Located on Stewart Street in Santa Monica, Westside School of Ballet has been a home for thousands of young dancers both in the world of dance and beyond. Established in 1967 by New York City Ballet’s principal ballerina Yvonne Mounsey, and co-founder Rosemary Valaire (Royal Ballet), Westside School of Ballet has been around longer than any other public ballet school in Los Angeles. It has also been one of the most successful. Like many studios and businesses around the globe, the COVID-19 outbreak has brought on financial challenges. And, like many, the owners have turned to technology to survive by offering over 50 classes a week via ZOOM and Instagram Livestream taught by renown guest teachers and alumnae.
Shelby Tchai – Photo by Todd Lechtick
The classes for week 5 (April 13-19) include Intermediate/ Advanced Preprofessional Ballet class with SHELBY TZUNG, Westside Ballet Alumna, currently with National Ballet of Canada; Intermediate Adult Ballet class with GEORGINA PAZCOGUIN, current New York City Ballet soloist and Broadway star; Advanced Preprofessional Ballet class with JOY WOMACK, Westside Ballet Alumna, international guest star and first American with Bolshoi Ballet company, and currently with Boston Ballet; Intermediate/ Advanced Preprofessional Ballet class with SAVANNAH LOWERY, Westside Ballet faculty, recent New York City Ballet Alumna of 17 years, and recently completed a pre-med post-baccalaureate degree with Loyola Marymount University.
For Week 6 (April 20 – 26) the guest faculty includes: Advanced Preprofessional Ballet class with LUCIA CONNOLLY, Westside Ballet Alumna and currently with Joffrey Ballet; Intermediate/ Advanced Preprofessional Ballet class with MELISSA BARAK, Westside Ballet faculty and alumna, Artistic Director Barak Ballet, and former New York City Ballet dancer & choreographer; ) Intermediate Adult Ballet class with GEORGINA PAZCOGUIN; Intermediate/ Advanced Preprofessional Ballet class with SHELBY TZUNG; Advanced Preprofessional Ballet class with SAVANNAH LOWERY; and Intermediate/ Advanced Preprofessional Ballet class with JOY WOMACK.
The regular Westside staff who are primarily teaching from home, or like Master Ballet teacher to the pros, Nader Hamed who is filming his classes with the aid of a small skeleton crew. In addition, Westside faculty member, Aimée Gaudo, is offering an “Anti-Anxiety/ Anti-Stress Stretching” class for the whole family on Mondays at 3pm.
The studio adult ballet and fitness classes are open to the public at a nominal fee of $10 – and there are several free Instagram Livestream classes weekly. To help cover expenses, the school suggests and graciously accepts contributions.
Georgina Paz – Photo by Rachel Neville
“While classes are suspended, our costs and investment in the arts continues. As a small business, with little to no profit margins, we operate on a month to month basis, so please consider this when asking for refunds as I want to do everything I can to pay the teachers, staff and pianists. As a small business owner, it is stressful for me to keep the doors open in normal times let alone during this time so I appreciate all your support.“ School Executive Director/Owner Allegra Clegg wrote in a March 16th letter.
The school’s press release explained that the online classes are for paying clients and available to dance students in both the children’s and adult levels. These live classes are then saved in archival lists of links for student to practice them at home on their own time. All enrolled children in the dance academy will be able to access these as part of their tuition. Adults can sign up for Zoom classes through MindBody. After signing up, clients are sent the Zoom meeting code 15 minutes before the class starts.
Joy Womack – Photo by Sergei Gavrilov
LiveStream Instagram Classes are free and will be saved to Westside’s IGTV channel and the links available in the Instagram ‘Story’ to watch again for 24 hours and then archived.
“The livestreams are a free service to Westside’s students and the public to boost our community and create solidarity in the dance and arts community during these extraordinary times,” wrote Artistic Director Martine Harley. “Many of our peers in the ballet world such as Tiler Peck have been successfully offering these make-shift yet charming online classes, and we encourage you to try those – as well as our own – in order to support your home ballet community, whilst we are virtually still very connected! Thank you for your continued support and patience with us. We hope Westside is bringing you some joy in this difficult time.”
To view the full schedule of classes at the Westside School of Ballet, click here Or Call: 310-828-2018 PLEASE NOTE: Classes are updated daily.
For instructions on how to sign up for ZOOM classes, click here.
To make the $10 suggested contribution for the Instagram Livestream classes, click here. Venmo account @WestsideBallet.
To watch the school’s VIMEO NEWSREELS, please click on the links below.
https://vimeo.com/403180513/170513d39f (short)
https://vimeo.com/403809826/92a68630af (long)
Written and compiled by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle, April 17, 2020.
Featured Image: Lucia Connolly & Evan Swenson in Serenade performance 2013, photo by Anne Slattery.
