Michelle Sperry, the artistic director and founder of the Wilton-based Fleur de Lis Dance Academy, has launched Connecticut Theater Ballet (CTB) to provide dancers interested in pre-professional training with advanced dance classes. CTB classes are designed to prepare dancers for auditions for competitive summer intensive acceptance, roles in professional dance company performances, pursuing dance scholarships in college and professional stage careers in dance.
“While Fleur de Lis Dance Academy offers a wide range of classes for younger children and beginning dancers, we want to be able to grow with our more experienced and serious dancers, and offer them greater opportunities to develop their technique and performance quality,” Sperry explains.
Connecticut Theater Ballet will utilize the studio space at Fleur de Lis Dance Academy, located at 1 Danbury Rd.. This facility has three spacious, light-filled studios with state-of-the-art marley flooring, a dressing room, study area, costume fitting room (which houses the hundreds of costumes that dancers wear for performances), a ballet supplies shop and a family lounge with a view of one of the dance studios.
Instructors for CTB classes include current professional ballerinas, dancers with national and international training, and experienced teachers with college and advanced degrees. CTB utilizes the American Academy of Ballet syllabus including graded exams and Performance Awards, and offers classes in classical ballet, pointe, modern, lyrical, broadway, jazz and hip hop, contemporary ballet and tap. All dancers are encouraged to audition for CTB’s annual Nutcracker performance in November 2015 and its spring Ballet, Cinderella, to be performed in May 2016.
Sperry notes that the discipline, commitment and focus required for dance has benefits for dancers beyond the studio. “Utilizing the discipline and focus required for advanced dance training, our dancers continue to achieve top honors in their middle and high school academics, excel at prestigious summer intensives, and attend top universities and graduate schools. Through dance, they develop the confidence and determination required for success,“ she explains.
Fleur de Lis Dance Academy and Connecticut Theater Ballet are affiliated with Encore Youth Company, the 501(c)3 non-profit organization that offers full and partial scholarships to dancers who otherwise might not be able to afford pre-professional dance training. For more information about Connecticut Theater Ballet, Fleur de Lis Dance Academy and Encore Youth Company, visit their website or contact Sperry via email or by calling 203.210.7155.