Paulette's Ballet Studio Owner To Get Lifetime Achievement Award

NEWTON, MA — After nearly 60 years of teaching thousands of dancers in Needham and Newton how to plie and gracefully bow or curtsy at the end of a performance, the curtain fell for the last time on Paulette’s Ballet Studio in July when it closed for good.

Now, the Newton-Needham Regional Chamber will present Paulette Harwood, 91, with a lifetime achievement award at the chamber’s annual Needham Night Dinner later this month.

“Paulette Harwood touched the lives of generations,” said Greg Reibman, president of the Newton-Needham Regional Chamber in a statement. “She also was a successful and fully engaged member of our business community. We are so pleased to be able to honor her and all she has given with this lifetime achievement award.”

Harwood started dancing as a young girl under the mentorship of Prima Ballerina Harriet Hoctor, who performed at The Diamond Horseshoe, in a number of films, including as Fred Astaire’s dance partner in Shall We Dance.

At 15, while still a student at Brookline High School, she moved to New York City with her grandmother to perform and continued to study via snail mail at Brookline High. In New York she continued her dancing career, performing at the Copacabana. She eventually became a soloist at Radio City Music Hall in the Corps de Ballet.

She married, came back to the Boston area and opened her studio in 1959, according to her website. She started in Needham, then moved to a studio at the Mills Falls Building in Newton before opening in the Saco-Pettee Mill Building on Oak Street.

In addition to her work as an instructor, she was a choreographer for high schools, colleges, and the Boston Celtics. She also designed costumes for contestants in the Miss Massachusetts and Miss America pageants, as well as for students in her own shows, according to the Newton Needham Chamber.

Her dancers performed at events around both communities, including Needham’s annual Street Fair and Harvest Fair. About five months ago Harwood announced a new partnership with Boston Ballet School, that offered two full scholarships to two different 2017-18 Paulette's Ballet Studio students every year for the next 10 years: The Paulette Harwood Award and the Harriet Hoctor Award.

The second annual Needham Night Dinner, honoring Paulette Harwood, will be held Wed. Jan. 30, at 5:30 p.m. at the Needham Sheraton Hotel, 100 Cabot Street, Needham. In addition to guest speaker Robert Glazer, the event will include award presentations, cocktail reception and a three-course dinner. Tickets are available at NNchamber.com

Photos courtesy Newton-Needham Chamber.