By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
Cazenovia School of Ballet recently relocated from its longtime location on Rt. 20 to a brand new dance studio at 4157 Midstate Lane — the former home of Cazenovia Cut Block.
Opened by Joanne Rinaldo in 1995, the dance school offers classical ballet training to children ages three and up, as well as professional level classes. Instruction is also provided in pointe, modern, jazz and contemporary dance.
The school’s new home is located in a building owned by Cazenovia Community Fitness (CCF).
“We are so excited to welcome Cazenovia School of Ballet to our building and look forward to collaborating with Joanne’s dance community,” said Meghan Kelly, who co-owns CCF with Marla Velky-Reger.
According to Rinaldo, the new, larger space features high ceilings, mirrored walls, a customized dance floor, a large waiting area with windows for viewing, a locker room, and an office.
“The search for a large . . . professional dance space has been an ongoing adventure,” Rinaldo said. “Plans started to come together during the latter part of 2019. We were very excited to collaborate with Cazenovia Community Fitness on the design and renovations when the space became available.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Caz Ballet was mandated to close on March 16.
In lieu of in-person instruction, the school has been offering Zoom versions of all of its classes.
In addition to live, virtual classes, dancers have also had access to pre-recorded classes and choreography routines via the school’s YouTube channel.
“[Younger] students were engaged with age appropriate activity and coloring sheets [and] a dance themed ‘spirit’ week, and older dancers were given a weekly journal to record and log in dance-related goals and accomplishments,” said Rinaldo.
Caz Ballet typically presents an annual spring performance, a summer camp for younger dancers, and a summer intensive for more advanced dancers. During the holiday season, the school produces “The Nutcracker” with professional guest performers.
This year, the dancers presented their spring performance at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Cazenovia.
“We ended up extending our dance year by six weeks (into the month of June) until restrictions were lifted so as to allow us to creatively have our end of the year performance,” Rinaldo said. “It was important to provide an opportunity for the dancers to showcase a year’s worth of hard work and to have a sense of completion and accomplishment during a time when so many things were being taken away from them.”
Despite the many challenges associated with the pandemic, Rinaldo now views the COVID-19 shutdown as a blessing in disguise for her business.
“All the while, we were packing and moving out of the old studio space and into the new,” she said. “We just kept adjusting the camera angle to keep the move a surprise for the dancers. On May 20, the new studio was revealed with an Instagram Live broadcast, which was extra special as many of our Caz Ballet alumni tuned in from all over the country.”
According to Rinaldo, the dance school has gone above and beyond the CDC and NY Forward Guidelines to provide for a safe and comfortable return to dance.
“With the grand opening of the new studio space coming soon, the safety of dancers, parents and staff is our number one priority,” she said.
In-person classes will resume the week of Sept. 21; Saturday classes will begin Oct. 3.
Students and staff will be required to have their temperatures taken upon entrance and to wear masks at all time. The studio will provide hand-sanitizing stations, limit class sizes, stagger class times, and ensure social distancing on the dance floor.
Virtual classes will continue to be offered as well.
For more information on Caz Ballet, its safety protocols or the fall schedule, call 315-655-5509, email [email protected], or visit cazballet.com.
