The Rock School for Dance Education explained
The Rock School for Dance Education is a classical ballet school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] It is currently headed by Director and President Peter Stark,[2] who formerly ran Boston Ballet School.
History
At the urging of George Balanchine, Barbara Weisberger founded the School of Pennsylvania Ballet in 1962.
The Pennsylvania Ballet School and Company maintained a close working relationship, but in 1992 they became independent non-profit entities. At that time the Company's Board decided that The School's mission and activities required the attention of an individual staff and Board of Trustees. It became evident that for further growth and increased contribution to the community, The School would need its own development department.
The School's independence was accompanied by the development of a Board of Trustees, led by Chairman Constance W. Benoliel. Expanding its funding base, The School was able to develop its outreach activities and scholarship program. In 2006, The School officially separated from the Pennsylvania Ballet and was renamed The Rock School for Dance Education. In 2011, the ballet documentary, First Position, followed Rock School Alum Michaela DePrince as she trained for and competed at Youth America Grand Prix.
After over thirty-years as a director of the Rock School for Dance Education, Bo Spassoff retired, and in February 2022, Peter Stark became the President and Director of the Rock School for Dance Education. Before joining the Rock School, Peter Stark was the associate director of Boston Ballet II and head of the Men’s Program for Boston Ballet School. He also served as Director of the Orlando Ballet School and founded of the Next Generation Ballet in Tampa, Florida.
Programs
Many students in the professional division move to Philadelphia to attend the Rock School as full-time students who live in dorms located across the street from the school[3] all while training to become professional ballet dancers and completing their education through the Rock Academics program.[4] The Rock School has had students from over twenty countries and twenty-four states enrolled in the Professional Division. For Students under the age of twelve, The Rock School offers ballet classes through its Pre-Ballet and Ballet Division; these programs focus on progressing students’ ballet training at their own pace while instilling strong foundations for continued classical ballet training. The Rock School students perform throughout the year in their annual Classic Nutcracker, Spring Showcase, and at various ballet competitions.
In the summer, The Rock School hosts about three hundred students for its annual Summer Intensive; summer intensive students train for one to six weeks with Rock School faculty, guest teaching artists, and alums.[5]
Alumni
Since its founding, The Rock School for Dance Education has produced world class ballet dancers including brothers Isaac Hernández[6] and Esteban Hernández,[7] now both at San Francisco Ballet, as well as Christine Shevchenko[8] (American Ballet Theatre), Michaela DePrince[9] (Boston Ballet), Beckanne Sisk (Houston Ballet), Derek Dunn (Boston Ballet), and Gabe Stone Shayer (American Ballet Theatre).
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- Devin Alberda, New York City Ballet
- Tamara Allison, Child Lead NY Radio City Christmas
- Melissa Bartusch, City Ballet of San Diego
- Cato Berry, Pennsylvania Ballet Corps
- Katie Berry, Child Lead NY Radio City Christmas Spectacular Lucas Bilbro, Apprentice Ballet BC, North Carolina Dance Theatre
- Gilbert Bolden III, Corps New York City Ballet Laura Bowman, Pennsylvania Ballet
- Laura Breckenridge, Broadway Shows, Grey’s Anatomy, Gossip Girl Bobbie Briscoe, Company C Contemporary Ballet, Joffrey Ballet
- Samantha Bristow, San Francisco Ballet Kacey Burke, Roxy Ballet
- Allison Burbach, Columbia Classical Ballet
- Tim Cannon, Dance Alive!
- Elizabeth Chapman, Georgia Ballet
- Michaela De Prince, Soloist Boston Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Author of “Taking Flight”
- Matthew Donnell, Program Director UNCSA, Kansas City Ballet
- Teresa D’Ortone, Trainee American Ballet Theatre
- Katchiri Feys, Ballet Arkansas
- Jessica Gatinella, Instructor Pennsylvania Ballet
- Ellen Green, Guest Artist and Faculty Ballet Chicago, New York City Ballet
- JinChang Gu, Texas Ballet Theatre, Columbia Classical Ballet
- Alexandra Hartnett, Ballet Arizona, Opera and Ballet of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
- James Ihde, Soloist Pennsylvania Ballet
- Victoria Jaenson, Charlotte Ballet II
- Elizabeth Keller, formerly Trey McIntyre Project, Miami City Ballet, Ballet Idaho
- Lucas Labrador, Indianapolis Ballet, Atlanta Ballet II
- Sara Lapointe, Charlotte Ballet
- Andrea Long, Principal Dance Theater of Harlem
- Skyler Lubin, Ballet X, Miami City Ballet Veronica Lynn, former Soloist American Ballet Theatre
- Alston Macgill, Corps New York City Ballet Callie Manning, Principal Miami City Ballet Abdul Manzano, Dance Theater of Harlem, Charlotte Ballet Skyler Martin, Dutch National Ballet Janey McGeary, formerly Pennsylvania Ballet, New York City Ballet Katie Meeusen, Ballet West, Ballet San Jose, Ballet Met
- Juliana Missano, Atlanta Ballet Regina Montgomery, Demi-Soloist Tulsa Ballet
- Miguel Angel Montoya, Atlanta Ballet Alana Morgenstern, Chevalier Ballet NYC
- Sara Michelle Murawski, Dresden Semper Opera Ballet, Soloist Slovak National Ballet
- Elizabeth Murphy, Principal Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet West
- Eric Otto, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Movin’ Out, Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Ballet X, Faculty Central Park Dance
- Luciano Perotto, Principal Ballet de Monterrey
- Marina Profy, First State Ballet
- Claire Rathbun-Solis, Syracuse City Ballet, The Washington Ballet, CATS on Broadway
- Giovanni Ravelo, Roxy Ballet
- Erica Sabatini, Carolina Ballet, Dresden Ballet
- Taylor Sambola, Orlando Ballet
- Ayami Sato, Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida
- Jennifer Savelli, Pennsylvania Ballet, Fosse, Boy from Oz, Chicago the Movie, Anything Goes
- Tyler Savoie, Pennsylvania Ballet, Kansas City Ballet
- Jimmy Shughart, Alabama Ballet
- Beckanne Sisk, Principal Houston Ballet, Principal Ballet West, Breaking Pointe Reality TV series
- Isaiah Sumler, Ballet Tucson
- Taylor Stanley, Principal New York City Ballet Nick Stuccio, Director Fringe Arts
- Abe Takahashi, Reiko Matsuoka Ballet, Japan
- Yukihiro Tamura, Columbia Classical Ballet, Asami Maki Ballet, Tokyo
- May Tanigaito, Royal New Zealand Ballet
- Michelle Thieme, Ballet West
- Mariah Thomas, Austin Ballet
- Lisl Vaillant-McDonald, Director Ballet Southwestern Academy, LLC, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, The Phantom of the Opera
- Francis Veyette, Director Pennsylvania Ballet II, Principal Pennsylvania Ballet
- Yueh Erica Wang, Hong Kong Ballet Corps
- Lori Wilson, St. Louis Ballet
- Joan Sebastian-Zamora, English National Ballet, Joffrey Ballet
Notes and References
- Web site: School Year . The Rock School for Dance Education.
- Web site: Rock School Faculty . Rock School Faculty.
- Web site: Residence-Marine Club . The Rock School for Dance Education.
- Web site: The School . The Rock School for Dance Education.
- Web site: Summer Ballet Intensive 2023 . 2023-03-15 . The Rock School for Dance Education . en-US.
- Web site: 4 August 2015 . Isaac Hernández: the hottest ballet boy to hit London since Carlos .
- Web site: Two medals for Rock School in N.Y. competition .
- Web site: Kourlas . Gia . 19 May 2017 . From a ‘Super Bunhead’ to a Lead Dancer . NYTimes.com.
- Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina by Michaela DePrince with Elaine DePrince. Alfred A. Knopf, 2014.