About Our School
The classes at the Massachusetts Academy of Ballet emphasize classical ballet technique, musicality, artistry, and creativity. Students receive individual attention and discover that the joy of studying classical ballet is learning how to accept a challenge, take a risk, achieve a personal goal and improve from day to day.
Children may begin study at the age of 5 in the creative movement and pre-ballet classes. These classes serve as an introduction to ballet. Regular ballet classes begin for children at the age of 8 and are also offered for teens and adults who choose to attend at least two lessons per week. Advanced ballet students take daily lessons and also may perform in the Massachusetts Academy of Ballet performance group.
The Massachusetts Academy of Ballet studio is modern, spacious, and equipped with a sprung floor.
About the Directors
Rose and Charles Flachs, the directors of the Academy, have danced professionally with the Nashville Ballet, Ballet West, and the Cincinnati Ballet. They currently are Associate Professors of Dance at Mount Holyoke College and guest teachers with the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet. They have studied the Vaganova method of training with John White, author of Teaching Classical Ballet and Margarita de Saŕ, and have traveled to the National Ballet School in Havana, Cuba, to further their studies.
The Flachs' have danced the lead roles in such classical ballets as Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Coppelia, and Cinderella. In addition, they performed the works of choreographers George Balanchine, Choo San Goh, Peter Anastos, Paul Taylor, Jose Limón, John Butler, Michael Smuin, and Val Caniparoli.
They have been guest artists and teachers at Jacob's Pillow, Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet, Columbia College, University of Georgia, University of Wisconsin, and the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music. They have also taught for the Southeast Regional Ballet Festival, the American College Dance Festival, and have choreographed and staged over 50 ballets for university dance departments and regional ballet companies.
Charles has produced and released three musical CD's for the classical ballet lesson, First Class, Open Class and Master Class, and Rose has written articles for Dance Teacher and Dance Spirit Magazines.
The Flachs are associate professors of dance at Mount Holyoke College and founding members of the Council of Organized Researchers of the Pedagogical Studies of Ballet, CORPS de Ballet International Inc. An organization dedicated to the development, exploration, and advancement of ballet in higher education.
They are the recipients of two Outstanding Service Awards from the CORPS de Ballet, a Choreographic Fellowship from the Ohio Arts Council, and an Individual Artist Award from the state of Tennessee. They are also the proud parents of Connie and Nathaniel Flachs.
“I am really glad to find in America a School that is so similar to the Russian Ballet School. I like very much the atmosphere at the School.
Thank you very much for preserving Classical Dance's tradition.”
— Alla Osipenko, Prima Ballerina, Kirov Ballet
