are conducted in addition to regular classes, and every effort is made to minimize interruptions of the normal class schedule.