Ballet Day 2024

Dance Expressions’ 5th annual Ballet Day took place on Sunday, January 21st, to honor the late Miss Maria Vitery. Miss Maria was a beloved figure in our DE community, acting as a teacher, mentor, and dancer until she passed in January 2019 from TTP, a rare blood disorder. She inspired many, not only as an artist and educator but also as a scientist and a scholar at Johns Hopkins, where she earned her Ph.D.

Every January, we host Ballet Day in her honor, offering students a day filled with learning, fun, and passion for dance. This year, workshops were held by the incredibly talented Ms. Jen Bailey, Ms. Blair D’Amico, and surprise guest Ms. Abby Farina. Our younger students joined Ms. Jen, where they first explored ballet's grace and poise and then experienced a modern class's dynamic flow. Our older students found groundedness and freedom with Ms. Abby in modern and exercised their creative minds by working through improvisation prompts. Ms. Blair challenged dancers to leap, turn, and perform in ballet technique and variations. All of the dancers present worked hard and tried new and sometimes difficult things. They did so with eager spirits, which created a supportive environment rife with new dance discoveries.

At the end of Ballet Day, we award The Maria Vitery Scholarship to dancers who embody Miss Maria’s legacy of kindness, hard work, and a love for ballet. These students are nominated by the faculty at DE, who pay close attention to students’ development not only as dancers but also as people. This year, The Maria Vitery Scholarship was awarded to two exemplary students: Aaris Roberts and Nailah Abukar. This honor helps to fund their dance education by covering the payment of CCA East Coast Committee’s Spring Cecchetti Ballet Conference held at the University of Maryland.

Miss Maria’s steadfast and generous character remains a model for our faculty and dancers alike as we hold on to her memory with each passing year. We are happy to have such a special day to honor her. Thank you to all of the dancers and educators who joined us this year!

Dance ExpressionsFebruary 5, 2024