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Dancing to success: alumna’s ballet academy flourishes

Oklahoma Christian University alumna Lisa Webb believes in the power of dance and the value it can hold for children and young adults. She used her dance training to open Academy of Ballet and Theatre Arts in Edmond, OK, where she mentors young dancers from the age of four.

Unlike other ballet schools, Webb does not hold auditions to gain admittance to her school. She said she strongly believes classical ballet is good for everyone, not only for health but also to create a supportive community and long-lasting relationships between her students.

“It is my intense desire to guide each student through their training and to instill in them the beauty, joy, confidence, discipline and character that comes only through the study of classical ballet,” Webb said on the academy’s website.

Webb received a bachelor’s in mass communication with an emphasis in radio and television when she graduated in 1982 from Oklahoma Christian. She worked for KOKH in Oklahoma City after college for two years, before teaching dance part time for 20 years.

Trained in ballet from the age of eight, Webb said she always planned to dance professionally. Devastating knee injuries, however, cut her performance career short. She turned to teaching instead.

“I really feel like John 15 was speaking to me at that time,” Webb said. “Sometimes God prunes us so we can further grow for Him. I stepped away from ballet for about a year, but still did musicals, operas and choreographed Spring Sing shows. I was still using dance, but I thought I needed to step away because it had always been my goal to dance professionally. When I started teaching, I felt like God helped me find a new place in my life for ballet.”

Webb opened her school in 2002 and said she loves the process of teaching. She teaches all the ballet classes at the academy, with students from ages four through 18. According to Webb, she instructs them on more than just dance.

“Ballet is whole person training,” Webb said. “It makes really strong people if you let it. The discipline you have to have and the dedication and the focus—you’re integrating so many of your senses at the same time when you’re dancing. I’ve devoted myself to studying great teachers, trying to improve all the time and expand my knowledge base.”

While she was a student at Oklahoma Christian, Webb found ways to incorporate her dance experience into her involvement on campus. As a member of Theta Theta Theta, Webb choreographed their Spring Sing shows, as well as one for Delta Sigma Tau. She also helped choreograph the Spring Sing ensemble performances and participated in various homecoming musicals.

“I would not trade one day I was at Oklahoma Christian,” Webb said. “It helped deepen my faith and further encouraged a love of learning in me. It changed me in every way. It was smaller, so the individual attention the professors gave to me and my peers gave me a solid foundation to help guide me.”

Because she trained in dance for so long, Webb said she understands the difficulties her students face, and she is thankful the profession she chose allows her to be with young people of all ages and help them push themselves in every possible way.

“I feel like being a ballet teacher gives me a voice with these young people,” Webb said. “I have opportunities to speak truth to them—real truth, not my truth or somebody else’s, but the Word of God—to help build their character and self-esteem. I often quote Scripture in class because I feel like their minds are open, when you’re exerting yourself and trying to do something that’s really hard. Many of the parents tell me I teach much more than classical ballet. My teacher was one of the most important mentors in my life, and I hope to be that.”

Academy of Ballet and Theatre Arts has three graduates who are working professionals right now with Virginia, Alabama and Oklahoma ballet companies. Additionally, many of Webb’s students receive university scholarships to train in ballet.

Webb said she looks forward to traveling this summer to St. Petersburg, Russia, with five of her students, who have been accepted to train at an academy there.

Submitted photo. Webb with student Adelya Gosmanova
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