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 Shuffling Students in
Buffalo
By
Nancy Wozny
How
two studios share dancers—and success
Buffalo
is a dance town. It boasts one of the most vibrant studio
cultures in western New York. It’s also filled with hardy
people who know how to drive in a blizzard and help each other
out, so it makes perfect sense that it’s home to a pair of
studio owners who work together to train students. Leonard
Castilone of David DeMarie Dance Studios and Maris Battaglia
of
American
Academy
of Ballet share a large group of advanced-level dancers.
“It all
started with a performance at Artpark,” says Battaglia. In
1979 she and Castilone organized a joint performance for their
studios that got the cooperative ball rolling. They have been
working with each other for so long that they have a seamless
rhythm and enjoy finishing each other’s sentences. Both agree
that an important aspect of their cooperative spirit is the
fact that they offer different programs. Battaglia runs a
ballet academy; Castilone a top jazz and tap competition
studio. “Our big deal is The Nutcracker,” says
Battaglia. “Lenny knows that during heavy rehearsal time some
kids might miss a few classes. But I try to keep conflicts to
a minimum.”
The
arrangement has some practical advantages. Because their
schools emphasize different dance genres, they need each other
to create technically well-rounded dancers. Sharing resources
makes it easier to stay focused on what they do best.
Although
Castilone offers ballet twice a week for his competition team,
he sends his top students to Battaglia for further training.
For her part, Battaglia knows that pure ballet is not for
everyone, so why should she offer jazz and tap classes when an
excellent studio is just down the street? The success of this
symbiotic relationship shows in the fact that Castilone and
Battaglia have been sharing students for 28 years of their
32-year friendship. Both believe in diverse training and want
their students to get the best possible dance education.
Theirs is an exclusive relationship, though; they do not refer
their students to other studios.
Castilone
has been a part of the DeMarie studio since its doors opened
in 1968. As a student there, he studied with the school’s
owner, Buffalo dance legend David DeMarie, and became a
locally well-known performer and teacher. When DeMarie died of
brain cancer in 1989, Castilone took over the school,
maintaining its name to honor his mentor. He says his
background in musical theater and training as a classical
pianist comes in handy for teaching dance, and he continues to
broaden his horizons by attending dance seminars every year.
Today the school’s two studios, in
Buffalo
and Clarence, share a total enrollment of 1,150 students.
Castilone is in the process of building a new facility to
replace the current Clarence studio.
Battaglia
received her early training at Ginger Burke School of Dance
and the Royal Academy of Ballet in
Buffalo.
At 16, much to the dismay of her overprotective father, she
headed off to the School of American Ballet in New York, where
she trained until she decided it was time to return to her
Buffalo roots. She started teaching a few children in her
aunt’s basement but quickly outgrew the space. She opened the
American Academy of Dance in 1965, now considered the premier
ballet academy in the Buffalo area, and has since expanded to
two locations with an average enrollment of 610 students. More
than 75 of her students have danced with companies in the
United States, Canada, and Europe. Battaglia received a 1997
Artists Excellence Award from the Chautauqua Institute, where
she has been on the summer dance program faculty (a position
she cherishes) since 1989. And in 1999 she was honored with a
Western New York Dance Teacher Hall of Fame Award.
Although
the two teachers’ studios are different, they share a similar
culture in terms of dress code, classroom behavior, and
expectations for their pre-professional students. “We both
have the same ideas on discipline,” says Castilone. That
consistency prevents students from having to change their
hair, outfits, or attitudes as they move between schools.
The big
events at Castilone’s school—the recital and regional
competitions —happen in the spring. He and his students travel
to nationals only every other year in order to keep expenses
manageable. Schedules do get a bit tricky when both schools do
their June concerts, but the scale is different. “We do a
small concert in June,” says Battaglia. “And we do a huge
show,” Castilone adds. Several students dance in both
productions, which makes for one hectic month. Though it works
out well most of the time, it’s a give-and-take situation.
Both teachers have to be willing to allow some of their key
students to miss rehearsals during crunch times; they know
that goes with the student-sharing territory.
So what’s
their secret? Communication is key. “We talk all the time,”
says Castilone. “We have to, so we can get our schedules
straight.” He makes it eas y for his students to study with Battaglia; his competition program for serious students meets
three days a week, which meshes perfectly with Battaglia’s
ballet classes on alternate days.
They also
share a particularly dedicated group of parents. Tuition at
two studios can add up, but both schools offer generous
scholarships to serious students. Generally, the parents are
pleased to be part of two studio communities. One
double-dipping studio mom reportedly remarked that the parents
all know each other and do their best to help each other out
during busy times.
“Each
respects the other,” says another parent, Janine Bookbinder,
“which makes it easy to have my daughter training at both
studios.” Several parents named carpooling as the key to
sanity in a six-day-a-week training schedule. It’s obvious
from the congeniality in the schools’ waiting rooms that this
group of dance parents enjoys hanging out together.
As for the
students, they seem to enjoy their double life. They
understand that versatility is important in today’s dance
world, and they feel that two studios can offer broader
training. “It’s fun to take class from different teachers,”
says Genna Frietas, 13, whose mother danced at David DeMarie
Studios as well. “I love the variety. It’s never boring!”
Taner
Vankuren, 16, says that the training he gets from Battaglia
gives him an extra edge when it comes to competitions.
Battaglia and Castilone’s shared students routinely win high
scores at the regional American Dance Awards competition, and
several of them have gone on to professional success. Neil
Haskell landed a role Twyla Tharp’s The Times They Are a-Changin’,
and at press time, was competing on TV’s So You Think
You Can Dance. And Tiger Martina choreographed Penn and
Teller’s
Sin City
Spectacular.
Some
students find that once they start serious ballet training,
that’s all they want to do, and vice versa for some of the
jazz and tap students. But Battaglia and Castilone have an
unspoken agreement not to mourn lost students. “When they
leave one of us, we wish them well,” says Castilone.
“Sometimes [my students] find they really just love ballet,
and that’s great.” Both know that losing a few students is a
risk they take in working together and feel their
collaborative effort is well worth the sacrifice.
Though this
cooperative venture may sound unique, Castilone and Battaglia
don’t think it is. They are full of examples of how Buffalo
people work together, whether it’s to shovel snow or put on a
show. It’s obvious that they love working together and
exchanging stories and news in their daily chats.
Sharing
students is a way to maintain their friendship. They can’t
imagine not getting along; if they stopped sharing students,
they say, they would need to find another way to keep
connected. With such a positive working relationship, they
keep their distance from negative studio relationships
elsewhere in the city. “Competition is good,” says Castilone.
“It keeps our standards high, but it’s much more fun to work
together.” Sharing students doesn’t work for everyone,
Castilone and Battaglia admit. “There’s a good way to do it,”
Castilone says. “And that’s what we figured out.” A friendship
forged through a mutual dedication to quality dance education
keeps this
Buffalo
duo going strong.
Photo
captions (from top to bottom):
Maris
Battaglia of American Academy of Ballet and Lenny Castilone of
David DeMarie Dance Studio (center), with students who study
at both teachers’ schools.
Castilone and Battaglia share a friendship along with some of
their students.
Photos
by Nancy Wozny
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