At Finger Lakes Ballet Academy, students grow into hardworking and confident young people, with the ability to exhibit grace and poise in every facet of their lives.
Studied and danced with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Former owner of the Durango Ballet Academy. Returned to New York to raise her family and be closer to home.
We believe that studying dance makes a life-long impression on an individual. Through the process of learning traditional, classical ballet and dance, our students grow into hardworking and confident young people, with the ability to exhibit grace and poise in every facet of their lives.
Intention. Expressiveness. Motivation. Performance quality. Musicality. Communication. The qualities we believe are of the utmost importance within the art of dance.
Many of Cathy's long-time students have graduated from FLBA and gone on to collegiate dance programs and local companies.
Primarily a Vaganova syllabus, with influences of Royal Ballet (French method) and Cecchetti. The core skills are beneficial to all other dance styles.
Contemporary tap, the style most popular at workshops, on Broadway, and in film. Total body movement, technical correctness, and the sounds of tap on the balls of the feet.
Interpretive expression blending ballet, jazz, and modern. Strong legwork, floor work, fall and recovery, and improvisation. Ballet training required beforehand.
An evolving form drawn from ballet, folk traditions, and social dance. Incorporates Bartenieff Fundamentals, floor work, and improvisation across multiple skill levels.
A freedom-loving, movement-loving tradition. A balance of strength and flexibility, endurance conditioning, and neuromuscular coordination.
Jazz Funk core, intricate footwork, physical fitness, and the freedom of freestyle. Popping, locking, tutting, waving, and shuffling across multiple skill levels.
Combo classes are for our youngest dancers, with playful instruction in dance vocabulary and fundamentals focused on Ballet and Tap. Three age-based levels: 3/4, 5/6, and 7/8 years. Students commonly repeat a level for two years.
Summer 2026 evening classes and workshops, running June through August.
June evening classes · July evening classes & workshops · August workshop.
View summer schedule of classes and workshops
Grew up dancing at Sandy Stramonine School of Dance, and studied and danced with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Owned and operated the Durango Ballet Academy before returning to New York. Has owned and operated FLBA since its beginning in 2003.
BA in English and Education from Nazareth College. Has attended classes at FLBA, Sandy Stramonine, Broadway Dance Center, Manhattan Dance Project, and a private master class for FLBA at American Ballet Theater. Dance Masters of America–certified in ballet, tap, jazz and modern.
BFA in Dance from The College at Brockport (2012), with study abroad in London. Has performed at Jacob's Pillow in Becket MA, Dance New Amsterdam in NYC, and Rochester Fringe Festival. Currently a company member of Delucia Benson Dance.
MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University, where he performed in works by Mark Morris and Bebe Miller. Former company member with Garth Fagan Dance, Columbus Dance Theatre and GroundWorks DanceTheatre. Has performed at sea with Holland America and Norwegian Cruise Line, and internationally at Tokyo Disney Resort.
My daughter has been attending Finger Lakes Ballet Academy since the spring of 2013, and we have never looked back. Cathy is amazing, and she and the instructors are caring and accomplished in their own right. Jaime, Alisha, and Todd are wonderful, dedicated, passionate, and patient. Most importantly they understand where each dancer should be in a discipline, and they work with that dancer to help them reach their full potential. If you ask my daughter how she feels about FLBA she says "it's family," and I'd have to agree.
I couldn't have picked a better place for my daughters to grow up than on the FLBA dance floor. In addition to a classical dance education, they were taught beautiful life lessons of collaboration, perseverance, and flexibility. With every class and performance, the students experience the satisfaction of being a part of something beautiful alongside their fellow dancers.
The level of dance instruction at Finger Lakes Ballet Academy is superior. In the 13 years that my daughter danced with FLBA she also acquired skills of self-discipline, self-confidence, creative thinking, leadership, the ability to achieve personal goals and so much more. The opportunities provided by FLBA are rich on multiple levels.
My daughter has danced with FLBA for the past 10 years and loves it. FLBA offers a variety of affordable dance classes for all ages. All of the instructors are excellent and they show their love for dance. The instructors provide fundamental technique with each discipline and are extremely talented when creating choreography for the end of the school year dance recital. I highly recommend FLBA!
