About the Academy | Why AOCB? | About the Director
About the Academy of Classical Ballet-CALIFORNIA
Students from the Academy have gone on to dance with many prestigious dance companies, universities, institutions, and even hit TV shows.
But don't take our word for it, hear it right from the mouths of the people we've trained and colleagues who know our work ethic first hand.
We focus intently on teaching students the proper ballet technique that is hard to get from other dance schools, as many attempt to function as an "all-in-one" dance factory - offering a broad curriculum, but often leaving students without a solid dance foundation in any one form of dance. The Academy Of Classical Ballet-CALIFORNIA'S main goal is to offer high-level classical ballet training in a truly rewarding, disciplined, but incredibly fun atmosphere that will give all of our students a great foundation for all forms of dance.
If you would like to know more, please contact the Academy for more info. We would love to hear from you.
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Why the Academy of Classical Ballet-CALIFORNIA?
We offer an incredibly diverse range of ballet courses for
aspiring dancers of all ages, genres, backgrounds and experience levels. Our passion and enthusiam for all forms of dance shines through in our training.
Our ballet training adheres strictly to classical ballet technique & we encourage safe training so that students are ensured a long dancing career and healthy body for a long time to come.
Students have the opportunity to get training from instructors that have professional-level ballet expertise in the industry and possess a proven track record of success with their students.
The Academy is one of the few that offers a highly-specialized, disciplined environment, but still maintains a fun and exciting atmosphere that will leave students feeling accomplished, happy, and eager to come back.
Student's are offered an incentive program for referring students to the Academy - this can help make your hard earned dollar more effective, especially in today's economic climate.
The Academy intentionally keeps class sizes smaller than in most schools. This ensures intimate classes so that everyone gets plenty of one-on-one attention. This is definitely something hard to find, as many schools often have class sizes of over 30 students.
About the Director - Crystal Petzel
Any dance academy is only as good as it's Director and Crystal Petzel's long stance and involvement in the world of classical ballet is unparalleled. Crystal's reputation is where the schools' doctrine, work ethic and proven track record comes from. Her contributions to the ballet industry span thoughout the United States and her method is highly-regarded as an intensive, results-generating model that is often duplicated by regional dance academies.
Crystal's reputation as a dedicated and nurturing teacher has followed her throughout her 20 year career and she has been instrumental in developing professional dancers, as an impressive number of her students have received scholarships and gone on to train and dance with many prestigious dance schools, companies, and universities including: American Ballet Theatre, The School of American Ballet, Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet, Joffery Ballet, The Julliard School, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theater, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Purchase College, and Boston Conservatory. Ms. Petzel is also proud of her work with figure skaters, synchronized swimmers, ballroom dancers, helping coach them to win National titles and competitions, as well as with her work with dancer Katee Shean, one of the top female finalists on the 2008 season of the Fox television show “So You Think You Can Dance”. She has also played a key role in bringing dancers to the finals of the Youth American Grand Prix in New York City, competing amongst the best of international students.
Crystal's solid expertise and involvement with classical ballet - and dance in general, stems from an acclaimed background of varied teaching methods including Vaganova and The Royal Academy of Dancing. Throughout her teaching career, she has worked with several dance companies and schools in many varied roles including that of a choreographer, artistic director, principal teacher, ballet mistress, and outreach coordinator. Her reputation of being a fair, disciplined, and caring instructor has followed her throughout her career. Crystal is known for taking the time to treat each student individually, getting the best out of each of every one of them, while offering valuable life lessons - regardless of their intent of becoming a professional dancer.
She also conceived, developed and served as the principle teacher for several outreach programs that to this day, bring the arts to under-served, ELS, and special needs elementary school children. Crystal is most recently known for her role as Associate Director at Los Gatos Ballet and for playing a key role in developing to the school to become a leading and well-respected ballet academy, with over 15 large-scale productions under its belt growing the school from 10 students, to over 100 in just a few years.
She also developed the “Youth Choreography Project”, allowing dance students the opportunity to produce their own professional-level show from top to bottom, including marketing, theater management, artistic-vision, and even operations. While at Los Gatos Ballet, Crystal single handedly developed the "Los Gatos Ballet Guild", a volunteer organization created to fundraise and support the Ballet industry and the schools' performances. In conjunction, the Student Guild was formed to serve as a membership organization that gives young, Bay Area-ballet and non-ballet students a chance to grow in the areas of personal development, business management, leadership and community involvement - serving dance cadets outside of the school and forging a bond within the local community. This model has since been adopted by other local dance schools as a way to further the personal development of their respective students.
Crystal Petzel began her early training in Oklahoma with Marjorie Kovich and legendary Ballet Russe dancers Yvonne Chouteau and Miguel Terekhov. At age 13 she was chosen to be the youngest member of the Norman Ballet Company. Throughout her performing career Crystal has performed soloist, principal, and many original roles were created for her in ballets such as Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, The Firebird, A Mid-Summers Night's Dream, The Red Shoes, Stars and Stripes, and The Little Prince. She went on to receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Crystal has appeared as a guest artist for a variety of companies throughout the country. Crystal's ballet and modern choreography continues to receive praise for its creativity and professionalism.
The Academy Of Classical Ballet-CALIFORNIA's development and success is directly attributed to Crystal's many different talents, backgrounds, and relevant experience that will surely help the Academy claim its place as one of the Bay Area's top ballet institutions.
More Fun Facts About The Director:
Crystal was invited to serve as a Guest Teacher to the reknowned Paul Taylor Dance Company.
Served as a Faculty Member, Outreach Director, teacher, Rehearsal assistant, Coach, Choreographer, and Artistic Director for the San Jose Dance Theatre.
Acted as a Principle Teacher, Choreographer and Developer of Dance Theatre International in San Jose, CA.
Functioned as a Performer and Assistant to the Director for Dancers Unlimited, directed by Daniel Simmons.
Served as a Teacher and Studio Manager for the Mountain View Academy of Ballet.
Performed as a Guest Artist for the modern dance company Ground Level in Dallas, TX.
Performed duties as a Teacher, Manager, and Choreographer of New World Ballet and the New World Dance Center (formerly Conservatory of Classical Ballet) in Richardson, TX.
Acted as a Rehearsal Assistant, Guest Teacher for Western Ballet in Mountain View, CA.
The things I learned about art, the body, and myself in Ms. Crystal's classes stay with me even now. With videos and outings, Ms. Crystal taught me the history of ballet and gave me an appreciation for the music, choreography, and talent in the old story-ballets and in contemporary ballet. Ms. Crystal taught me during my most formative years as a person, a student, and a dancer, and I continue to reap the benefits I received from the opportunities she gave me.
