Today we’d like to introduce you to Laurel Allen.
Hi Laurel; thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to introduce yourself.
Laurel has devoted her life to ballet and the arts. From the eight-year-old little dreamer at Rochester School of Dance in Michigan to summer programs with The Royal Ballet in London, New York City Ballet, and Cleveland San Jose Ballet. She enrolled full-time at the School of American Ballet in New York at 16. By age 17, she was hired into the Cleveland San Jose Ballet and performed principal and soloist roles less than a year into her career. She began teaching when she was only 18 and hasn’t stopped since. She has taught at schools in Ohio, New York, Michigan, and Florida, all while starting her family and raising her five children. She first opened Perform Orlando LLC in 2018, then closed it in 2022. Now she is running Perform Orlando Arts Academy, aiming to bring ballet and the arts to everyone. The school’s mission is to provide opportunities to perform to people of every race, age, gender, identity, and social and economic background through learning the arts of dancing, acting, and singing. Just this year, she began her nonprofit to achieve this goal. She wants to provide inexpensive or free training to people who couldn’t get dance classes any other way.
You wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been smooth?
Being a professional dancer is a difficult path. It’s always a challenging road to achieve something big. At the beginning of her career, she auditioned and was rejected many times. As she opened her dance studio in 2018, she had high hopes to reach out to the community around her, but she didn’t initially think of running the school as a nonprofit. Then only a year and a half after opening, Covid hit and changed things for everyone. She held on to the school with the financial help of her husband, Brandon, and a handful of devoted students. Then as her 2021 – 2022 season ended, she began to rethink things. This was the start of what is now Perform Orlando Arts Academy. She reached out to friends, adult students, parents of students, and others to help get the ball rolling with a new nonprofit. She wanted to give more to the community around her. She has been inspired by her scholarship students, who have never had to pay tuition. She has seen what this has done for these kids and the changes in their lives and wanted to give so many more kids that chance. So, still without funding but seeking grants and scholarship donations, Perform Orlando Arts was formed over the summer of 2022 and is now working towards the goals that Laurel has set. It is still a struggle, but she knows it will be worth it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
Laurel is a classical ballet teacher. She is known for her skill in teaching ballet to all ages and levels. She loves to have unique and modern choreography and combine different dance styles in production. Body positivity and a non-discriminatory space are what she has at her studio. Her studio has diversity in race, gender, age, size, and everything else. She is proud of encouraging young dancers and choreographers to pursue their passion and loves collaborating with them. Her last production of Cinderella included 6 different choreographers, including herself, and over 5 different styles of dancing, plus acting and singing.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
When you reach out to peers and friends, you’ll be amazed at who has your back. Laurel has had the incredible privilege of working with several unique and talented teachers in the Orlando area. She has been a part of Orlando Ballet’s outreach program for the last year and was inspired by what they have done. Finding a mentor is finding someone you respect and can reach out to. Ask and ask and ask people you know and reach out to people you respect and you will find that mentor. Laurel found that in Charmaine Hunter, the enrichment director at Orlando Ballet. Charmaine works tirelessly to get young kids from all walks of live the opportunity to dance.
Pricing:
- $4,000 would provide a full scholarship for 1 kid for unlimited classes all year
- $75 for a month of classes 1/day per week
- $750 would provide a scholarship for a young child to have 1 class per week all year
Contact Info:
- Website: performorlando.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performorlando/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/performorlando
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmMtP5Niq-UPIcJwdGjTN_Q
Image Credits
KOS photography and Right Angle Photography
