Beverly F. Spell
Director
Annie W. Spell, Ph.D.
Child Psychology Consultant
Beverly F. Spell has taught ballet for over 30 years, and has been a
studio owner since 1998. As a dancer, she trained with many great
teachers, including Gwynne Ashton, and was a scholarship student at
the School of the American Ballet and Harkness Ballet. She is a graduate
of the National Academy of Arts in Champaign, Illinois. In 2003 Beverly
began sharing her knowledge and experience with other dance teachers through Leap ’N Learn™. In 2004 she co-authored and released, with
Annie Spell, Ph.D., Leap ’N Learn - A Comprehensive Early Childhood
Dance Syllabus. In addition to creating a program taught by teachers
worldwide, Beverly has written several DANCEcamps for studios to use
during the summer season, designed dance coloring books, collaborated
with composer Scott Killian and producer Finis Jhung on two children’s dance class CDs based on the Leap ’N Learn™ Syllabus, developed many
dance classroom teaching props, created two arts-in-education syllabi
that have been implemented in public schools locally and nationally,
and with her husband, Carrol, designed The Ultimate Barre,, a portable
ballet barre used by studios worldwide. In July, 2010, Beverly and child
psychologist, Dr. Annie Spell released a series of five teacher training
DVDs so that teachers would have the opportunity of learning how to
teach dance in an education based format with an emphasis on a child’s
cognitive, emotional and physical development.
Beverly has also written and produced several original children’s ballets
for the students of The Ballet Studio, including Abigail’s Dream, Anne in
Rhymeland, Deep Inside the Forest, Hope’s Journey and The Princess and
the Pirates. In 2005, she worked with composer, Scott Killian of New
York City to write the original musical score for the production of the
ballet, Hope’s Journey.
Along with running her own successful studio and Leap ’N Learn™,
Beverly serves as a guest teacher for student master classes and ballet
workshops throughout the United States. Beverly has also presented
her teaching methods at The Dance Teacher Summit, Rhee Gold’s
Dance Life Conference, Finis Jhung’s Teacher Training Seminars, The
Ailey Extension Teacher Workshop, Oklahoma City University, Dance
Teacher Web Expo and various Dance Master Chapter Workshops, and
at numerous other dance organizations and private studios throughout
the United States. In May of 2007, Dance Magazine and Dance Teacher
Magazine featured Beverly in their teacher training issue, which
highlighted her Leap ’N Learn™, program and her teaching methods at
The Ballet Studio. In 2010 and 2011, Beverly and Dr. Annie Spell co-
authored a series of articles for Dance Studio Life Magazine. Beverly
has also served as an early childhood dance authority and has been
interviewed for an article to appear in an upcoming issue of Dance
Teacher Magazine. Beverly is recognized in the dance world as a leading
authority on children's dance education. Teachers worldwide are
using The Ballet Studio as a model for their dance programs. Through
Leap ’N Learn™, Beverly’s goal is to continue to share her experience by
providing resources and teacher training for dance teachers so that they
may easily provide safe, effective, and enjoyable dance training for their
students.