The Dance Academy is a rigorous pre-professional ballet training program that both honors the great traditions of classical ballet and embraces the new and contemporary. Each year, our select group of young dancers attend no fewer than 17 classes each week, totaling more than 20 hours of work. This demanding regimen instills the work ethic necessary for success in the professional dance world.

Students learn masterworks and deepen their understanding of the great tradition of this art form. They also collaborate with the choreographers of today and develop their own creative voices. Our holistic artistic education shapes dancers as thinkers, artists, and performers as they experience life in the cultural heart of a global city.

The rigorous Dance Academy curriculum is designed to prepare students for careers as dancers, focusing on classical ballet while providing instruction in other styles. By exposing students to choreographic masterworks with coaching by faculty who themselves are leaders in the field, the Dance Academy gives its students the tools they need to find a new richness in their dancing and become successful artists.

Such notable names as Wendy Whelan, Peter Boal, Helgi Tomasson, Mikko Nissinen, and Benjamin Millepied, have led Dance Academy master classes providing unique access and exposure to leaders in the field. As a result, graduates of the Dance Academy currently perform with New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, National Ballet of Canada and numerous other professional companies, trainee programs, and university dance programs.

Janie Taylor, former principal dancer of New York City Ballet, teacher, choreographer, and member of L.A. Dance Project, has been named Artistic Director of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute (TZDI) for the 2024-25 school year. She will partner with longtime TZDI staff member Gavin Kelley, who will serve as Interim Administrative Director.