ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The Dance Center was established in
1973 in West Chester by Donna Muzio.

The main goal and purpose of the school is to

provide professional training to serious students

pursuing a career in dance.

 The entire faculty at The Dance Center is committed to providing individual attention to achievement and progress to each and every student whether they are pursuing a professional career in dance or dancing for pure enjoyment and good exercise. Both types of students receive excellent guidance throughout their years of training at The Dance Center. Students from our school and company have gone on to enjoy professional ballet careers as Principal dancers with companies such as Ballet Eddy Touissaint USA, The Harrisburg Ballet and most recently The Pennsylvania Ballet; Soloist dancers with companies such as Pennsylvania Ballet, Dayton Contemporary Ballet, and Hubbard Street Dance Company; Corps de Ballet dancers with companies such as Tampa Ballet, Sarasota Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Garden State Ballet, Ballet Metropolitan, Miami City Ballet, Ballet Theatre of Pennsylvania, and San Antonio Ballet; Apprentice dancers with companies such as Pittsburgh Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Richmond Ballet,  and most recently The Joffrey Ballet. Scholarships are awarded yearly to students for prestigious summer programs such as New York City Ballet (to date, our school has had 20 students train at the School of American Ballet, 4 of which were awarded full scholarship), more than 20 students have studied at American Ballet Theatre,  Washington Ballet, Boston Ballet, Ballet West and Pacific Northwest Ballet to name a few. Too numerous to mention are all the colleges and universities that our students are accepted into with scholarships for dance education.

Our new facility is a beautiful 11,000 square foot space which includes 3 state-of-the-art dance studios, a complete dance supply shoppe, comfortable waiting area, convenient parking, and air conditioning.  Professionally constructed basket-weave dance floors with marley surface has put the final touch on our custom studio space.  Our largest studio, 2,000 square feet, is constructed on 3,000 foam springs which makes for an excellent, safe surface for professional dancers and students to train daily.

Donna L. Muzio

Artistic Director and Founder

 Ms. Muzio has been the Director of The Dance Center for over 30 years. Her unequaled dedication to her school, students, instructors, and her unique, thorough teaching style have brought The Dance Center the reputation as one of the top pre-professional and widely respected training institutions in the tri-state area.

 In 1978, Ms. Muzio founded the Brandywine Ballet, a non-profit ballet company in which The Dance Center became the official school. Her extensive experience in classical training is what she based the foundation of her school and company on. She has staged classics such as "The Nutcracker", "Swan Lake", "Sleeping Beauty", and "Coppélia" - all of which have been an enormous success in the Chester County area.

 However, over the past few years, her goal for the school and company has been the development of artists who fit in the 21st century, i.e., classically trained dancers who are also exposed to contemporary and neo-classic choreography and influence. Ms. Muzio guides her students in their training by insisting they develop a strong, classical technique with professional level, challenging classes daily; coupled with the opportunity for them to develop their individual expression by working with guest choreographers and master teachers. In addition to the in-house professional artistic staff of Nancy Page and Scott Jovovich, her dancers have also experienced new choreography and master classes with professionals from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Pennsylvania, and Joffrey Ballet to name a few.

 As a result, over 50 students from the organization have gone on to professional dance careers in some of the top ballet companies through the United States such as New York City Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Pittsburg Ballet, Ballet Eddy Toussaint, Miami City Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, San Antonio Ballet, Sarasota Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Richmond Ballet, and Elliot Feld Ballet. Every year, many of her students are awarded scholarships to prestigious summer programs and universities.