Ohman School of Ballet and NYDT Launch New Curriculum and Outreach

Ohman School of Ballet and New York Dance Theatre of Commack Launch New Curriculum and Community Outreach for Summer 2023

Cross-Training, Injury Prevention, Nutrition, and More Classes Offered in Addition to Traditional Technique

New Développé Initiative Partnership with Hope for Youth on Long Island Introduces the Arts to At-Risk Youth

New York Dance Theatre (NYDT) and the affiliated Ohman School of Ballet (OSB), Long Island arts institutions since 1979, announce an expansion of their long-standing reputation as keepers of New York City Ballet co-founder George Balanchine’s tradition of technique with an enhanced curriculum that is the first of its kind in the region and a new outreach partnership to begin in summer 2023.

Under new leadership since October 2022, with Executive Artistic Director (and OSB/NYDT alumna) Nicole Loizides Albruzzese, the school will launch an additional slate of classes in June including nutrition, resistance and strength training, self-massage, physical therapy, mindful movement, and more, joining the usual summer offerings of Zena Rommett Floor-Barre, Yoga, and Pilates. The enhanced curriculum is designed to help dancers realize their full performance potential and enjoy a long, healthy career. Albruzzese draws on her experience as not only a dancer, choreographer, director, and producer but a long-time scar tissue therapist, medical massage therapist, and injury prevention teacher whose client list has included New York City Ballet, ABT, Alvin Ailey, Lines, Complexions, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Pilobolus, Momix, Parsons Dance, and Cirque Du Soleil.

Executive Artistic Director Nicole Loizides Albruzzese noted, “The Ohman School of Ballet has become a one-stop shop for the full well-rounded dancer, merging the tools of dance, wellness, and injury prevention. In addition, we are proud to expand our reach outside our studios with a renewed community outreach commitment.”

In April, New York Dance Theatre launched its new community outreach initiative, Développé, in partnership with Hope for Youth on Long Island. Développé (French for “developed” or “unfolded,” and a core movement in classical ballet), will present workshops, performances, and merit-based scholarships to underprivileged and at-risk youth, including those in Long Island foster families, offering exposure to the arts and a unique opportunity for disciplined structure, while simultaneously diversifying the Long Island ballet community. The program is made possible through funding from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by The Huntington Arts Council, Inc.

OSB’s state of the art studios are located since 2019 within the Suffolk Y-JCC in Commack, with new flooring built to the specifications of ballet technique. OSB’s upcoming performance, “Spring Soirée” on Saturday, June 10 at the JCC’s “Stage 74,” will feature all levels of students from early childhood to pre-professional, NYDT company dancers, and guest artists, with a post-performance reception for all ticket holders.

For more information about the Ohman School of Ballet summer semester, tickets for upcoming performances, and auditions for the children’s cast of New York Dance Theatre’s annual production of “The Nutcracker,” visit www.ohmanballet.org or call 631.462.6266.

About the Ohman School of Ballet

The Frank Ohman School of Ballet was founded in 1979 by Frank Ohman (1939-2019), former soloist at New York City Ballet (NYCB). Located in Commack, the school serves as a training ground for promising young dancers and offers aspiring students the opportunity to learn classical ballet in the tradition of George Balanchine. The school is a non-competition, non-recital school, focusing on proper classical ballet technique. A division of the New York Dance Theatre, Inc., the Ohman School has become an integral part of the company and is one of the very few not-for-profit ballet schools in the region. It offers three studios with state-of-the art flooring to Balanchine specifications and a highly qualified teaching staff. Alumna Nicole Loizides Albruzzese returned in October 2022 to lead OSB and NYDT after a 25-year global career as a dancer, choreographer, teacher, and executive producer as Executive Artistic Director. World renowned choreographer David Fernandez is the newly appointed Associate Artistic Director. Artistic advisors for the school include New York City Ballet principal Daniel Ulbricht, former Dance Theatre of Harlem company artist Da’ Von Doane, and former New York City Ballet principal Ask la Cour, who served as Artistic Director of the school from 2019-2021 before his retirement. For more information, visit www.ohmanballet.org.