Texas Academy of Ballet • Pflugerville

Texas Academy of Ballet • Pflugerville

By Amy Stansbury Friday, 09 January 2009

Although Carolyn Bognar’s dance school, Texas Academy of Ballet, has only been open for two years, she has been involved in ballet for more than 60 years. Bognar began taking ballet classes in California when she was 4 years old and later, as an adult, she danced professionally for 12 years in Europe and in Israel. After retiring from dancing, Bognar founded the Dance Academy of Marburg in Germany, which she operated for 16 years until moving back to California where she taught ballet at various ballet schools in the Bay area.

Bognar and her husband, Janos, decided to move to Pflugerville in 2007, and one of her students, Christina Garza, and her family soon followed.

“Austin has a good reputation of being supportive of the arts, and there’s just a lot going on — it may not be ballet — but music-wise and everything,” Bognar said. “When Sally (Christina’s mother) found out I was going, they moved down two blocks away from us.”

As the office administrator, Sally Garza runs the office, but she is also a talented seamstress and makes many of the students’ costumes for performances. Bognar teaches most of the classes, which are catered to children ages 3 and older.

“We are a good team, each of us doing what we do best,” Bognar said. “You know, most people aren’t looking to open a ballet studio when they’re 62. Most of my friends think I’m nuts, but it’s what I love to do and it’s what I wanted to do.”

Bognar teaches a style of ballet called the Royal Academy of Dance, or RAD, based in England.

“That’s what I grew up on, so that’s what I teach, which means that it’s possible for us to do exams once a year,” she said. “The children who want to can do exams where an examiner comes in from England and conducts the whole thing, and then they get certificates.”

RAD teachers must be certified by the academy’s headquarters in England. Bognar said she had to pass 18 exams when she was growing up in California to become a certified RAD instructor. As a member of the RAD for 45 years holding the title Associate of the RAD, or ARAD, Bognar is considered a life member of the academy.

In addition to requiring dance teachers to be certified, another difference of RAD compared to the other methods is the exams students can take each spring to measure their level of achievement against an international standard. RAD emphasizes the fundamentals of ballet, but some folk and modern dance techniques are also incorporated into the teaching, which Bognar said gives children an idea of what else is going on in the world of dance.

“[The RAD method of ballet] is mainly a very safe method for children to learn,” Bognar said. “There’s a great stress on not harming their bodies and not forcing anything too soon.”

Bognar encourages children to come to the studio as often as they can during the week, but she said students who are only able to attend class once a week are welcome, too.

“The exams are also set up for a child who takes once a week,” Bognar said. “It’s just a matter of testing and having them have a goal that they realize so they feel good about themselves.”

Bognar said while some businesses may be struggling, hers is doing OK.

“I think parents support the arts even in hard times,” she said.

Nonprofit organization

The Friends of the Texas Academy of Ballet is a nonprofit organization formed to support the Texas Academy of Ballet and create a nonprofit performance company, the Bluebonnet Ballet Dance Company. The organization is pending 501(c)(3) status from the IRS.

The Friends of the Texas Academy of Ballet will support the following:

• children who cannot afford regular dance classes or the summer intensive program fees
• students participating in international competitions with expensive enrollment fees
• funding for productions, such as the spring show in May and the annual “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” show in December

Texas Academy of Ballet, 20009 FM 685, 670-9959, www.texasacademyofballet.com