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Risa Gary Kaplowitz
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Risa Gary Kaplowitz is a regular contributor to 4dancers.org -- a blog for dancers, dance teachers and others who love dance.



She is the Co-Founder and Director of Princeton Dance and Theater Studio and DanceVision, Inc.

A former principal dancer with Dayton Ballet and member of Houston Ballet and Manhattan Ballet, Risa has performed with Pennsylvania Ballet and Metropolitan Opera Ballet and as a guest artist with many companies nationwide.

She was originally trained at Maryland Youth Ballet by Tensia Fonseca, Roy Gean, and Michelle Lees, and she spent summers as a teen studying on scholarship at American Ballet Theater, Joffrey Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Houston Ballet.

As a professional, Risa's most influential teachers were Maggie Black, Marjorie Mussman, Stuart Sebastian, Lupe Serrano, Benjamin Harkarvy, and Ben Stevenson. She has performed the repertoire of many choreographers including Fredrick Ashton, George Balanchine, Ben Stevenson, Stuart Sebastian, Dermot Burke, Billy Wilson, and Marjorie Mussman.

On behalf of DanceViison, Risa founded D.A.N.C.E. (Dance As a Necessary Component of Education), an outreach program that brings dance to New Jersey schools. She has choreographed two original full-length ballets, The Secret Garden and The Snow Queen in 2008 and 2011 respectively. Additionally, she has choreographed for several New Jersey Symphony Orchestra family and school outreach concerts.

Risa is an ABT® Affiliate Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum, and has successfully presented students for Curriculum examinations. She is an adjunct professor at The College of New Jersey and has lectured ABT/NYU Master candidates on starting a dance studio.

Blog Entries by Risa Gary Kaplowitz

Lifetime Network's Trick or Treat: Abby Lee Miller's Dance Teacher Disguise

(11) Comments | Posted October 26, 2012 | 10:30 AM

A few weeks ago, my daughter and I were enjoying our favorite Lifetime Network show, Project Runway. Throughout the program, there were advertisements for a new dance show called, Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, which stars Abby Lee Miller, the infamous studio director of Dance Moms that airs on the same...

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Yes, Virginia, There Is a Holiday Ballet Besides 'The Nutcracker'

(0) Comments | Posted September 18, 2012 | 3:36 PM

A few days ago, I asked my students at the first ballet class ever held at The College of New Jersey if any of them had ever seen a ballet before. A few of the females raised their hands. "Which one?" I asked. Three of them said almost in unison,...

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The Taming of the Tutu: A Call for Restraint in Today's Ballet Stars

(17) Comments | Posted August 7, 2012 | 7:54 PM

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Cynthia Gregory as Aurora


Although it's been nearly four decades, I remember like it was yesterday: standing in line with my friends at Lincoln Center by 7:30 AM to get standing room tickets to see Cynthia Gregory dance. She was an American...

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A Studio Director's Change of Heart: Why Ballet Exams Work

(4) Comments | Posted June 8, 2012 | 3:21 PM

I would have never thought that I would one day espouse the idea of examinations for the ballet students at my school. Certainly the studio in which I grew up, Maryland Youth Ballet, has produced dozens of professional dancers, and they never presented their students for exams. And weren't the...

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Bal-loopers: When Ballet Dancers Fall From Grace

(10) Comments | Posted May 10, 2012 | 2:01 PM

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Lee Bell, Paolo Porcino, and Risa Kaplowitz from 2002 Easy Lessons, Choreography by Stuart Sebastion, Dayton Ballet, 1987

Last month, I attended a week-long training session for the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum in Orlando. The sessions are akin to being in a...

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