Best Ballet School Daly City Near Me

4worldlovers: Founded by award-winning professional ballet dancer's Leah & Megan Watson, Duo Dance Academy is one of the most respected dance studios in the Bay Area.

This Daly City dance studio is a fun and creative space for students of all ages and all skill levels. The professional instructors make each class valuable for each student.

4worldlovers:
Welcome! Tiffany’s Dance Academy of South San Francisco offers a program for every dancer - no matter what age or ability. We have dance classes for children ages 2+ in ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, creative movement, lyrical, and more. Come be part of our Tiffany’s Dance Academy community!

4worldlovers: This is the founding principle of Tutu School. We believe that motor skill development is infinitely enhanced by Tchaikovsky and Bach, that young imaginations benefit immensely from exploring the enchanted worlds of swans and sugar plums, and that twirling should be a fundamental part of any childhood.

Membership could not be easier and more convenient, and registration is always ongoing!We also offer free trial classes if your child would like to experience our school before enrolling full time.

4worldlovers: Terpsichora Ballet owner and founder Liezl Austria is dedicated to teaching her students the Vaganova Method of classical ballet in its purest form. Students training with Liezl learn ballet as she did at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This world-renowned ballet school teaches Agrippina Vaganova’s method for learning classical Russian ballet, which produces a distinctive, high-quality of movement as seen in the graduates of the Vaganova Ballet Academy, which include, Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The clarity of the step-by-step Vaganova Method, and the exceptional dancers it creates, are why Liezl teaches her students this style of ballet.

Liezl was born in the Philippines and started her nearly 20-year career as ballerina when she moved to San Francisco, California at the age of 13. Liezl’s first ballet mentor was Augusta Moore, who recommended Liezl also train with mentors Yehuda Maor and Alba Calzada.

In the United States, Liezl performed with the Anne Bluethenthal and Dancers, American Repertory Theater Ballet, Pacific Dance Theater, BalletMindDance, Avenue Dance Project, Mark Foeringer Dance Project and the Robert Henry Johnson Dance Company. Internationally, Liezl has performed on tour in Holland, Aruba, in Germany. In 1989, while Liezl was still performing, she began studying the art of teaching dance with Augusta Moore who was in instructor at both Dance Mission and Dancer Stage in San Francisco, California. As a student in her class, Liezl showed a natural talent for ballet instruction. Moore recommended Liezl as a ballet instructor to Alonzo King LINES and in August 2001 she started working at LINES.

Augusta Moore was an important mentor for Liezl, and soon Liezl was so proficient at teaching ballet that Augusta hired her to teach with her ODC. Augusta took Liezl under her wing and encouraged her to seek out more advanced training in teaching classical Russian ballet. Liezl wanted to learn a ballet teaching style that was orderly, clear, and effective. So, Augusta recommended Liezl study the Vaganova Syllabus.

In 2006, Liezl began her study of the Vaganova Syllabus with John White in Pennsylvania, learning the syllabus courses 1, 2, and 3.. White taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet with his wife and former ballerina Margarita de Saá White. John and Margarita met while dancing professionally in Cuba for the Nacional Ballet de Cuba. While performing in Cuba, John received extensive training on teaching the Vaganova syllabus from visiting Russian ballet masters. John is known as an authority on the Vaganova Syllabus and has authored two books on the subject. The experience changed Liezl’s life and the way she looked at ballet. Liezl continued her studies with White the following year, taking Vaganova syllabus levels 4, 5 and 6. John taught nearly 700 teachers at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet and abroad.

Liezl’s next step was to take training from the source at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Between the years of 2010-2019 Liezl attended annual demonstrations of the Preservation of the Vaganova Method at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in Russia. In 2016, Liezl began the Teacher Re-Training program at the Vaganova Ballet Academy, studying under her mentor, Pedagogue Irina Badaeva.

Vaganova Ballet Academy instructor Irina Badaeva a soloist at the Mariinsky Theater who performed roles including Giselle, Odette/Odile from Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty’s Aurora, Kitri from Don Quixote Irina is known for her artistic interpretation of the Dying Swan.

Liezl also studied with Pedagogues Bashlovkina, Galina Pavlovna and Komolova, Ludmila Ivanovna. Liezl was the only student in the program in 2016 and traveled from California to Russia twice that year to purse training at the Vaganova Ballet Academy.

The Teacher Re-Training program at the Vaganova Ballet Academy is highly selective—the class is limited to a maximum of five students and the lessons are taught entirely in Russian. Liezl had the approval of the instructors but, at the time, she didn’t know the language. So, Liezl began studying Russian so she could learn from the masters at the Vaganova Ballet Academy and pursue her dream of owning and teaching at her own ballet studio.

Liezl has traveled to Russia 11 times since her first trip there in 2010. She has completed the Junior (1, 2, 3) and Middle level (4 and 5) method courses at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg in June 2019, studying under the Head of Education Pedagogue Gribanova, Maria Alexandrovna. She was certified in June 2019.