We are so excited to announce that KELLY STOLAR will be joining the staff of Sovereign Ballet! Not many people may know this, but my dream was to be a tap dancer when I was younger. I kid you not, I was told over and over that I tapped too quietly. And of course, since my older sister wanted to be a ballet dancer and when we moved to Dallas so she could get better training, my tapping was left to what I could do with a pencil during school time. Dancing is great, it doesn’t matter the form you love to express yourself in, just get out there and do it!!
Kelly is a native of the Buffalo, N.Y. area. She graduated from Allegheny College with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Kelly had the wonderful opportunity to learn and work alongside her mother who taught dance in the Greater Buffalo area for 55 years and had studied Tap with Sammy Davis, Jr. and Fred Kelly (Gene’s younger brother). Following graduation Kelly founded and voluntarily directed Spring Hill Dance Academy, a free dance program for over 10 years on Pittsburgh’s North Side. During this same time, she was a dance instructor at Michele’s Dance Center. Since moving to Erie in 2000 Kelly has been an instructor with the American College Dance Festival, Kristin’s Dance Company, Mercyhurst University Summer Dance Experience, Mercyhurst North East Dance Institute, Mercyhurst University Carpe Diem Academy, and also as adjunct faculty for Mercyhurst University Dance Department and Mercyhurst University North East. Kelly currently works as Development/Executive Assistant for Sarah Reed Children’s Center and is a Tap instructor for Erie Dance Conservatory, Erie Dance Theater, and Sovereign Ballet. She is also the Artistic Director for “Tap Essentials” her performance and competitive Tap group. Kelly remains current with her Tap skills by attending workshops on a yearly basis and has most recently studied with Chloe Arnold and Melinda Sullivan. Michelle Dorrance, Savion Glover, Derick Grant, Jared Grimes, Jason Janas, Lisa LaTouche, Elec Simon, Jimmy Tate, Aaron Tolson, and Danny Wallace are other Tap professionals she has trained with over the past 6 years. Kelly and her husband, Dave, have four grown children Greg, Mike, Nick, and Kaeli. Kaeli will often accompany her mom in class when she is home from college. A third generation of Tap dance continues in her family.
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