About Ferndale Dance Academy
Laura East's Ferndale Dance Academy was founded in 2003 to provide our community with a creative learning center for dance. What began with 35 students taking classes at the Ferndale Gym has blossomed into a comprehensive program in a well-equipped dance studio. Our annual performances have grown from one recital at the Firemen's Pavilion to performances at the Ferndale Repertory Theatre and the Arkley Center.
The study of dance is highly beneficial for the physical, intellectual, and emotional development of children and teens. Students develop muscle strength and coordination, flexibility, agility, and balance. Intellectually, they are called upon to focus and concentrate and to remember combinations of movement. Emotionally, students benefit from the opportunity to express themselves creatively and to explore who they are in a safe and supportive environment. Working together in classes and performances also fosters friendships and builds self-esteem.
The Ferndale Dance Academy currently offers classes for children and teens from the ages of 2½ years old to young adult. All classes are now held at our spacious dance studio upstairs at the Danish Hall, 430 Ocean Avenue. Please see the Dance Classes page for more information and a schedule of the classes.
The Ferndale Dance Academy provides more than just instruction. Students benefit from these special features, as well:
- Annual Performances at the Ferndale Repertory Theatre and the Arkley Center
- Scholarship Program
- Assistant Instructor Apprenticeship Program
- Annual Field Trip to a Dance Performance
Our Instructors
Laura East
Miss Laura trained with the Joffrey Ballet and Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and danced with the Westchester Ballet. She studied dance and musical theater at the University of Arizona before moving to New York City where she apprenticed as a ballet instructor at Ballet Academy East, created her own cabaret show, and recorded an album of children's lullabies. Most recently, she completed a workshop for dance instructors taught by Jillana, former Principle with the New York City Ballet.
Laura and her husband, Michael, moved to Ferndale the summer of 2002. Laura East's Ferndale Dance Academy opened in January 2003 with 35 students.
Becca Harrison
Miss Becca has danced with ballet, modern, ballroom, and folk companies including such local ones as the New World Youth Ballet and Ballet de Folklorico de Humboldt. Before coming to the Ferndale Dance Academy, she was dancing, choreographing, and serving on the Board of Directors for Behold Dance Collective in Oakland, CA. Favorite roles include Chopin's muse in Les Sylphides, The Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, Mary Magdalene and Scheherazade, and a swan in the corps de ballet in Swan Lake. Becca's mantra is "Life is Movement."
Kelsey Wortman
Dancing has always been a big part of Miss Kelsey's life. As a little girl, she and her friends would spend hours choreographing dances to perform for their families. Kelsey began her formal dance training with Laura East when the Ferndale Dance Academy opened in 2003 and has participated in the Academy's apprenticeship program for two years. Kelsey has had the incredible opportunity of teaching girls how to dance. "I absolutely love every single girl in this dance academy," says Kelsey. "They're all like little sisters to me." In the future, Kelsey hopes to continue performing and teaching dance. There's nothing else that she'd rather be doing.
Ferndale Dance Academy • Danish Hall, 430 Ocean Ave. • Ferndale, CA 95536
(707) 496-0805 • learn2dance@ferndaledance.com