Summer Ballet Workshop 2025

Welcome to our annual Summer Ballet Workshop! The program is designed to meet the needs of aspiring serious students from intermediate to advanced levels ages 10 through 18 as well as professional dancers who come to train or perform in our outdoor SUMMER DANCE CONCERT. While it offers young students the opportunity to receive daily ballet training with additional dance forms, some students may be invited to participate in the SUMMER DANCE CONCERT. Daily classes in ballet will be held as well as classes in pointe, flamenco, and jazz. Company class for professional dancers will begin May  31 and advanced student workshop will begin June 2 and run through June 20. Evening classes in flamenco and adult ballet will be offered as well.

 

Each summer distinguished guest faculty are invited to teach. Throughout the history of this school, guest teachers that have been invited to teach have included Bruce Marks, Li Chou Cheng, Tauna Hunter, David Howard, Igor Youskevtich, Tatiana Grantzeva, Mia Slavenska, Elizabeth Carroll, Ron Sequioa, James Debolt, Myrtha Rosello, Sallie Wilson, Katharyn Horne, Eugene Collins, Andrea Vodenhal, Michael Vernon, Randy Newsom, Kirt Hathaway, and Kim Abel.

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This year we will have several guest master teachers.  Ruben Gerding, currently faculty at Booker T Washington School of Performing Arts in Dallas will be return to teach as will former Ballet Concerto dancer Cathy Kiefer from San Diego and Brandon Nguyen, former Margo Dean student and Ballet Concerto dancer as well as Orlando Ballet and Atlanta Ballet and Opera. Resident instructors Melanie Malone and Perla Montoya will teach as will Webster Dean, Artistic Director of Ballet Concerto.

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Possible performance opportunity for selected students in Ballet Concerto's 43rd annual outdoor SUMMER DANCE CONCERT, to be held on an outdoor stage at The Shops at Clearfork, will be held on June 19, 21, & 22.

 

"Interaction with professional companies is an essential experience for young persons desiring professional dance careers. This exposure motivates students to drop past concepts of their limitations and stretch toward new goals."
Bruce Marks, Artistic Director Emeritus, Boston Ballet

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College Credit is available through Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA.

 

Class Schedule

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Enroll by May 1 and receive a 10% discount.

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Intermediate Ballet for ages 10 – 16: 9:00 am - 11:30 pm 1st two weeks; 3rd week 10:00 am – 12:30 pm, Monday through Friday. Ballet technique class followed by Flamenco, Pointe, Variations, Modern Dance ........ $560

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Advanced/Intermediate Ballet for ages 13 and up: 9:30 am - 12:30 pm, Monday through Friday 1st two weeks; 3rd week 10:45 am - 1:30 pm. Ballet technique class followed by Flamenco, Modern Dance, Pointe/Boy’s class, or Variations...........................$560

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Weekly rate - $200/week

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Company Class - Professional Ballet Technique Class - 11:30 - Monday through Friday, Saturday time tba; Professional level Ballet Class followed by rehearsals for those involved in performance.........................$400

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Evening Classes

​Adult/teen Ballet - 6:30 - 7:45 pm, beg/intermediate, ages 13 through adult - Tuesday and Thursday

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Flamenco - 6:30 - 7:30 pm, ages 12 through adult - Mondays and Wednesdays, June 1 - 26............................$145

    

 

 

Registration: Class size is limited to maintain quality instruction. Registration fee of $45 for students not already enrolled in the school. To enroll, register online or send in a non-refundable deposit of $100.00 applicable toward tuition plus registration fee of $45. Balance of tuition is due by May 15.

 

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Dress

Girls and Ladies: Solid black leotard; no lace, spider backs, or stringed leotards. No rubber pants or T-shirts are allowed in class.

Boys and Men: White T-shirt, black tights, black ballet shoes or white ballet shoes with white socks.

Flamenco Dance: Shoes with heels: Girls wear skirt and leotard: Boys wear shirt and pants.

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Faculty

RUBEN GERDING, guest teacher, received his early training from the Louisville Ballet and danced professionally with the Eugene Ballet and Texas Ballet Theater. He received his BFA in Ballet Performance from the University of Oklahoma and his MFA in Classical & Contemporary Dance from Texas Christian University. Rubén is currently Assistant Professor of Dance at Southeast Missouri State.

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BRANDON NGUYEN, guest teacher, found his love for dance at the Margo Dean School of Ballet. He furthered his training on a full scholarship at Houston Ballet Academy. He danced with Orlando Ballet under direction of Bruce Marks and later, Robert Hill. While in Orlando he also became an artist with Cirque du Soleil as a lead male dancer in La Nouba. In 2010 he performed with Mariah Carey for the Disney Christmas Day Parade. He subsequently was a dancer with Atlanta Ballet.

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CATHY KIEFER, guest teacher, (intermediate ballet) began her ballet training at the Margo Dean School of Ballet in Fort Worth where she was a member of Ballet Concerto. She trained with Harkness House and School of American Ballet in New York, at the San Francisco Ballet School, and with Rosella Hightower in Cannes, and has performed with the Fort Worth Opera and with the San Diego Ballet. Cathy currently teaches at the San Diego School of Ballet and for the San Diego Ballet Company and at other schools in the San Diego area.

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MELANIE MALONE (musical theater dance and modern dance) is a former professional dancer who has extensive background in ballet and musical theater, having performed across the country in touring productions of Cats, 42nd St, Chicago, Hello Dolly, A Chorus Line, Sweet Charity, Westside Story. She received her BFA from TCU in ballet and modern dance and danced with the Fort Worth Ballet, having received scholarships from the Joffrey school in NYC and the NCSA, and her MFA from SMU in performance and choreography. She is also a former ballet school owner and director in the New York area and has been certified in the American Ballet Theater teacher training curriculum.

 

​WEBSTER DEAN, associate artistic director, is a former soloist with Ballet West, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and has danced seasons with Ballet Oregon, the Milwaukee, Colorado, and Richmond Ballets and also in musical theater. Teachers and choreographers he has worked with during his career include Bruce Marks, Toni Lander, Denise Schultze, Fernando Bujones, David Howard, and Michael Vernon. He holds a BFA from University of Utah. He has taught at this school for the past twenty three years and is repetiteur and associate artistic director for Ballet Concerto. He has been a guest stager of Bruce Marks’ works for Nevada Ballet Theater, the Orlando Ballet, Ballet West, Charleston Ballet Theater, and Kansas City Ballet. He has been a guest instructor of ballet at Texas Christian University.

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KATHLEEN STEINER (intermediate ballet), is the founder/director of Trinity Valley School of Ballet in Keller. She holds a BFA from the University of Akron and is a former soloist with Ballet Concerto. She danced professionally for 20 years with numerous companies including the Nevada Festival Ballet, the Ohio, Birmingham, Tyler, Denton, and Coshocton Ballet Companies.

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PERLA MONTOYA (flamenco/Spanish dance) began her Flamenco studies at age 9 and has studied and performed Spanish dance with such notables as Jose Greco, Nana Lorca and Jose Molina, and has performed Compania de Arte Espanol, Gisela Noreiga's Ballet Espanol, Eduardo Montemayor's Ballet Fantasia Espanol, La Presy, at the Kennedy Center  in Washington, D.C., and is a principal Spanish dancer with Ballet Concerto. She has taught for Margo Dean School of Ballet over the past 10 years.

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The following choreographers have been engaged to choreograph and stage ballets for Ballet Concerto's annual outdoor SUMMER DANCE CONCERT:

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LUIS MONTERO, guest choreographer, is an international Spanish Dancer and Choreographer and has been choreographing and performing with Ballet Concerto for over twenty years. Born in Granada, Spain, Luis studied Spanish Classical, Folkloric and Flamenco dancing with many of Spain's masters. He will re-stage one of his works previously created for Ballet Concerto's  SUMMER DANCE CONCERT. 

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ELISE LAVALLEE, resident choreographer, is a former student of Margo Dean and a former member of Ballet Concerto and the Bruce Wood Dance Company. She has performed and choreographed in numerous productions at Casa Mañana and has received awards for her choreography. She has taught for Margo Dean, Kids Who Care, at Texas Wesleyan University, All Saints Episcopal School, and for the Arlington Heights High School Dance Program and is in much demand as a choreographer and director in the metroplex. Most recently she created a new work for both years of Ballet Concerto's 2016 & 2017 SUMMER DANCE CONCERT and was director and choreographer of Theater Arlington's Cinderella.

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WEBSTER DEAN, associate artistic director, is a former soloist with Ballet West, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and has danced seasons with Ballet Oregon, the Milwaukee, Colorado, and Richmond Ballets and also in musical theater and opera. Teachers and choreographers he has worked with during his career include Bruce Marks, Toni Lander, Denise Schultze, Fernando Bujones, David Howard, and Michael Vernon. He holds a BFA from University of Utah. He has taught at this school for the past twenty three years and is repetiteur and associate artistic director for Ballet Concerto. He has been a guest stager of Bruce Marks’ works for Nevada Ballet Theater, the Orlando Ballet, Ballet West, Charleston Ballet Theater, and Kansas City Ballet. He has been a guest instructor of ballet at Texas Christian University.

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