Saratoga Springs Youth Ballet
Saratoga Springs Youth Ballet, 418 Geyser Rd, Suite 5, Ballston Spa, NY 12020
About
Saratoga Springs Youth Ballet offers pre-professional dance training with a focus on ballet training and performance. Students take part in community performances as part of the program’s emphasis on performance and positive reinforcement. The program highlights proper ballet training and technique in a collaborative learning environment.
• Schedule: Holiday Recess from Dec 22, 2025 – Jan 4, 2026; Quarter 2 from Nov 16, 2025 – Jan 24, 2026; Martin Luther King Jr. Day – OPEN on Jan 19, 2026
Saratoga Springs Youth Ballet is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 2020. The organization states that it is committed to providing quality pre-professional and professional dance training to students throughout the Greater Saratoga region. Its mission includes helping students achieve their potential as dancers and artists in a collaborative environment, with a focus on building self-confidence and maturity in a nurturing atmosphere and an emphasis on performance and positive reinforcement. The program states that dancers learn the value of hard work and gain an appreciation and love for the arts, and that by sharing their talents in community performances, students grow as individuals and inspire those around them.
The leadership team includes Founders and Co-Artistic Directors Joan Kilgore Anderson and Cristiane Santos, Administrative Assistant Colleen Viera, faculty members Leanne Sweet, Katie Dunkle, and André Malo-Robles, and a board that includes Joan K Anderson, Jessica Batten, Jason Bedell, Anthony Bonacio, Katherine Breitenbach, Cristiane Santos, and Erika Sellar Ryan. Faculty members are described as experienced educators, professional dancers, and dedicated mentors. Joan Kilgore Anderson has danced professionally with Cedar Lake II and Philadanco, trained at Pennsylvania Regional Ballet, earned a BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase with the President’s Award for academic and artistic excellence, performed with American Ballet Theatre’s second company and Ballet Contemporaneos de Burgos, taught at Skidmore and Union Colleges, and served as Co-Director of the National Museum of Dance’s School of the Arts. Cristiane Santos danced and taught ballet and tap for seven years at Ballet Vera Bublitz in Brazil, trained at Dance Theatre of Harlem school on full scholarship and joined its Dancing Through Barriers Ensemble, graduated summa cum laude from SUNY Albany with a BS in Human Biology, has been certified in Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis methodologies since 2002, has taught these methods locally and in New York City at Studio Riverside, Steps on Broadway, and Ballet Arts at City Center, has been a guest teacher for Ballet Hispánico School of Dance Summer Program, Hartwick College Dance Team, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, served as Co-Director of the National Museum of Dance’s School of the Arts, and is a Dance Lecturer at Skidmore College.
Faculty member Leanne Sweet studied ballet under Phyllis Marmein at the New School of Ballet and Lillian Sealey at The Sealey Dance Studio, danced as a teenager with the Tri City Ballet Guild and the Schenectady Civic Ballet, attended Adelphi College as a dance major, was accepted at both The School of American Ballet and Juilliard, studied with Felia Dubrovska of The School of American Ballet and at The Joffrey School, taught ballet at the New School of Ballet in Schenectady for 10 years, taught for 15 years in Saratoga at Ballet Regent, was an instructor at Saratoga City Ballet for 4 years, and taught for 12 years for The School of the Arts at the National Dance Museum in Saratoga. Faculty member Katie Dunkel moved to Saratoga Springs in 2020 after teaching and dancing professionally in Boston since 2007, danced as a company member with EgoArt, Inc./Nicole Pierce for 10 years and Lorraine Chapman The Company for 8 years, has performed work by multiple named choreographers and companies, taught from 2014–2020 at Arlington Dance Place, Community Dance Academy at Walnut School for the Arts, and Walnut Hill Summer Youth Dance, has taught at multiple schools and studios in Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont since 2004, received early training through The Royal Academy of Dance under Mary Tolland and Walnut Hill Community Dance Academy, earned a BA in Dance from Hamilton College, graduated from the Trinity/La MaMa Performance Art Program in New York City, and holds a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification through YogaWorks in Boston. Faculty member André Malo-Robles is a graduate of the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, studied at the Ailey School and at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has presented his own choreography at The Arts Center of the Capital Region as part of Troy Night Out, has been a member of the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company since 2009, and is a lecturer in the Skidmore College Dance Department.
Last updated January 4, 2026.
• Schedule: Holiday Recess from Dec 22, 2025 – Jan 4, 2026; Quarter 2 from Nov 16, 2025 – Jan 24, 2026; Martin Luther King Jr. Day – OPEN on Jan 19, 2026
Saratoga Springs Youth Ballet is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 2020. The organization states that it is committed to providing quality pre-professional and professional dance training to students throughout the Greater Saratoga region. Its mission includes helping students achieve their potential as dancers and artists in a collaborative environment, with a focus on building self-confidence and maturity in a nurturing atmosphere and an emphasis on performance and positive reinforcement. The program states that dancers learn the value of hard work and gain an appreciation and love for the arts, and that by sharing their talents in community performances, students grow as individuals and inspire those around them.
The leadership team includes Founders and Co-Artistic Directors Joan Kilgore Anderson and Cristiane Santos, Administrative Assistant Colleen Viera, faculty members Leanne Sweet, Katie Dunkle, and André Malo-Robles, and a board that includes Joan K Anderson, Jessica Batten, Jason Bedell, Anthony Bonacio, Katherine Breitenbach, Cristiane Santos, and Erika Sellar Ryan. Faculty members are described as experienced educators, professional dancers, and dedicated mentors. Joan Kilgore Anderson has danced professionally with Cedar Lake II and Philadanco, trained at Pennsylvania Regional Ballet, earned a BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase with the President’s Award for academic and artistic excellence, performed with American Ballet Theatre’s second company and Ballet Contemporaneos de Burgos, taught at Skidmore and Union Colleges, and served as Co-Director of the National Museum of Dance’s School of the Arts. Cristiane Santos danced and taught ballet and tap for seven years at Ballet Vera Bublitz in Brazil, trained at Dance Theatre of Harlem school on full scholarship and joined its Dancing Through Barriers Ensemble, graduated summa cum laude from SUNY Albany with a BS in Human Biology, has been certified in Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis methodologies since 2002, has taught these methods locally and in New York City at Studio Riverside, Steps on Broadway, and Ballet Arts at City Center, has been a guest teacher for Ballet Hispánico School of Dance Summer Program, Hartwick College Dance Team, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, served as Co-Director of the National Museum of Dance’s School of the Arts, and is a Dance Lecturer at Skidmore College.
Faculty member Leanne Sweet studied ballet under Phyllis Marmein at the New School of Ballet and Lillian Sealey at The Sealey Dance Studio, danced as a teenager with the Tri City Ballet Guild and the Schenectady Civic Ballet, attended Adelphi College as a dance major, was accepted at both The School of American Ballet and Juilliard, studied with Felia Dubrovska of The School of American Ballet and at The Joffrey School, taught ballet at the New School of Ballet in Schenectady for 10 years, taught for 15 years in Saratoga at Ballet Regent, was an instructor at Saratoga City Ballet for 4 years, and taught for 12 years for The School of the Arts at the National Dance Museum in Saratoga. Faculty member Katie Dunkel moved to Saratoga Springs in 2020 after teaching and dancing professionally in Boston since 2007, danced as a company member with EgoArt, Inc./Nicole Pierce for 10 years and Lorraine Chapman The Company for 8 years, has performed work by multiple named choreographers and companies, taught from 2014–2020 at Arlington Dance Place, Community Dance Academy at Walnut School for the Arts, and Walnut Hill Summer Youth Dance, has taught at multiple schools and studios in Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont since 2004, received early training through The Royal Academy of Dance under Mary Tolland and Walnut Hill Community Dance Academy, earned a BA in Dance from Hamilton College, graduated from the Trinity/La MaMa Performance Art Program in New York City, and holds a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification through YogaWorks in Boston. Faculty member André Malo-Robles is a graduate of the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, studied at the Ailey School and at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has presented his own choreography at The Arts Center of the Capital Region as part of Troy Night Out, has been a member of the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company since 2009, and is a lecturer in the Skidmore College Dance Department.
Last updated January 4, 2026.
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