Pittsford Post Article

Article from Brighton-Pittsford Post 01-24-01
'There is no place like it anywhere'

by: Beth Emley Messenger Post Staff

Ballet students at the Fisher/Botsford School of Dance Practice their positions.

The closing of the Botsford dance school saddens many, but classes will go on in Penfield.

The well-respected Fisher/Botsford School of Fitness and Dance - better known as the former Orcutt Botsford School of Dance - closed Monday, ending a 77-year-old tradition for young ballet students like 17-year-old Kelsie Kroll of Pittsford. "This news upset me almost more than anything could," said Kelsie, a Pittsford Sutherland High School student who's taken lessons at the school since she was 4 years old. There is no place like it anywhere.

"Anyone who has ever danced in Rochester knows Botsford." - Megan Alexander, ballet student

The dance school, owned privately for many years until it was bought by St. John Fisher College two years ago, once hosted world-famous ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. Once located in downtown Rochester, the Botsford school was founded in 1924 and moved to 3646 East Ave., Pittsford, in the 1950s. Its founder Enid Knapp Botsford Orcutt, who died in 1984, once danced with Anna Pavlova.

Anyone who has ever danced in Rochester knows Botsford, said 16-year-old Megan Alexander of Mendon. It brought a lot of culture and respect for the arts, and I'm sad because we're losing it. The schools closing has upset some parents who said the college didn't give enough notice. Some parents said they learned about it only last month, via a letter from St. John Fisher College President Katherine Keough.

"Since they bought it two years ago, they never promoted it," said Annette Lorenzo, a Pittsford parent whose daughter, Krystal, took classes from instructor Margaret Carlston. As a result, Lorenzo, said the school had suffered declining enrollment. But Anne Geer, a college spokeswoman, said it was always the college's intention to convert the building block back to college use.

In the short term, college students in the Fisher Players, gospel choirs and glee club will use the building, and it will also be used for administrative offices, Geer said. Neither Geer nor Karen Higman, the college's vice president for institutional advancement, said they know what the college's long-term plans are for the building, which has two large dance practice rooms with hardwood floors and a decent sized stage.

But Higman said the college's performing arts groups could make good use of the stage area. The college only has one other auditorium and it is often booked.

Carlston said she will take her 50 ballet students to the Gymnastics Training School, 2051 Fairport Nine Mile Road in Penfield, where she will continue as their instructor. As well, the college, is giving Carlston equipment and costumes to take with her, and students will be allowed to use the Fisher Botsford auditorium for a March performance of "Peter and the Wolf." Carlston, who was a student at the Botsford school before she became an instructor, said she was disappointed when she learned the school would be closing. But, she added, "things happen for a reason, " and she's positive about the new arrangement in Penfield. Sarah Jane Clifford, owner of the Gymnastics Training Center, is welcoming the ballet students with open arms. "I think this is the greatest thing that happened," she said.

Clifford said Carlston will be a "huge addition" to her center, which offers gymnastics classes for youth and adults, a preschool nursery program, and competitive gymnastics teams for boys, girls and Special Olympics. As well, the addition of the ballet classes will offer more performance opportunities in the future.

Interestingly enough, Clifford credits the Botsford school for influencing her to follow a career in gymnastics. Recalling an audition from her youth in the late 1960s, Clifford said an instructor told her parents she would never be a prima ballerina because of her body type. "Thanks to that person and because of that audition, my goals changed from prima ballerina to a gymnast," Clifford said.

Though the Botsford school closing is sad, Kelsi Kroll said she has great memories of the girls she's grown up with there, and she plans to continue ballet at the Gymnastics Training Center.

"As long as we have a place to dance," she said.