Academy Performing Ensemble
Founded in 1997 by Cathleen Cronin Dunlap, the Academy Performing Ensemble is a 501-c3 non-profit organization committed to furthering dance education through providing performance and training opportunities to our community. Members of the Academy Performing Ensemble are offered master classes, professional choreographers, showcases, competitions, conventions, intensives, travel and the ability to perform lead roles in our two annual productions.
Ballet Ensemble
Ages 8+
Audition Required
Junior I Apprentice Ensemble
Tuesdays 4:45-6:15pm
Thursdays 5:45-7:15pm
+Minimum 1 Non-Ballet Class
Junior I Ballet Ensemble
Tuesdays 5:00-7:00pm
Thursdays 5:45-7:15pm
+ Minimum 1 Non-Ballet Class
Junior II Apprentice Ensemble
Tuesdays 5:00-7:00pm
Thursdays 6:15-7:15pm
+ Minimum 1 Non-Ballet Class
Junior II Ballet Ensemble
Tuesdays 5:00-7:00pm
Wednesdays 6:45-7:45pm
Thursdays 6:15-7:15pm
+Minimum 1 Non-Ballet Class
Senior Apprentice Ballet Ensemble
Mondays 7:15-8:15pm
Tuesdays 5:00-7:00pm
Thursdays 6:15-7:15pm
+Minimum 2 Non-Ballet Classes
Senior Principal Ballet Ensemble
Mondays 5:45-8:15pm
Tuesdays 6:30-8:30pm
Thursdays 7:15-8:45pm
+Minimum 2 Non-Ballet Classes
The Academy Ballet Ensemble is a by audition, ballet focused track for dedicated dancers. Members of the Ensemble train in ballet 2-3 days a week, starting at 3 hours for Junior Apprentice through 5.5 hours for Senior Principals. All members of the Ballet Ensemble are required to cross train in other styles to ensure a well rounded dance experience, with little to no weekend commitment (outside of Nutcracker season).
The Ballet Ensemble is offered a greater opportunity to dance roles normally held by professionals. We have danced to sold out crowds who have continued to support us for many years. The Ensemble presents two full ballet productions annually. The Children's Nutcracker delights families and young audiences each December. In the spring, we have performed different ballets including Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, Alice In Wonderland and many more.
The Ballet Ensemble also provides outside performance and training opportunities exclusively for our company. Through our partnership with Dance Canvas, our Ballet Ensemble members work closely with artist in residence Angela Harris along with other Dance Canvas choreographers. All of our Ballet Ensemble faculty are current or former dancers with major ballet companies, and we frequently bring in outside professionals for master classes, partnering and in house adjudication experience. Academy of Ballet is also a founding studio of Balletfest, now DanceFest Productions.
The Ballet Ensemble has competed in the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix in 2014, 2015 and 2022. Members of the Ballet Ensemble have been accepted into national summer training programs including the Joffrey Ballet, Nashville Ballet, American Academy of Ballet and Dance Canvas: DC Next.
The Ballet Ensemble gives the dancers more performance opportunities, discipline, and confidence. The Ensemble dancers learn to give back to their community. They feel proud to be apart of this elite group of dancers, they make life long friends, and they learn valuable life lessons working together.
Elite Collective
Ages 4+
Audition Required
Production & Specialties
Select Weekends
+ 4 Hours Technique Minimum
Junior I Collective
Mondays 5:30-7:00pm
+4.5 Hours Technique Minimum
Junior II Collective
Wednesdays 5:45-7:15pm
+ 5 Hours Technique Minimum
Teen I Collective
Wednesdays 7:45-8:30pm
+ 5 Hours Technique Minimum
Teen II Collective
Wednesdays 7:00-9:00pm
+ 7 Hours Technique Minimum
PrePro Collective
Wednesdays 7:00-9:00pm
+ 8.75 Hours Technique Minimum
Elite Collective is Academy of Ballet's intensive company for dancers seeking to go "all in" on dance. Elite Collective is a training first, growth mindset oriented company intending to create well trained, well rounded artistic athletes that pursue excellence across all facets of their lives. We value competition as the vessel for personal growth, not a means to collect arbitrary trophies. We are building character through community, discipline, collaboration, creativity, accountability, tenacity and grit. The #1 predictor of success is the ability to lead oneself - it's no coincidence that many doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs & CEOs have competitive dance backgrounds.
The nationally ranked Elite Collective is comprised of dedicated dancers ages 5 and up. While many of our dancers participate in other extracurriculars, dance is top priority. In additional to regional and national top scores and titles, our dancers have been recognized for their Outstanding Choreography, Sportsmanship, Technical Excellence and Excellence in Entertainment. In 2019 our team was even featured on the NBC special Holidays with the Houghs!
On the convention circuit, our dancers have been recognized with scholarships from NYCDA, Hollywood Connection, Streetz, Titans of Dance, Wild, Platinum, Open Call, KAR, The World Dance Pageant, The World Dance Championships, Ovation, PowerPak, DancerPalooza and Radix - most notably Tyce Diorio's 2023 Choice Artist. We have/had dancers travel as assistants with Motiv8 Dance Convention and Open Call as their 2024-2025 Preteen Principal Lead Role.
We are proud to bring industry leaders in house to work with our dancers on a regular basis with regular master classes and our annual Ensemble Intensive. Our in house competition teachers/choreographers are all competition judges, convention teachers and working professional dancers. We strive for versatility, artistry and performance quality in addition to the strong technique developed in our ballet based program. Many of our alumni have continued on to collegiate dance teams, dance majors/minors and their own teaching careers.
As a full company, we attend one mandatory fall convention, two mandatory regional competitions and one mandatory regional convention/competition in the spring. Our team is offered several additional, optional performance and training opportunities including Nationals and Worlds. We have traveled to Myrtle Beach, Orlando, Orange Beach, Montgomery, Savannah, Texas and New Jersey.
We offer many tiers of commitment to provide as many opportunities as possible. Whether you want to dance 2 or 6 days a week, we have a team for you! Don't let our studio name fool you, we do it all at AOB. We compete in jazz, contemporary, lyrical, hip hop, tap and musical theatre. Dancers who are eager to perform and hungry to invest in their craft can email academy4ballet@gmail.com to learn more.
