Risa Gary Kaplowitz, Neighbor

I am a former principal dancer with Dayton Ballet and a company member of Houston Ballet and Ballet Manhattan. I have also performed with Pennsylvania Ballet and Metropolitan Opera Ballet and as a guest artist with many companies nationwide performing the repertoire of many choreographers including Fredrick Ashton, George Balanchine, Ben Stevenson, Stuart Sebastian, Dermot Burke, Billy Wilson, and Marjorie Mussman.

I was originally trained at Maryland Youth Ballet and spent summers as a teen studying on scholarship at American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Houston Ballet.

After spending ten years in a successful business career while building a family, I returned to the dance world and founded Princeton Dance and Theater Studio (www.princetondance.com) and DanceVision, Inc. (www.dancevisionnj.org) with Susan Jaffe, a former ABT principal ballerina. I am now PDT's Director, and the Artistic Director of DanceVision, Inc. I also founded D.A.N.C.E. (Dance As a Necessary Component of Education), an outreach program that brings dance to New Jersey schools.

I have choreographed more than twenty pieces, including three full length ballets, "The Secret Garden," "A Midsummer Night's Dream,"and "The Snow Queen." Additionally, I have choreographed for several New Jersey Symphony Orchestra family and school outreach concerts.

I am an ABT® Affiliate Instructor, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7/Partnering and has successfully presented students for examinations. I have lectured the ABT®/NYU Master candidates on starting a dance studio.

I am a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and 4dancers.org, writing on matters of dance. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Dance at The College of New Jersey.

I am most grateful for my teachers who gave and (in the case of ABT® Curriculum) give me the exceptional tools necessary to have had a performance career and the opportunity to train others authentically. I also feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to dance with and learn from many exceptional dancers.