In addition to the secondary school and summer programs, Walnut Hill is proud to offer after-school programs in dance to children from Metrowest Boston communities.
For enrollment information please print our most recent materials CAA Brochure, and Schedule (PDF).
The Program
The Walnut Hill School Dance Community Academy's goal is to provide excellent classical training which could serve as a start to a professional career, and to provide all students with an enjoyable artistic experience that promotes growth and fulfillment. Many classes are taught by the same faculty who instruct students in the high school program, and most classes have live musical accompaniment.
Important: New students are accepted into the Preliminary Division without audition until the program is filled. New students are accepted into the Lower, Middle, and Upper Division by audition only.
For more information or to schedule an audition, contact the Office of the Dance Academy at (508) 650-5042.
Preliminary Division (Preballet I & II and Primary)
Classes introduce basic dance movements, beginning ballet, and music skills. Levels are carefully constructed for each age group, encouraging rhythm coordination, creativity, and listening skills. Informal presentations are held for parents at the end of the year.
Lower Division (Ballet I, II, & III, Boys I, Boys II, Modern I & II)
These classes introduce technique with continued music education and opportunities for creative expression. Students perform in the Student Demonstration in June at the Keiter Performing Arts Center. More interested students should attend twice a week.
Middle Division (Ballet IV & V, Modern III, Character, Pointe I & II)
These classes continue to build strong technique and vocabulary. Female students will begin pointework when their age and strength are appropriate.
Upper Division (Intermediate I & II, Modern IV, Repertory, Point III & IV)
These classes continue to strengthen ballet technique while introducing more complex vocabulary. Students interested in a professional dance career are provided additional class and performing opportunities, and should attend daily.
Michael Owen, Director of Ballet
The Walnut Hill Dance Community Academy is part of the Walnut Hill Ballet Department, under the direction of Michael Owen, a former principal dancer and 20 year associate of American Ballet Theatre.
Kathryn Stark (Director of Dance Community Academy and Youth Summer Dance) has been a faculty member of Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, American Academy of Ballet, Buffalo, and Chautauqua Institution. She received her dance training at North Carolina School of the Arts, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, and as a child with Eduard Caton and Jean Gedeon. As a professional, Ms. Stark performed with Ballet Met and was a principal dancer of Southern Ballet Theatre (now Orlando Ballet). where she performed principal roles in works including The Nutcracker, La Fille Mal Gardee, and Balanchine's Valse Fantasie and Allegro Brilliante.
Diane Arvanites-Noya (Modern) founder and Co-Artistic Director of Prometheus Dance, has been teaching modern technique and choreography at Walnut Hill since 1989 and is also on the dance faculty of The Boston Conservatory. Presentations of Ms. Noya's choreography include The International Dance and Theatre Festivals in Venezuela, Ecuador, Spain, and France, as well as La Mama, the Joyce SOHO, and the Lincoln Center Out-Of-Doors Festival in New York City.
Nicole Danizio (Jazz) has danced with Prometheus Dance, Ace Entertainment, Impulse Dance Company, and others in the Boston area, as well as Brian Brooks Moving Company, and John Freeman Repertoire Dance in New York. Ms. Danizio studied at Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts, and is a graduate of Boston Conservatory. She is currently on the faculty of Jeannette Neill Dance Studio.
Sherri Kitchens (Ballet) trained at the School of the Pennsylvania Ballet, and with Ditzi Nagy and Allan Miles in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio. She also studied in New York City with Rosanna Seravalli, Elisabeth Carroll, and Nadine Revene. Ms. Kitchens danced with the Hartford Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, and Tucson Ballet. She has been an instructor at Boston Ballet School, Ballet Theatre of Boston, and Dallas Conservatory of Ballet. Ms. Kitchens is also a guest instructor at Steps on Broadway.
Erika Lambe (Ballet) is a native of Brookline, MA. She received her training at the Boston Ballet School, the School of American Ballet, and the Dance Theater of Harlem School. Ms. Lambe danced with Dance Theater of Harlem, Miami City Ballet, and most recently, Boston Ballet. Ms. Lambe appeared in works by numerous choreographers including DeMille, Mitchell, Taylor, Balanchine, Cranko and Petipa. Ms. Lambe was featured in the 1999 PBS production "I'll Make me a World" which chronicled the careers of African Americans in the Arts. She is currently on the facul- ties of both Boston Ballet and Walnut Hill School.
Monica Lender (Ballet) received her training at Ballet Arts in Carnegie Hall with Robert Blankshine, as a scholar- ship student at the New York School of Ballet with Richard Thomas, and at the David Howard Dance Center with David Howard and Diana Cartier. She danced profession- ally with Feld Ballets/NY, Princeton Ballet, James Sewell Ballet and Ballet Manhattan, among others. Ms. Lender has taught in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and is also on the Walnut Hill Dance Department faculty.
Nathalie Navert (Ballet) is a graduate of the National Ballet School of Canada's teacher training program. Ms. Navert was the owner and director of her own school of 300 students in Quebec, Canada. Since coming to the US in 2004, she has been the principal instructor for the lower school of Ballet Workshop of New England in Hopkinton, MA.
Ashley Williams (Modern) training includes the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp, the University of Colorado (BA in Dance), and the Rotterdamse Dansacademie, Holland. Ms. Williams has performed locally with carolsomers Dance and in Colorado with the No Name dance company and Boulder Ballet.
Dean Vollick (Ballet) has danced with several compa- nies in the USA and Canada. Mr. Vollick is a graduate of the Teacher Training Program of the National Ballet School (Toronto) and has taught at Boston Ballet.
Aileen Po (Primary Ballet) was trained in her home coun- try of Malaysia under the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus. Before joining Walnut Hill in 2002 Ms. Po taught at Boston Ballet and other schools in the Boston area. She is also a trained physical therapist and a member of the Massachusetts Board of Medicine.
Guest Faculty Will Include:
Catherine Batcheller, former principal dancer of San Francisco Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet.
Kathy Kozul, former member of Boston Ballet and a Master Teacher.
