ABOUT US
The Academy of the Dance is one of the oldest surviving ballet schools in the
tri-state area and comes from a long line of classical ballet tradition.
Students from the Academy have gone on to join American Ballet Theatre, New York
City Ballet, Martha Graham Company, Stuttgart Ballet, Boston Ballet, Dance
Theatre of Harlem, and City Ballet of Los Angeles. It was co-founded in 1956
by Helene Antonova, a dancer with the Diaghilev Ballet and Ballet Russe, and the
acclaimed American dancer, teacher, and choreographer James Jamieson. The first
studio was located at 906 West Street in Wilmington, Delaware and in October of
1958, the ballet studio was moved to 209-211 West 14th Street.
Madame Antonova
studied privately with Lydia Nelidova, a graduate of the Bolshoi Ballet School
and Company, prior to her recruitment by the famous director-choreographer
Sergei Diaghilev. She can trace her training back to Jean Noverre through Carlo
Blasis, Jean Dauberval, Giovanni Lepri, and Enrico Cecchetti. Mr. Jamieson was
an internationally recognized Scottish dance champion when Agnes de Mille hired
him to assist in the choreography and coach the cast of Brigadoon, which he
later restaged in numerous venues around the US. He had earlier worked with Ms.
De Mille in the first national tour of Oklahoma. Mr. Jamieson choreographed and
performed for a number of regional and stock theatres around the country.
In 1967, they
began production of the “Nutcracker Ballet” which still is a Wilmington holiday
tradition today. Mr. Jamieson remained as Artistic Director after the passing of
Madame Antonova in 1974. Mr. Victor Wesley, who trained at the Academy and had
a career with Scottish Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Boston Ballet,
returned to assist Mr. Jamieson, and formed the Wilmington Ballet.
Mr. Jamieson
passed away on Christmas Day in 1993, nine days after he appeared as the
grandmother in the opening night of the Academy’s 27th production of the
Nutcracker. In 1995, Mr. Wesley asked Arthur Hutchinson, also a former student
of the Academy, who had an international career, to return to the Academy as an
artistic advisor and teacher, to assist in presenting the Nutcracker.
In January 2008,
due to poor health, Mr. Wesley returned to his native Scotland. The school then
was incorporated as a non-profit organization under the direction of Amanda
Hughey, a former student and teacher at the school. After guiding the school
through its first year of transition, Ms. Hughey decided to pursue another
calling.
The Board of Directors
appointed Jorge Laico as Artistic Director in June 2009. Mr. Laico has danced
professionally with several ballet companies such as Philippine Ballet Theatre,
Atlanta Ballet, Eugene Ballet, Manila Metropolis Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, and
Kansas City Ballet. To unify school identity, locality recognition, and preserve
both previous names, he re-launched the school as Wilmington Ballet Academy of
the Dance.
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