Marblehead School Of Ballet Celebrates Start Of 52nd Season

MARBLEHEAD, MA — More than a half-century of teaching talented dancers from throughout the North Shore and beyond will enter its next chapter later this month when the Marblehead School of Ballet celebrates its 52nd season.

The school launch a new season of classes both in-studio and live online that range from ballet to ballroom dancing on Aug.28.

"Dance enriches all of life, teaching discipline, grace, self-control, musicality, and other qualities that carry over into all professions," said Paula K. Shiff, who founded the Marblehead School of Ballet in 1971. "We learn to dance and we learn from dance. The Marblehead School of Ballet celebrates the elegance and power and range of the human form, the beauty of storytelling, the mastery of the musician, the visual artist, and the sculptor."

The new season offers classes for all ages and levels in ballet, pre-ballet, child ballet, pre-pointe, pointe, variations, modern, creative movement, stretch and strength, jazz, Ballroom, West Coast Swing, Argentine Tango, and Latin solo work. Students may register for classes full-time or on a rolling basis. Drop-ins are welcome.

Shiff said students take lessons to create a fun dance at a couple's wedding, prepare for an athletic competition, develop skills for a dance performance, practice for college auditions, cross-train for a sport, work on alignment and coordination, or seek additional instruction.

The MSB's graduates have continued their dance studies at some of the most prestigious ballet companies worldwide, including Eliot Feld, Alvin Ailey, Houston Ballet, Metropolitan Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Lemon Dance Company and Ballet de Lorraine in France. Alumni have graduated from leading postsecondary institutions, such as the Boston Conservatory of Music, New York University Tisch School of the Arts, The Johns Hopkins University, University of North Carolina School for the Arts, and the University of Utah.

New students can start at any time but must register in advance here.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)