The Tallahassee Ballet Inc

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THE TALLAHASSEE BALLET INC - STUDIO INFORMATION
Styles: Ballet, Contemporary, Fitness-Influenced Dance (e.g., Zumba, Barre) Youngest Age: 3	Also Offers: Group Classes Summer Camp

About THE TALLAHASSEE BALLET INC

The Tallahassee Ballet (TTB) was founded in 1972 as The Tallahassee Civic Ballet by Helen Salter. Practices were initially held in her studios in the lower level of the Northwood Mall, which was, at the time, a thriving shopping center. In the late 70s, the Ballet moved into what is now the Governor’s Club. “I believe, at the time, it was also the home of some men’s club,” says Pamela Marsh, an original dancer in the Company. “There was no air-conditioning, but it had a fantastic springy wooden ballroom dance floor and huge windows that we could open up for a breeze.” Then director, Nancy Carroll Abbey, fondly remembers dancers pitching in to help spread Slip-No-More on those shiny (and slippery) wood floors. She also recalls lugging a huge and heavy open-reel tape recorder down Monroe Street and up the steps to the former Elks Lodge. “We were allowed to use the space, but not to leave anything there.”

In the early 80s, TTB rehearsed in the abandoned space of the old downtown library at the corner of Monroe and Call Streets, across from St. John’s Episcopal Church. According to Marsh, “It was dusty and dirty, and the Tallahassee cloggers practiced above us at the same time, which resulted in a layer of silt raining down on everything. My pink tights came home gray.”