Our Story So Far

Owner, artistic director, and instructor

 

Emily Finer became passionate about dance at the age of seven, attending a small dance studio in Brooklyn, New York. At age ten, she began serious ballet training in Russian Vaganova technique with Carol Purcell and later on became a student of Vera Nemchinova. She attended American Ballet Theater school from 1974 – 1980, studying at first in the children's division with Nanci Clements and continuing into advanced classes with Valentina Pereyaslavec, Michael Maule, Patricia Wilde, and Jurgen Schneider. Classes included daily technique, pointe, partnering, variations, and character dance. She graduated in 1980 as a dance major from the New York City High School for Performing Arts which is the school the movie Fame was based on.

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As a native of New York City, she was afforded the opportunity to study at many private studios with world famous teachers, such as Finis Jhung, David Howard, and Melissa Hayden. Her most inspiring teacher was Wilhelm Burmann, whose analytical and detailed way of teaching influenced her desire to teach.

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Studying Labanotation (a system for recording and analyzing human movement) at the Dance Notation Bureau as well as Anatomy and Physiology allows her to have a great understanding of how the body moves. Proper alignment is a priority in her teaching both to prevent injuries and to develop good technique.

 

Musicality and the artistry of ballet are important qualities emphasized in all her classes to help each individual student develop their own special way of expressing themselves through dance.

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An interest in biology led her to obtain a BS in Medical Laboratory Science obtained from Hunter College in 1992. She specialized in Microbiology and worked as a hospital laboratory microbiologist New York before moving to Hazleton in 2001.

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She has been teaching Vaganova-based classical ballet technique in the Greater Hazleton Area utilizing a well-developed syllabus which was inspired by a 2015 summer teacher training session she attended at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet school in Carlisle, PA.

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Proud to bring an authentic ballet training experience to the Greater Hazleton Area, she strives to inspire a lifelong love and appreciation for the art of ballet to her students.

Instructor

 

Brittany Lopo is a native of Hazleton. She holds a BA in Psychology and works as a sales support coordinator. Her love of dance started at age 5 at Joan Sacco Dance Studio studying all forms of dance with Richard Todd and Debbie Calucci. She currently continues dance classes in tap at Diversity Dance and in ballet at Keystone Ballet Academy.

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Following the established syllabus in ballet under Emily Finer she specializes in teaching and reinforcing the foundations and basics of ballet to children ages 3 - 8 preparing them for beginning Level A1 ballet.

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Young students are taught to follow directions, focus, and develop a love for dance with their kind and nurturing character. She creates an atmosphere that is fun but has expectations.

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With her great love and passion for tap dancing and jazz, we offer students other dance genres along with their ballet classes.

 

In 2021 she became certified to teach Progressing Ballet Technique, a body conditioning class designed for dancers to strengthen and prevent injuries.

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Teaching has made her happy to share her lifelong love of dance.

Instructor

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Justina Lawrence grew up in Nuremberg, P.A. Her journey in dance began at age 3 with the Performing Arts Center (in Conyngham, PA). At the same time, taking ballet class under Jeanie Burger for 12 years, she also enjoyed jazz and tap classes.

In 2022, Justina signed up for adult ballet classes at Keystone Ballet Academy because she missed dancing intensely. She regained her technique quickly by attending weekly ballet, progressing ballet technique (PBT), jazz, and tap classes, so much so that she showed interest in teaching.

Since then, Justina completed her (Kinder-Barre and Pre-Ballet) teacher training in Keystone Ballet Academy's syllabi of early ballet education for ages 4 to 8, around spring 2024. Now, she's advancing to ballet education (Level A-1) for ages 8 to 12 in the fall of 2024.

Miss Justina enjoys sharing her passion for dance. She encourages her students, shows them how wonderful ballet is, and helps each student grow as a dancer and a person. Her goal is to nurture and inspire hearts to love dancing!

 

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Teacher's Assistant

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Bellena Hetkowski has been studying ballet since 2018 when she was given ballet lessons as a birthday present from her grandmother. She has worked up to an Intermediate level in ballet (B-2) and studies pointe. She has an unwavering love for classical ballet and enjoys building a relationship with the younger students she helps to teach.  She brings fun in the dance class while encouraging students to improve their technique. This year she is assisting with the 2nd year beginner ballet students (A-2). Currently she is a student in 9th grade at the Immanual Christian School in Hazleton and plans a career in cosmetology and teaching ballet.  She looks forward to training as a Junior Teacher for the Pre-Ballet classes next season.

 

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Teacher's Assistant

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Jasmine White started ballet with us in the summer of 2022 at the age of 14 and quickly accelerated in her technical abilities. Ballet was always something she wanted to pursue. She is a first-year Intermediate level ballet student (B-1) and studies Jazz dance as well. She currently assists in the Kinder-Barre, Pre-Ballet and Teen/Adult beginner classes. Her young students find her very helpful and enjoy telling her amusing little stories about themselves. She is an 11th grade student at the Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences. When she graduates, she would like to attend a college with a dance program and possibly pursue a career in dermatology.

 

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