About South Jersey Ballet School

The Facility

The South Jersey Ballet School studios are state-of-the-art performance facilities. The large studios are equipped with the highest quality ballet floors and can accommodate multiple classes. The flooring technology is designed specially to enhance technique and prevent injury. The waiting rooms and dressing rooms are clean, spacious, and parent-friendly.

Performance Opportunities

South Jersey Ballet School students have a range of performing opportunities open to them. South Jersey Ballet School produces two full-length ballets a year, including the Nutcracker in December and a full-length spring performance.

South Jersey Ballet School students take part in student open house performances, as well as lecture demonstrations in the community. Naturally, all students perform in the South Jersey Ballet School recital, where students demonstrate what they learned during the year. The ample performing opportunities allow the students to gain exciting performance experience and prepare them for a future as a professional dancer.

South Jersey Ballet Theatre Faculty

 Andrea Duffin Conway, Director

Director Andrea Duffin Conway began her training at the age of eight with Madeline Cantrella Culpo in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and started her performing career with the Berkshire Ballet, dancing leading roles in such ballets as Cinderella, La Fille Mal Gardée, and The Nutcracker. She went on to become an apprentice with the Boston Ballet Company and performed with the Pennsylvania Ballet while on scholarship at the school. Andrea joined the Washington Ballet Company and toured exclusively throughout South America and Asia.

In 1984, she was a guest artist at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Massachusetts. She has been a member of the teaching staff at the Ballet School of Pennsylvania for several years, and has served as a dance instructor at Swarthmore College and Bryn Mawr College.

Erin Royston

Erin Royston, a Ballet Performance major at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, graduated in May 2006 with highest honors. For her achievements during college, Erin received the prestigious Aleksej Judenic Ballet Prize. At UARts, Erin studied ballet under the direction of Eva Szabo, Andrew Pap, Scott Jovovich, Carole Sklaroff, and Anastasia Babayeva.

Prior to college, Erin was a member of The Hanover Children's Ballet Theatre and Co., located in Hanover, PA. With that company, she performed as an Ambassador of Dance throughout The People's Republic of China. Erin recently spent the summer studying at the Joffrey Ballet School in NYC. Erin also is the Ballet Mistress for South Jersey Ballet Theatre.

Christine Cox

Christine Cox began her dance training with the Pennsylvania Ballet School. She continued her dance training at the Philadelphia High School for the Performing Arts, spending summer sessions at the Joffrey and San Francisco Ballet Schools. In 1993 Christine joined the Pennsylvania Ballet where she premiered works by many gifted choreographers.

In 2004 Christine co-founded Ballet X with her long-time collaborator Matthew Neenan. She currently choreographs and teaches at the University of the Arts and surrounding studios in the area.

Jennifer Mooney

Jennifer first started dancing at the age of three. Her first few years of dance training were spent concentrating seriously on her ballet technique. She studied mostly under the instruction of Michele DiCola-Sasse, Shaun Doyle, and Viktor Yeliohin. She continued her study of dance at Goucher College in Baltimore, MD for one year before transferring to The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. During her college experience, Jennifer grew much more diverse as a dancer, studying all dance forms and concentrating seriously on modern dance. At The University of the Arts, she had the opportunity to perform at the Merriam Theater and at the Drake Theater, where she also showcased her own choreography.

She has worked with choreographers Silvanna Cardell, Matthew Neenan, Andrew Pap, and Brian Sanders, and also had the privilege of performing "Steps in the Street" (1936) Excerpts from Chronicle, which was restaged for the university by Joyce Herring of the Martha Graham Company. Jennifer recently graduated from UArts in May 2006 with her BFA in Dance Education, with a concentration in modern dance. She is now performing with Enso Ensemble, a modern dance company in New Jersey, and for Kinetic Outlaws, a newly developed modern company in Philadelphia. Jennifer has also discovered her love of teaching dance to others. She recently attended the Dance Master of America Teacher's Training School and is excited to be a new teacher at South Jersey Ballet School.

Eva Szabo

Eva Szabo was educated at the Hungarian National Ballet Institute in Budapest Hungary. Eva danced and toured with the Gyori Ballet, a company which she co-founded in Hungary. She received an international teaching certificate from the Hungarian National Ballet Institute. Eva is currently on the faculty of the Rock School for Dance Education and the University of the Arts.

Dede Barfield

Dede Barfield began her dance training in Fort Worth, Texas. At 14, she studied at the School of American Ballet during the summer and at age 16 moved to New York to study at the School exclusively. Dede Barfield joined the Pennsylvania Ballet in 1984, and was promoted to soloist in 1987 and to Principal in 1990.  After an illustrious career, Dede retired in 2004, and has taught ballet classes at schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Texas. Dede is not currently on staff at Jeanne Ruddy Dance in Philadelphia and Bryn Mawr College.

Valerie Amiss

Valerie Amiss is recently retired Soloist of the Pennsylvania Ballet.  Valerie brings with her the love of dance and the experience of performing.  Students in the summer session were enriched by her teaching and she will enhance our faculty.

photos by Essence Photography